Hi, ............. I'd like to get some feedback as to what the friendliest ( I know it's the software too) audio cards are. Don't need a lot of bells and whistles. In fact, Im not even interested in surround sound. I just want to make nice clean CD copies of my old cassette tapes in stereo. I don't feel the typical sound card is adequate for best fidelity. Didn't want to spend a fortune (less than $100). Good used would work. My OS is Win98se, so that may narrow the field a little.

So far, all I've heard of are: M-Audio 5.1's and Auzen Tech cards. Anyone have a few other names they can throw at me ?



Thanks, Alan

Audiotrack MAYA 5.1 MKII
Good experience with the bit bit perfect spdif output.

Audiotrack MAYA 44 MKII
More expensive than the above, but better analogue input and output stage.


Terratec EWX 2496
Got sometimes blue screens when using extensive hd in combination with playback.
But for the rest a perfect card.

Thanks WM ....... I'll check those out.

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496, frequently $99, sometimes as low as $70, is widely used for this purpose. Audio quality exceeds the analogue media by a fair margin.

As a user of this card, I'll be the first to complain about Terratec drivers. Their drivers for Vista is just a tradegy. However... to me the XP drivers have been very stable (ie. no Terratec related bluescreens for as long as I can remember) and hastn't caused me problems. Additionally they are very lightweight, unlike Creative drivers for example. I use this card for music production as well.

If you're using Windows 98 you have more severe problems than drivers though, starting with the fact that you're using an unsupported operating system that has been outdated for 7 years. I'd start with fixing that instead - then call back.

ESI Juli@
Rock-solid and non-bloated drivers.

The ESIs are very nice. Okay if you can afford it.

98se ....... sure its unsupported. Kind of like my bank account (insufficient funds). Seriously, I'm getting a little tired of the big Microsoft monster. Update this, update that. Planned obsolescence if you ask me. It's kind of like the world of plastic we live in. Dimensionally unstable, warps, dries out and cracks. As far as audio equipment, I like the old amps and receivers. They're solid. Seem to last forever and unlike today, have honest audio specs. I may be wrong. I haven't looked at new equipment for some time now.



If I had the money I'd just buy a Mac. What problems will 98se cause when working with music ?

And use it with OS9?

Oldsflash: Windows XP is about 6 years old now. So much for constant updates.

The initial build of Windows XP is 6 years old, Microsoft now only support SP2 which shipped 3 years ago.

Your point being...?

Many newer applications won't work with Win98. It does not have any difficulties doing anything you might want for transferring audio from one media to another however, as long as you don't want to use some of those newer applications. This computer, where I do all my audio processing, runs Win98se. The significantly older computer on which I record the LPs and cassettes I want to transfer to CD-R runs Win95. Both have Audiophile 2496s.

The Win95 machine has no deficiencies as far as its recording job goes. This computer gets everything done, but a newer machine could be much faster on some tasks. Everything I read about Vista says it is the pits for audio (and lots of other pursuits) but I would be oriented to WinXP for up to date hardware.

Ahhhh ............. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for your clear and informative response Andy.

What are the drawbacks to Vista? On the non-audio front it seems a lot better. I don't know enough about the audio changes to compare, but several audio enhancements are listed in this thread:

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=55459

There is a great deal in Vista that is oriented towards DRM and ‘the multi-media experience." This doesn't necessarily have to have a impact on serious audio processing but there is/will be a great deal of coding for meeting those requirements. Preventing unwanted interactions within complex code isn't easy to get correct and clean, and does not seem to yet be an accomplished fact.

Here are a couple of threads that I've read in from time to time. Others talk about driver difficulties for a wide range of audio hardware, and significant problems for a fair number of audio applications.

http://www.audiomastersforum.net/amforum/i...pic,6274.0.html

http://www.audiomastersforum.net/amforum/i...pic,6243.0.html

I've run across various other threads full of complaints in some other audio forums.

There have also been complaints about video processing, various graphic program difficulties, and other things that went in one ear and out the other.

Well, the first thread refers to a hardware glitch that was reproduced on XP (i.e. not Vista-specific). What are the Vista-specific issues, with new non-beta Vista-aware drivers and software? I agree support for the new DRM technology (esp. video) does cause issues, and I would like DRM "features" to be removed. But it seems to me the problem is Hollywood here (for example, I don't think you'll see many consumer HD-DVD or Blue-Ray devices that don't have DRM).



http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/01/25/v...rosoft-and-you/