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Headphone monitoring on a laptop

post #1 of 9
1/27/09 at 10:42am
Thread Starter 
As we all know, standard computer soundcards are pretty cr*p.

What I want to do is to listen on a laptop on the move with very high quality.

The source will be 24-bit / 96kHz wav files played out via Sequoia.

For listening at home I already have a Grace m902b, RME Fireface 400 and E:MU 1616m; but all these are either too large and/or need mains power.

The PCMCIA card from the 1616m, used on its own, has been OK as it has a dedicated headphones output - but the PCMCIA chipset is not fully compatible and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

So .............................

Please, do you know of a USB powered DAC / headphone amp.?

It must be small and portable, USB powered and capable of 24/96 or 24/192 resolution.

Price is not really an issue if it's the right bit of kit - quality is more important than price.

Headphones will mainly be HD 25-1, HD 650, HD 380 Pro and HD 800.

Thanks.
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post #2 of 9
1/27/09 at 9:16pm
Thread Starter 
Loads of views, but no answer.

Does this mean that what I want does not exist?
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post #3 of 9
1/27/09 at 9:45pm
I don't know of one.

However it may exist a DIY option. I'd ask there.
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post #4 of 9
1/27/09 at 11:49pm
Plenty of USB powered options

Asus makes some with their Xonar. those with sound chips in them i think.

or you can get the Fiio E3/E5 options headphone amps.
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post #5 of 9
1/28/09 at 3:04am
Anything above 16/48 is probably not going to be availible in USB form and definitely availible with USB power. DAC1 will do the 24 bit stuff but you will have to plug it in. Maybe something in the way of EMU but they have special drivers and also require AC and you have one already.
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post #6 of 9
1/28/09 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
I think I have a solution.

I had asked Grace Design if they are planning a modification to the m902b to upgrade the USB input from 16/48 to 24/96.

Although the answer was "not at the moment" - they did say that they used an M-Audio Transit and connect from there to the m902 with optical Toslink when they want to play 24/96 from a DAW.



So, that answers query No.1.

M-Audio do say that the line-out can take headphones - so this should answer my query here as well.

If it turns out to be a bit too quiet, I already have a Graham Slee Voyager to boost the level.



So - Transit ordered from DV247 today - I hope it all works.

Thanks for the help.
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post #7 of 9
1/30/09 at 11:15am
Thread Starter 
The Transit arrived today and I have just set it up on the laptop.

Perfect

The line out gives plenty of level for my HD 25-1 headphones and the quality is much better than the crappy internal sound-card.

It will also handle the 24-bit / 96 kHz files I play.

Posted for anyone else who may be looking for the same sort of thing.
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post #8 of 9
3/7/11 at 3:46pm

The new m903 finally supports 24/96!!  Though in writing this I'm realizing that this thread is REALLY old.

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post #9 of 9
3/8/11 at 9:14pm

It should also be noted that the M-Audio Transit still doesn't have stable drivers for newer OSes.

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