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do computers make good sources? - Page 9

post #121 of 160
1/3/04 at 10:08pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Geek
Computers can make good sources and do some amazing things for the price. I was highly impressed by the M-audio revolution hooked into my MOH(R) and HD650s.
I thought you said the HD600/650 absolutely requires "Class A" audiophile gear ($4000+ sources, $2000 amps, etc.) to sound good? In fact, you've been emphasizing this over and over lately in nearly every thread that contains even a mention of the HD580/600/650.

Now you're saying that a $90 M-Audio Revo as a source left you feeling "very impressed" in combination with your HD650s?

I would really like some of what you've been smoking, or at least would like to know what the heck it is...
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post #122 of 160
1/3/04 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Iron_Dreamer
For good computer sound you just need a good non-resampling soundcard with a digital output to an external DAC and the sound can be very good indeed, if you play CD's or ripped WAV or losslessly encoded files. Sure MP3's through a SB Live will sound like *****. You could get a good setup as I described for around $200 (M-Audio Revo + ART DI/O) or spend as much as you can imagine (think $600 Lynx 2 to $1000+ Bel Canto DAC2). It's probably easier to get a good sounding CD player, but having your entire collection at your fingertips on the hard drive is very convenient indeed!
Convenience apart, now hook an standalone CD Player (almost any) to the same external DAC and now compare both.....I agree on the convenience stuff, but don't forget that you also have to work double, get the Cd's first, and later on transfer them to the HD....and later on find a place to keep the Cd's, or sell them again which is illegal after ripping them, unless you use Kazaa or any other program to download (illegal again) them in which case, the format you usually get, really sucks....
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post #123 of 160
1/3/04 at 11:31pm
Once the CD's are ripped and encoded it's a helluva lot easier to access the songs. Will save a lot of time in the long run if you are one to listen to alot of songs in one sitting.

And sure, let's keep the legal semantics out of this. RIAA would have any ripping and encoding illegal anyways (and have us pay every damn time we listen to a song), even though it is perfectly legal now.

Just find a nice box and keep the CD's in their jewel cases in a dark, cool place. You'll still need the originals when another better audio format comes along. Heheh, I'm sure I'll rip and encode all my stuff in .APE and then find a portable player with digital out and FLAC support only. Or vice versa.
That's the only way I can see having to re-encode. That or another lossless format that sounds just as good that is a better compression. Or sounds better than a WAV file.

But, I'm primarily concerned with having a convenient and high end head-fi system for my home. With the RME PAD, I can have my cake and eat it too.

-Ed
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post #124 of 160
1/4/04 at 1:24am
Quote:
Originally posted by Edwood
With the RME PAD, I can have my cake and eat it too.
Indeed, life is good
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post #125 of 160
1/4/04 at 5:29am
Fewtch,

I should've added "compared to other $90 sources."

Nobody in their right mind would settle for an el cheapo source if they had enough money to upgrade to a higher end one.

However, it is absolutely impossible to deny the quality of such a cheap component. It blows the NS500V out of the water for CD playback, and is a nice solution for people who lack the money to buy a truly outstanding source.

I usually state the HDxxx sounds good only with high quality sources when either (A) someone is expecting class A performance out of the senn cans but wants to use a cheap source or even NO amp, or (B) someone states that the headphone is horrible when it is clearly not the headphone's fault.

I'm smoking a combination of mostly nitrogen and oxygen right now. Most of what I say is logical, even if it's not apparent out of the box, so to speak. Even my wicked case mods are logical

Cheers,
Geek
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post #126 of 160
1/4/04 at 5:44am
Quote:
Originally posted by Edwood
Won't that still slow down gameplay a bit?

I was hoping to be able to use the Soundblaster Audigy 2 for gaming without a framerate penalty and then use the RME PAD only for Foobar.

-Ed
no way, CPU usage is nearly 0% when just playing sounds unless you play games that use enviromental audio calculations or enable EAX or something.. and professional cards like RME allows you just switching the incoming S/PDIF stream directly to it's DACs.. this is all happening on the card itself, it even doesn't touch PCI bus.. so there won't be any performance drop at all..
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post #127 of 160
2/22/04 at 8:15pm
hrm. after reading this thread, I think adding an RME digi Pad to my computer, in addition to an audigy 2, seems like the best idea.

