[rawhit]

I was looking for better sound cards than my sblive value to drive the grado 325.
the audiophile 2496 and DMX 6 fire seem to be some of the good 24/96 cards that most people recommend here.
The 6Fire has better alround functionality ie games (eax, a3d support) and breakout box etc.

Has anyone compared the sound quality of these 2 cards?

Also the DMX headphone jack is amplified (60 mw) but is it comparable (not in terms of output power but sound) to any dedicated amps?

Are these cards in the same league as good mid fi players like Denon 370 or Marantz 6000SE?

i was wondering whether to get an amp (i havent listened to any amp so far) or change the soundcard first.
cheers

rawhit

 

[Audio-Me]

I have owned the M-Audio DiO 2496, which should be pretty similar to the Audiophile 2496. I traded it for a Terratec EWS88D, which is what the DMX 6Fire is based on (same technology, just different features). I can say that the Terratec sound card has a cleaner (slightly crisper highs, tighter bass, non hissy mid-range) sound than the M-Audio, other than that, they're pretty damn close in performance and sound. I would say that it beats my home CD players, which work quite well with my speakers. I use the PC (sound card) for headphone rig, and Denon CD changer for my speaker system.

You can't go wrong with either of those two cards.

If you're going to use your PC as your main source instead of a home CD player, you should definately upgrade the sound card. But I recommend you get a headphone amp anyway. I'm a strict Sennheiser HD600 user, so I can't suggest which amps work well with the Grados, but there are quite a few head-fiers that can and will.

I suggest you read this guide if you haven't already:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...&threadid=7941

 

[rawhit]

hey good work A&M .
Thats a nice guide.

 

[Blighty]

If it has to be for gaming you might want to consider the Extigy from soundblaster. The 6Fire has serious driver issues from most people who have used it. If it is mainly for music then I would suggest the EWX 24/96 from Terratec.

 

[rawhit]

im not much of a gamer...
though eax, a3d support would be nice
i am leaning towards 6Fire because it looks like the only all in one solution out there for good sound quality, games and dvds (5.1 speaker support).
Also the breakout box with lots of connectors would be great for future upgrades like outboard DACs.

i guess I will wait for the a few months for the driver issues to be resolved and the prices to come down a bit as its a bit over my budget

 

[Audio-Me]

The breakout box makes a big difference, it gets rid of any noise interference which equates to clean sound output. Don't hold your breath, the price won't be dropping any time soon.

 

[dlow]

Quote:

Originally posted by rawhit games and dvds (5.1 speaker support).

Beware!!!! Make sure your software DVD decoder will support the digital out on your card. I had to switch from WinDVD to PowerDVD when I got my AP 2496.