Quote: Originally Posted by Dark_Archon When I use Vista and want to listen to a CD while there is network activity(totally unrelated to audio), there is a lot of popping and other distortion. I thought this was weird, so I looked it up, and apparently the Vista audio stuff and the...

Quote: Originally Posted by Hancoque I know that Vista has a vastly improved audio engine compared to XP and I'm glad that somebody finally notices it. But I have a hard time believing that 16 Bit or 44.1 KHz sounds noticeably different from 24 Bit or 96 KHz, assuming that the audio...

Quote: Originally Posted by Jon L Nah, it all depends on where you are coming from when you switch to Vista. If you were already using a nice soundcard with ASIO w/ XP, don't expect any improvement when you move to Vista. On the other hand, Vista brings a WHOLE lot of...

So I just made the leap from XP to Vista. I did a clean install of course, anything else would be uncivilized. Vista looks a lot nicer, and is different in many ways, for better or for worse. So, how does it sound? Well, its important to note that audio has been built from the ground up in...

With PowerDVD to watch a 5.1 DVD to output the 5.1 stream I had to select a check box named 'SPDIF Passthrough', or something similar, in the audio options. See if you can find that option. I think that was PowerDVD version 5. I just checked out PowerDVD version 6 and here's what I found. I...

I have the Creative Sound Blaster USB 24-bit External and it does a fine job. I bought mine for $60 CAD. It has coax and optical digital outputs. It also has 5.1 speaker outputs. One thing to note is the digital output will only output stereo sound for games. I don't know of any sound card...

Quote: Originally Posted by benbboy Would this audio card stop and hissing/buzzing that I'm hearing from my Dell Inspiron 1520 Notebook with default sound card? Yes, any decent (+$40) USB card should do that.

I found something that does just what I'm looking for. MixMeister Fusion. It doesn't offer the same versatility as something like Traktor or Ableton Live, but it is prefect for quickly making a mix of many songs that you would put on a CD or a single MP3, without having to mix it live. If...

Quote: Originally Posted by el_matt0 ie. would purchasing/upgrading to a 1212m basically just to use ITS optical spdif output instead of my av710's be worthwhile? Most likely not, granted you get bit perfect going on the AV710.

I use WinAmp and upgraded from sound card output to a DAC and noticed a worthy difference. See my sig for my setup. I don't think WinAmp is any better/worse than iTunes.

Quote: Originally Posted by johnnylexus .... now if I could just get the edge off this HA5000 headphone amp ... Not sure exactly what you mean, but you could get a tube buffer to put before the amp, and that might smooth things out. A tube buffer I know of is the Musical...

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Still haven't quite found what I'm looking for. The suggestions were either for editing a single song, or for mixing live. I'm looking to mix songs into a compilation. I don't want to have to play the songs live as I mix, it would obviously take much longer...

Quote: Originally Posted by Gradofan2 Here... check it out... http://shop.sennheiserusa.com/retail...rtsfinder.aspx ...part number 091570 for the element / driver for both the HD580's and HD600's. As I said... I had both of them for about a month - they sound identical with...

Quote: Just buy the HD600 screens and replace the plastic HD580 screens - and voila... you have HD600's. The elements / drivers are identical - just go to the Sennheiser site and check it out. Isn't it true that the 580 is different from the 600, but the 580 Jubilee is the same?

I'm really into trance music and one of the great things about it is it's really good for compiling long mixes of it. I'd like to get an application that can take MP3s and mix them together to make a single 1 hour MP3. If anyone knows possible forums or websites for me to look for this type...

Another option is to run digital coax from the sound card to the stereo receiver, and analog RCAs from the sound card to the headphone amp. My sound card outputs to both the digital and analog outputs at the same time, so I'm assuming yours would too. Something to check.

I'm not sure if you can split a digital signal, my guess is you can, although I know you need to match impedance... so not completely sure. If so, you could buy an RCA splitter, run one cable to an external DAC, like the Stello DA100 or Musiland MD10, and run that into your headphone amp, and...

I just upgraded to a DAC from a sound card, and I must say there was a big difference. I wouldn't build a system like that without a good DAC. The Stello DA100 is highly regarded around here, but I would probably look to a full-size considering the setup your building. Stello makes the DA220...

Quote: Originally Posted by NoPants you should definitely upgrade the psu, I wasn't a believer at first, but it really tightens up the bass and creates a better sense of air (when air is present) Already on order . Thanks for the tip because I was kind of weary about the...

I just got a brand new Musical Fidelity X-DAC v3 to add to my system. It feeds my X-CAN v3 headphone amp, which powers my HD 650's. The fact that the X-DAC is in the same case and style of my X-CAN is great. They look sexy together and that's important to me. I think to truly be happy with your...

I tried about 6 different pairs of ear-bud type earphones. Each earphone is unique and different in sound. It was very tough to pick a winner. The only ones that were really any better than the stock iPod ones were some cheap Panasonic's. I'd recommend buying a bunch from stores that allow you...

The separation made it a bit confusing. Thanks.

You would like the sound of a tubed headphone amplifier. A tube amp would certainly warm things up. Or possibly a tubed DAC such as the Scott Nixon Tube DAC.

Quote: Originally Posted by TheVinylRipper Tweeters are actually pretty easy to blow, my daughter blew both of mine when she was a teenager by turning the amp up past the point of distortion while "entertaining" her friends.. It seems counterintuitive but inadequate amp power for the...

Quote: Originally Posted by infinitesymphony Err... Even ultra-budget receivers have 5.1 analog inputs. They all have 'em now, even the one I have for sale in the FS forum. If you could point me out the 5.1 analog inputs on that receiver you have for sale. I looked at the...