If I wanted the RME digi pad to play foobar 2000, and the audigy 2 to play all other sounds, then hooking up the digital out of the audigy 2 to the digital in of the RME digi pad would be all it takes?
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post #128 of 160
2/22/04 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally posted by kelesh
hrm. after reading this thread, I think adding an RME digi Pad to my computer, in addition to an audigy 2, seems like the best idea.

If I wanted the RME digi pad to play foobar 2000, and the audigy 2 to play all other sounds, then hooking up the digital out of the audigy 2 to the digital in of the RME digi pad would be all it takes?
Bingo! You will have the directsound support of the A2 combined with the superior DAC stage of the RME.
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post #129 of 160
2/22/04 at 9:45pm
after reading another post, it seems this might be a bad idea, as one poster reported lots of static occasionally with foobar 2000, as well as pc rebbots and other problems. Can anybody else comment on this setup as a solution?

Alternatively, I was considering splitting the RME's output to go to my headphone amp and to my speakers, and splitting my audigy 2's output to go to my headphone amp and to my speakers.

This would mean my speakers would have the potential of being driven by 2 cards on a single 1/8" input. Is this a bad idea?
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post #130 of 160
2/23/04 at 2:55am
Quote:
Originally posted by kelesh
hrm. after reading this thread, I think adding an RME digi Pad to my computer, in addition to an audigy 2, seems like the best idea.

If I wanted the RME digi pad to play foobar 2000, and the audigy 2 to play all other sounds, then hooking up the digital out of the audigy 2 to the digital in of the RME digi pad would be all it takes?
It should be mentioned that you won't be able to hear sound from both soundcards at once. The RME has no onboard mixer and can thus handle only one signal at a time. You'll be listening either to an audigy2 (through the RME requires the volume to be at max to gain normal listening levels) OR the RME; not both at once. So you'll have to either make frequent connection changes, get an external mixer, or have multiple headphones. The only downside to the RME (and a big one, imo).
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post #131 of 160
2/23/04 at 2:58am
Uh, so what happens if i'm listening to music with foobar 2000 and I fire up a game on my audigy 2(say just a simple java game with audio). Does it kill the music? Crash the computer?

I just hope the RME Digi96/8 Pad can play divx movies smoothly, and can play Stepmania (ddr emulator) without stuttering. Any thoughts?
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post #132 of 160
2/23/04 at 3:00am
Quote:
Originally posted by Distroyed
It should be mentioned that you won't be able to hear sound from both soundcards at once. The RME has no onboard mixer and can thus handle only one signal at a time. You'll be listening either to an audigy2 (through the RME requires the volume to be at max to gain normal listening levels) OR the RME; not both at once. So you'll have to either make frequent connection changes, get an external mixer, or have multiple headphones. The only downside to the RME (and a big one, imo).
So, if the RME did not satisfy my simple gaming/movie needs, the recommended way of handling it seems like splitting the signal that comes out of each card, and outputting this signal to both headphones and speakers via more splitters? (my headphone amp has 2 inputs but my speakers do not)
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post #133 of 160
2/23/04 at 3:09am
Quote:
Originally posted by kelesh
So, if the RME did not satisfy my simple gaming/movie needs, the recommended way of handling it seems like splitting the signal that comes out of each card, and outputting this signal to both headphones and speakers via more splitters? (my headphone amp has 2 inputs but my speakers do not)
A "splitter" is no way to hook up two sources to one device. This can be fatal (to one of the sources, and may be even the device) if you turn them both on at the same time.

You need to use an A/B switch, a mixer (like I do), or do lots of re-connections.
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post #134 of 160
2/23/04 at 3:10am
I wonder how my headphone amp works then. I guess it just has a mixer in it since it has 2 inputs.

How much would an A/B switch or a mixer cost?
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post #135 of 160
2/23/04 at 3:22am
MP3s, splitters, switches, more (relatively) cheap cables and connections. Do you expect quality still? You're asking too much. Use the RME for headphones exclusively. Your speakers aren't that great so leave the Audigy2 hooked up to it.
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