Can u pls explain me what the capital letters mean? .
It's too bad that external soundcard can't even compete with internal soundcard, as with a notebook i'm forced to use external soundcard...

your mileage may vary - Wiktionary

you can find many good external DAC's...like this one: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/ha...eadamp-435443/

its two BUF634 can drive headphones really well if you check on diyaudio.com...actually, a friend of mine replaced the final buffer opamp w/ two OPA827 on an adapter, and he now prefers it over his STX(that he has sold in the mean time).

that's their entry level DAC+headamp, but they have another one even more advanced...and there's a huge competition w/ the HLLY AUNE etc etc

Quote:



I would suggest the same. The Zeros are good place to start and better if you mod them. Soundcards are really starting to get really good using higher quality components. There are great units in both classes, great internal and great external's.

Quote:



This card has a great can amplifer on it and it has quite a bit of power.
You can upgrade every output on this card including the can amplifier.
I suggest listening to the card first and then judging what you would like to change about the signature then figure out which opamps might give you what your after.

what makes you say all effects (crystallized, cmss-3d, etc) are done only in software mode (offloading to the cpu) ?

The Bravura does not have a DSP chip. It has an audio controller...all effects are processed through software.

Which one for music listening etc. Forte or Bravura? If Forte, Forte or Xonar ST?

Just got mine in today.. my initial thoughts are not as strong as my ZERO but also pretty damn impressive for an onboard amp. Overall I am happy but will give my ears some time. The bass in my Denon AH-D2000 can's isn't as strong and that is depressing. I was getting a click/pop noise when sliding the windows slider bar before the driver was loaded. Now I sometimes get a pop going from track to track but not every time. Should I play with the grounding switch? As far as sound goes I feel like it needs more depth.. I dont know the correct terminology but my ZERO with a 627 sounded amazing to me. Should I swap the op amps? Also I noticed someone running dual 627 opamps? Not sure what to order to play with the fun modification part Overall I am happy. Just a little playing with it and I should be good. I game as much as I watch movies and listen to music but I think it will do fine with that also. Thx for any input on what I should try next!

EDIT: I turned off X-fi CMSS 3D and to me everything started sounding MUCH better.. much more depth to my music and not so bright and in your face. Why do ppl use this?

EDIT EDIT: Kinda wierd I still get a pop when sliding the windows volume slider but its not every time I slide it.. I can adjust the sound like 5 times and will get a pop after.

Yes, the processing can mess up your imaging and is really only usable for certain situation...gaming with headphones for example. CMSS3D can upmix 2.0 to surround or can take surround audio from games and virtualize it for headphones. If you are not into these tasks then I would leave it off.
The grounding switch is more for hum and buzz is your PC's power system/audio system has a ground loop. That is not what you are describing...
Do you have Windows sounds enabled, Dings for windows etc?
If you do, disable them..they can cause this on soundcards if the sounds are a different sampling rate then your card is set for. Your card is constantly switching bit depths when there is a simple ding.
I had some dual 627 and 637s on this card but right now I am rocking a OPA2111AM TO-99 metal can opamp. Very hard to find and sounds very good! This unit even had gold pins before I soldered it on the adapters.

Quote:



Mind giving me some links to possible upgrades i can play with? I hate to order the wrong stuff

Also make sure that your sound card is set on with the default bit depth (which should be 16/48 - DVD Quality). If lower or higher, you will get some pops, at least I did....
I always turn off CMSS and Crystallizer, they do nothing good to the sound, on the contrary...

Quote:



Where do I set the bit depth at? Also has anyone played with the "Modes" and noticed a difference? Also it seems a there is a bit of lag when opening up the control panel for the volume.

EDIT: I found its set to 16/48 DVD Quality. Is there any benefit to setting that higher? Sorry for the newb questions. The pops are random and not all that bothering since it happens only when going to the next song etc.

I wouldn't set the bith depth at a higher value. I mean, I don't think that upsampling is of any benefit, not to my ears anyway. I tried all the modes only to find out that the default one (at least on my card), Performance 1, is the best.
Do you, by any chance, have a Nvidia chipset-based motherboard?

Quote:



same here but it's not bothering me ..

something weird at 44.1HZ 16/24bit i here shhhhh when i turn off the music

What are you using for your output plugins? Are you using foobar or winamp?
What OS?