[marcus|]

I need to replace my audigy2 but i dont know what to get.
The card will be used for stereo playback only (maybe dvds too when i move out) . No recording what so ever. Is the 6fire much better? Enough to justify the extra cost (~$130 (LT) vs. ~$100 here in sweden) ? . I did a search on this forum and google but i didn't find much comparing these cards.

cheers
//marcus

 

[pbirkett]

I dont know if the 6Fire is the same chipset as the EWX 24/96, but my mate has one of these, and the sound quality is simply outstanding for a soundcard. Sounds better than a lot of budget CD players IMO, very lively and musical sound. Highly commendable for the cash.

 

[marcus|]

Yes, the 6fire should be comparable to the ewx afik. The aureon uses the newer Envy24HT that has support for 192KHz samplerate and a diffrerent dac (-106dB vs. -110 for the 6fire) there might be other differences aswell. I just need to know if its worth the extra cost.

 

[lini]

marcus: I found both the 6fire (LT) and the Aureon 5.1 Sky to sound a bit more musical and coherent to me than the Audigy and Audigy 2, which tend to sound more clinical and sterile. Especially for 44,1 kHz playback, imaging also seems better on both Terratecs - probably due to the lack of obligatory resampling. If you don't need the drive bay of the 6fire, which can also be purchased separately for the 6fire LT later on, you'd be better off with the Aureon 5.1 Sky (or the 7.1 Space), I'd say, because the Aureons already carry a nice little headphone amp on-board.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[marcus|]

Thanks, the drive bay isn't worth $100 to me. I'll be ordering an Aureon on monday. Unless someone comes up with a compelling reason not to

 

[Fastjack]

Quote:

Originally posted by marcus| Thanks, the drive bay isn't worth $100 to me. I'll be ordering an Aureon on monday. Unless someone comes up with a compelling reason not to

Argh.... I may be a bit late here. I've recently got an Auren Sky and found it sounded great with PortaPros. Using Ety ER4P though I heard noise in the background. Probabaly because the ER4P are very easy to drive and extremely detailed. To get rid of the noise I had to switch off the internal head-amp. Even with moderate listening-levels I still sometimes seem to hear some data-transfers that are induced onto the card.

Can't really say whether this is the case with the DMX, too.

 

[marcus|]

I havnt ordered it yet. And i probably wont be using the headamp anyway, my hd580s probably sound better without it

 

[lini]

Fastjack: That's the problem with pcs - emi interference varies with the individual components, cabling, slot selection, bios settings... But I dare say, that Marcus will have a fair chance to be free from interference induction, when he didn't have problems with his Audigy, before. Well, good luck, Marcus!

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[marcus|]

The card will sit in a (non-VIA) pc with only a graphics card and a nic. It might need a better PSU however.

 

[Fastjack]

Quote:

Originally posted by lini Fastjack: That's the problem with pcs - emi interference varies with the individual components, cabling, slot selection, bios settings... But I dare say, that Marcus will have a fair chance to be free from interference induction, when he didn't have problems with his Audigy, before.

I also thought that noise was a thing of the past but the Etys taught me different. On the other hand it might not really be a problem as there's no noise at all when I use the Aureon without the internal amp and at listening-volume.

Anyone ever tried to make his/her soundcard ..... EMP-proof? I'm thinking some well-placed aluminium-foil around the card might help? Well isolated of course.
On the other hand the interfering lines must be pretty close so it might be the ones (PCI etc.) on the card itself.

 

[gbeard]

There is a new product out called ERS. It was developed by NASA and is sold by the Stillpoints rep. Allan. It comes in sheets that "absorb" RFI (for lack of a better way to say it). It is expensive but it works. I use some in my amplifer, and I get a much quieter noise floor. Supposedly, you can just lay a sheet under a cd player and hear a difference. I am thinking of trying some in my computer (Terratec 6fire). The sheet consists of different layers and the middle is conductive so you have to be very careful with how you use it. I forget the website, but google it and I'm sure you'll find it.

Check it out.

gb

 

[marcus|]

I have an Aureon 7.1 space on the way now

Thanks