[bobzemuda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manchau I found my sound card Thanks.

...and what did you get?

 

[manchau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobzemuda ...and what did you get?

Darth Beyer producing good sound with ESI Juli... Right ??? Further that Darth Beyers are comparable with A900LTD in sound signature IMO. So I got ESI Juli.

Darth Beyer haves tight bass, improved mids then DT770 and clear highs. Same with A900LTD.

 

[sgrossklass]

You can't really go wrong with the Juli@. Just remember to have an eye on the *Korean* ESI page for driver updates, as the international pages tend to be outdated (current version is 1.20, which you may already want to get now to have it handy upon installation, it's very small anyway).

 

[tomb]

Quote:

"As I understand it, he has an ordinary deathktop PC, thus it would be a better idea to go with an internal card - more bang, less bucks."

Why is that? An internal, unshielded card is often more expensive than the $79 for a Transit. The only reason a Transit would not be an advantage is if he wanted gaming or speakers - and he stated he was only interested in music and headphones.

Most of the hard-core DIY'ers go with batteries or separate power supplies on their amps for the same reason. You would have to spend a fortune to get the same quality with shielding in-the-box. For instance, even the most expensive Creative's or EMU's do not have the noise floor of the Transit. A PC is a very dirty thing when it comes to interference.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass You can't really go wrong with the Juli@. Just remember to have an eye on the *Korean* ESI page for driver updates, as the international pages tend to be outdated (current version is 1.20, which you may already want to get now to have it handy upon installation, it's very small anyway).

Thanks for the tip on the Korean site for more current Juli@ drivers. I cannot for the life of me find the download link on the page you reference though. Do you happen to have a direct link to it?

 

[BushGuy]

Take the link given above...just above the jpg. there is a 4 line box....on the 2nd line you'll see XP2ME98....click on that letter grouping...............voila....download will start

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpippel Thanks for the tip on the Korean site for more current Juli@ drivers. I cannot for the life of me find the download link on the page you reference though. Do you happen to have a direct link to it?

Like BushGuy wrote, but here's a direct link:
http://www.egosys.co.kr/zeroboard/do...=514&filenum=1
Now you know why it's a good idea to keep links underlined and preferably in a different color.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Got it! Thanks guys.

 

[Chri5peed]

Is installing that driver just a case of running the program(plug & play!

)?

 

[dave_pass]

Many thanks for the recommendations. Tomb, I find the M-Audio Transit product intruiging. A basic question, if I add this does it replace/bypass my soundcard entirely or work in conjunction with it?

Do you then just control the volume using the standard windows audio controls?

Seems like the ESI or ENU cards are a good choice as a first step to build a very solid system long term, but the Transit is a pretty nifty quick 1-stop upgrade for decent sound.

 

[tomb]

The Transit will bypass your existing soundcard, depending on your operating system settings. Actually, under your "Sounds and Audio Devices" in the Control Panel, there is a tab labeled "Audio". It has drop down lists for your "Sound Playback" (soundcard output), "Sound Recording" (soundcard input), and "Midi Music Playback". Alternately, this same settings window may be accessed by selecting "Audio Properties" from the speaker icon in your Windows desktop taskbar, if you have it showing (Windows volume control).

When I first read the glowing reviews about this device, they were some that implied you could not have more than one soundcard loaded on in a PC. Not so - it simply becomes another choice in the drop down lists for possible sources/outputs.

Yes, the volume is controlled through the Windows operating system.

I researched it for a long time, and tried a lot of the standard alternatives - including several types of Turtle Beach/Creative/EMU internal soundcards. None of them had the super low-noise and transient dynamics that exist in the Transit. It is far superior to a Turtle Beach Music Advantage or Roadie, and it puts all but the most professional internal soundcards to shame. For instance, there are posts in various forums that have tested it better than the $200 Creative Platinum with the separate inputs/outputs card-face.

The drawback, as stated, is that it is only 2-channel, unadulterated 20-20K, 100+db SN stereo - no dolby, special effects or speaker capability. However, as a pure source for your expensive or not-so-expensive head amp and headphones, it can't be beat for the price.

Think: audiophile-quality CD/mp3 player from your PC, and that's it.

 

[sgrossklass]

The lowly Transit better than even a Revo 5.1 (not to mention a 0404, Juli@, AP192 or 1212m)? I don't buy that. The codec's (AK4584) specs are somewhat worse than these of the AK4358/AK5465 combo on the Revo 5.1, and then power filtering always is a big issue with USB powered devices (along with jitter introduced by isochronous transfer). They're indeed using a rail-to-rail opamp in the thing, the NatSemi LMV722, GBP 10 MHz, 5.25V/µs. It may be able to surpass an old Audigy2 ZS (Platinum or not, the card is the same) and possibly also the lesser X-Fi card (used on all variants save the top model), but the Real Good Stuff[tm]? Nah.

 

[tomb]

The "really good stuff" do not quote inside-the-box noise measurements . That's impossible, given the variety of PC's out there. An outside-the-box solution is the only way to guarantee non-interference and the lowest noise. Besides, the "really good stuff" has to be stacked against the Transit price.

No one is suggesting that it's in the realm of esoteric audiophile fanaticism, just that it's the highest quality, reasonably-priced solution for someone just wanting CD/mp3 music on headphones (by at least a few $hundred).