[rligeti]

I'm still enjoying the hell out of my a900s, in fact more so than ever. They just keep getting better, the more I listen. What a treat! Anyway, my headphone jack on the laptop is pretty sucky and I wanted something a little cleaner, warmer and more powerful to listen through than my onboard sound. I decided to get either a pcmcia or usb sound device. Suggestions?

Thanks!!
Rob

 

[lindrone]

Echo Indigo makes a very good PCMCIA soundcard with a little bit of amp built in.

http://www.echoindigo.com/

Otherwise, M-Audio has good external USB soundcards.

 

[rligeti]

of those 2 options, which do you think will yeild higher sound quality?

Thx,
R

 

[lindrone]

I would highly recommend the Echo Indigo for portability reasons, if you don't have anything else occupying your PCMCIA slots right now, it's definitely the way to go. The M-Audio Sonica also runs into bandwidth and CPU utilization problems because it's USB 1.1.

I don't think there's any head-on review of these two soundcards against each other. I would take the Echo Indigo though.

 

[rligeti]

sweet. thnaks for the info. I'll post a review when it arrives..



R

 

[rligeti]

BTW, there's 3 left on ebay at $119 each...

Rob

 

[blessingx]

A second vote for the Indigo, Indigo IO or Indigo DJ or portability, though M-Audio has the Sonica, Transit, and Audiophile USB. I lot depends on if you require recording capabilities, and if you plan on using it with various computers (plus for USB). USBs bandwidth is much greater than usually necessary, but again it depends on uses.

You can see other options here.

 

[Jamey Warren]

I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention our new BitHead scheduled for delivery on Feb. 1 so check it out here:
http://www.headphone.com/layout.php?...tID=0000010003

Thanks,
Jamey

 

[rligeti]

thanks but I already have a total airhead and love it!

 

[PodMan]

My primary listening setup right now is a Dell Inspiron 8500--->Echo Indigo--->A900 and I like it a lot. The Indigo is miles better than the onboard sound of the dell.

I primarily use iTunes to play the music that is stored on the laptop but I use foobar2k to stream files wirelessly from a nearby desktop.

 

[PYROTAK]

foobar2000>*

for now im using foobar at 24-bit from my lappy via spidf to my HT reciever to the headphone jack.

gogo high quality DACs!

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally posted by rligeti thanks but I already have a total airhead and love it!

Keep in mind the BitHead isn't just an amp. Potentially you could sell your airhead, to help pay for this combo unit.

 

[waffenschmidt]

I don't know the Indigo, but I'm not sure I'd write off the Sonica based on the "problems" Lindrone cited. I've had one for close to a year now, running on an older notebook with a 600 Mhz Pentium III, and I've never had any problem with bandwidth or CPU utilization problems. I know there are others here that have had good experiences with it.

That said, you certainly need an amp with it, which could be one more thing to carry if you plan to use it portably. Maybe the Indigo does have enough power to drive your A900s, and if so you could potentially achieve greater portability by eliminating the amp. OTOH, you might end up carrying an amp anyway, if not now then when you decide to switch to cans that are harder to drive

 

[thomaspf]

Another vote for the Indigo. High quality DACs and a nice low distortion headphone amplifier. Distortion goes up with low impedance phones, though. It also provides an analog volume control!


I am using the Indigo with the Etymotic er-4s and the results are very satisfying.

Besides the great sound it beats carrying around yet another box.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally posted by lindrone The M-Audio Sonica also runs into bandwidth and CPU utilization problems because it's USB 1.1.

What are you talking about? There are no such problems. CD audio (44.1kHz/16 bit) uses only 8% of the USB 1.1 bus' bandwidth. I've used the M-Audio Sonica on a lot of machines without problems.