[organicabstract]

hi.

i've been using my onboard audio for the longest (what a shame) and now that my tax return has arrived, my wallet has given me permission for an upgrade that is long overdue!

right now, all i have is:

-grado sr-60
-beyerdynamic dt770-80 (preferred over sr-60)
-little dot ii+
-onkyo tx-sr304 receiver (which i like more than the ldii+)
-jvc xv-n3 cd player

music is either flac, 320kbps mp3 or cd.

i will probably have a budget of about $180USD (more or less) and i don't even know what to look for. if there is something i would like for way less, even better!

i listen to many types of music. lately a lot of electronic, house, jazz, rap, pop/r&b/funk-rock, rock but my listening habits can get pretty random so something that will fit an around taste would be great haha.

thanks in advance for any help!

 

[itim100]

I think you might be able to save some of that $180. If you like the onkyo for driving your headphones, you could get the famous Chaintech AV710. You can fairly easily output bitperfect audio from it to your onkyo's digital input, then your Onkyo will convert it to an analog signal. The AV710 also has one excellent stereo DAC of its own, probably better than that of the Onkyo, although you will need to amplify it.

The downside to the AV710 is that it is really only useful for passing through digital audio or converting a stereo signal to analog. If you want to game in surround in the best quality and with audio acceleration, you will have to spend more money. If you just listen to stereo music, you might as well just stick with the AV710. Its ability to output bitperfectly and very decent wolfson DAC make it tough to justify spending more.

The upside to the AV710 is that it is dirt cheap, under $30 shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829120103

 

[uraflit]

do you play games? if you do, a cheap x-fi xtrememusic would be ok since you have a little dot ii+ to power the dt770, just in case =D

but, i'd suggest getting the emu-0404 usb version. it has GREAT reviews around here, and it will be a one buy, done deal.

i also, agree that the av-710 is a good option too. i have one =D

 

[organicabstract]

thanks for the replies so far!

i do not play any games on my pc.
i do however like to use my 5.1 system (onboard ->spdif->onkyo) for dvd movies being played on my pc.

if i want to connect my pc to my 5.1 stereo system, would the av710 be thrown out of the picture?

thanks for all the help!!

 

[Azultra]

What's your motherboard ?
If your only matter is the digital output, no soundcard perform (significantly) better than a HDA chipset.

 

[organicabstract]

my motherboard is an ASUS A8N-SLI (regular. not the fancy deluxe etc versions).

the sound quality coming from it is pretty good. but when i directly listen to music cds via jvc dvd player -> onkyo, the sound is slightly better than flacs being played on my pc with its onboard audio.

 

[ZenFountain]

been very happy with the chaintech av-710 / entech 203.2 combo on my DT770's...also using a LD amp.

 

[Abouna]

I'll second the E-MU 0404 USB. Works perfectly, sounds great and has the advantage of being external = moves to a new computer when you get one and you don't have to spend the cash on another sound card.

 

[itim100]

The point of the AV710 is to send the audio digitally unaltered straight to your receiver, or if need be (doesn't sound like what you would do) output it very respectably in analog stereo. Many cards with optical outputs are not capable of this bit-perfect output, for example, Soundstorm audio is always outputted at a 48khz sampling rate, no matter the source, using whatever horrible resampling algorithm it has available to do so. A lot of Creative cards have this same problem. The AV710 can just output the file, which is its advantage over onboard audio (usually, make sure your mobo isn't capable of bitperfect output).

If you are not going to play games, the AV710 is literally as good as it gets in terms of music playback via digital output. Perfect is perfect. Some may argue against this, but let's face it, that argument is ridiculous considering the hardware we're dealing with here.

And as for movies, the AV710 (and most cards, for that matter, even ones with 48khz resampling problems, because DTS/AC3 are encoded at 48hkz on DVDs) will just pass the movie audio straight through to your receiver. It can't encode a 5.1 signal, but it can certainly pass one through just fine.

If you listen to music and movies on your receiver through spdif, the AV710 is really a good match for you. If you listen to movies on your receiver through spdif, but listen to music via the analog out on your soundcard to an amp to headphones, then you might consider looking into a soundcard with better analog converters, although the AV710 does have that rather well respected Wolfson DAC.

 

[Azultra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by organicabstract /img/forum/go_quote.gif my motherboard is an ASUS A8N-SLI (regular. not the fancy deluxe etc versions). the sound quality coming from it is pretty good. but when i directly listen to music cds via jvc dvd player -> onkyo, the sound is slightly better than flacs being played on my pc with its onboard audio.

Aww, you can spot that ?

Idd the A8N-SLI a/ chipset is an ALC850 which resamples everything to 48khz..

An AV-710 is a good deal, but drivers are not that great. Otherwise the Prodigy 7.1 HiFi (Audiotrak) really fits all your needs.
Precision : do you mean that you prefer your receiver over LD2+ whatever the source is, or that you prefer your receiver over the LD2+ combined with your ALC850 onboard sound ? In the first case a Revolution 5.1 (M-Audio) has a headphones output w/ a solid amplification stage, so you would have an alternative to the LD2+

 

[madwolfa]

I had a "48KHz" digital output problem with my integrated Soundmax AD1988B codec. And I've just solved it - purchased "used" M-Audio Audiophile 2496.

Bitperfect 44.1 KHz !

 

[organicabstract]

i appreciate all the help with the replies!
Quote:

Aww, you can spot that ?

the thing is, if to ME, the sound is only slightly better, i wouldn't want to shell out $150.00+ for a fancy card just to get me there.
Quote:

Precision : do you mean that you prefer your receiver over LD2+ whatever the source is

yes.

i'll be giving that av710 a shot.
THANKS for all the help guys.