Yeah, I will try to see if I can sort it out over the weekend, I was looking for someone to at least confirm they have no issue using a external DAC in a simliar setup.     Thanks

Hey all!     I am looking for someone else using the X-Fi titanium HD pci-express card with a external DAC, using the supplied optical cable.   I am having a very annoying issue, in that with my external CIAudio VDA2 DAC that everytime I start a song, or play any audio noise on the PC...

Same thing with my hd590s happened, keep your headphones clean

I listen to lots of dance music too, and I've owned a lot of headphones including the 650s, and honestly, my recommendation to you is to change the cable on the 650s to the mobius, that will bring out the bass and highs to make dance more enjoyable on the 650s, i disliked the stock cable on the...

Many thanks!

I also used to have a simliar setup (audigy 2 / 580s) years ago, and definetly one of the biggest upgrades I ever did was getting rid of the audigy 2 (also replacing it with a 1212m). No matter how good the chain is down the line, if the source is crap, the rest will suffer.

What are you using for cables to connect to the 1212m outputs? And yes, you shouldn't plug any headphone into the 1212m directly.

If your going for the 1212m keep a few things in mind 1) Its not really that prone to PCI interference, because the analog board is not connected to the PCI bus, it is kept seperate and connects to the digital board via a digital ribbon cable, thus keeping it clean. The analoge daughter card is...

I've heard some amazing bass from headphones, but absolutely nothing in your price range unfortunately. 650s with a mobius upgrade cable with a highend singlepower tube amp setup, will sound amazing, or I also really loved the bass (tight and impact) from AKG 701 with upgraded cable and a...

I couldn't stand the 650s with the stock cable, they really need a after market replacement cable to sound their best. The 650s require a long amount of burn in, a good amp, and a replacement cable, so they do require a lot more investment, but if you were happy with the 600s, just switch...

Go with the extreme music. You don't need two soundards, just get one with a good digital out, so you can upgrade to a DAC later. There are a lot of good DACs out there, do some research and try to listen to some, nobdody can tell you what you will like best. You also would want...

One of the best upgrades I recommend for the 701s is to have them re-cabled. The GLite is a good lil amp, I have not heard any amps with the 701s that were under $800+ that performed any better than the glite. There are a few other amps in the glite price range, but the difference is taste...

I don't use any DSPs at all, I simply lower the DB to -2 to prevent any clipping. I am a total purist however

Quote: Originally Posted by infinitesymphony If I had to guess, I'd say the Zhaolu would have better sound quality simply because it's not inside the computer with all of the electrical interference. That's the weakness of having an internal sound card. Also, it's a dedicated DAC that...

That whole albumn is mastered a lil hot, I prefer OK Computer if you want to listen to a better mastered albumn. I wouldn't base your system around one band/albumn, bad recordings are something we have no control over. You have it backwards when you say, "this track eats high end systems...

Quote: Originally Posted by THESANTINI A few years ago I had purchased Logitech z-640s. I some how stumbled across glueycwal who posts here and sharkyforums (audio). Before I knew it I gave my z-640s to my room mate in college and purchase Swan Diva M200s. An amazing purchase...

Stick with XP32, there is no benefit to 64 bit edition. Wait until Vista to get into 64Bit OS.

I've noticed it too with Nero, I usually just use foobar to convert the playlist I want to burn to wav first then burn it to cd audio.

I bought the Promedia 4.1s back in like 99 or 2000 when they were first released (not the original v400 that were horrible). Back then, they were the best thing out there, especially compared to other computer audio solutions at the time, and I not having heard much better, thought they were...

Quote: Originally Posted by BrainFood Hi Sources are a Musical Fidelity Tri-vista DAC, Tag Maclaren transport with Stereovox HVXC digital IC, plus XLO pro 100 and Chord Anthem for analogue. Also using a Magnum Dynalab MD100 T. Perhaps, I've over exaggerated the lack of clarity in...

Quote: Originally Posted by Kaluminati Recently I switched from using Kernel Streaming to using ASIO output in Foobar. For some reason, ASIO sounds much clearer and brighter that KS was sounding. I am definetly sticking with ASIO. I run it in ACM, bit-matched playback with 44.1...

AudioAsylum has some people talking about it as well. http://www.audioasylum.com/index.html Overall, the sound signature is quickly described as detailed / analogish sound. It does seem there is a lot of lack of marketing/reviews for channel island products lately. I don't know why...

Quote: Originally Posted by J-Pak This shouldn't be taken to mean they'll sound the same. They still use different caps and a different circuit. And different power filtering, better components all around, specific dac / opamps dont' mean it will sound good, you can put the best...

I've compared my 1212m analoge outputs vs the xtrememusic and it was not in the same league. I only now use my 1212m 1010 card for digital output. There are no real gaming issues having a non creative card, unless you are a huge gamer and want that extra little bit of performance, or...

Quote: Originally Posted by Tachikoma Does the ESI Juli@ have a balanced digital out? I noticed that it has a pair of balanced TRS outputs but they are only analogue outputs, correct? There is no such thing as 'balanced digital output'. Digital is a transport, not a 'output'...