do computers make good sources?

[Glassman]

no, you've been said that the front out of Revo sound worse than Audiophile, nobody ever talked about the rear channels

 

[aos]

Quote:

ADC is a very cheap and basic one too, becouse Revo wasn't meant to be recording card..

Wow, where did you get THAT from?? I bought Revo as soon as it was released, specifically for use as RMAA measurement tool and its ADC is excellent - low distortion and high S/N, as well as being 24/96. And the experimental results do show it. I am very satisified with the recording part of this card. I think the A/D chip is the second-best that the AKM makes (and they claim to make the highest performance chips in the industry). I can't say about sonic quality of playback or recording, as I prefer external DAC still.

 

[Glassman]

well I own ESI Waveterminal 192X with the best ADC from AKM reaching somewhere around 120dB, that is

with Revo I was able to measure up to 103dB at best, while now I can measure what they states in datasheets for DACs.. AK4355 reaching true 106dB performance but as soon as I build the external DAC using 117dB BB PCM1730 I'm sure I will measure even more..

 

[aos]

103dB is nothing to scoff at in a $100 soundcard! Not as good as your top of the line but compared e.g. to Audigy it's 10+dB better and is higher than CD standard (16bit) so it is quite adequate for measurement and even recording. Drivers and control leave something to be desired though.

 

[Edwood]

So, does this mean that an external sound "card" like the Audiophile USB will be a better than an internal one?

Orpheus, the electrical noise you were measuring during recordings, were you able to hear any of the electrical noise when playing back sounds that did not have noise in them to begin with?

I am looking for a great sound card with low jittter and little to no EMI/RFI supceptibility. I am going to use it with my Muse Model Two DAC.


-Ed

 

[lan]

In the quest for a quiet system, mine just died. Not enough cooling.

I'm back up and running again. In a way, it's unfortunate that my computer is too fast, eats too much power, and creates too much heat. Future systems will just eat more power:/

 

[D-EJ915]

My computer is always cool, like less than 90, but unfortunately...in the process, my fans are so powerful that the PC actually circulates all the air in my room through it.

 

[Orpheus]

Quote:

So, does this mean that an external sound "card" like the Audiophile USB will be a better than an internal one?

nope. like anything in the world, a good internal card is better than a bad breakout box. but breakout boxes do have an advantage.
Quote:

the electrical noise you were measuring during recordings, were you able to hear any of the electrical noise when playing back sounds that did not have noise in them to begin with?

nope. the noise is only present when zoomed in all the way with Sound Forge of a recording. no one will ever turn up the volume loud enough to hear that noise during playback, else risk going deaf when the music starts.

you see, low noise is important for recording cause the noise will start getting compounded as you mix in more and more tracks. however, when you are playing back music, a good "card's" noise floor really wouldn't be audible. heck, that Audiomedia was so quiet that my amps and preamps generate more noise!

but of course.... that doesn't matter much to audiophiles. everyone wants the best no matter if you can hear it or not. nothing wrong with that though.

the irregular sound wave (non-hiss) WAS present though. i just assume it was from the computer.
Quote:

I am looking for a great sound card with low jittter and little to no EMI/RFI supceptibility. I am going to use it with my Muse Model Two DAC.

well, you already got a good DAC. all you really need is an interface with SPDIF right? that Audiophile card looks okay for this application. you're gonna have to spend a lot more if you want something with significantly less jitter.
Quote:

Wow, where did you get THAT from?? I bought Revo as soon as it was released, specifically for use as RMAA measurement tool and its ADC is excellent - low distortion and high S/N, as well as being 24/96.

um, NO. the original post was right... the Revo should not be used for any serious measurements or recording. he was right--it is really not intended for recording. it's just a souped up soundblaster really. look, NOTHING with 1/8" jacks is for serious use. i promise you. anything with that many features for less than $100 is only for home use, not intended for anything serious.

i'm not bagging on your card. it's good for you. just don't think you bought a Ferrari for a Honda's price.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus you know, i don't have much experience with the cards in question... but in general internal cards are susceptible to the noisy environment inside the computer. i used to have a Digidesign Audiomedia III PCI card. thing costed me $800 new. but it was an excellent performer. ....all but one thing... if you enlarge the waveform of a recording of silence, you can actually see a complex sound wave, resembling a sine wave. so, this noise isn't just the ADC's bit noise... it's a recording of some electrical noise inside.

It doesn't happen with the Audiophile 24/96. You can record "silence" with nothing connected to the analog in jacks, and if you boost it as loud as possible you hear nothing but a slight hiss (dither added by the ADC). The noise floor with an analog loopback (D/A -> A/D) is at -102.1dB... actually tested. Probably not "superb" or world class performance, but very low noise indeed.

With my previous card (Soundblaster PCI128) it's a different story. If you boost what you record on that, there's a whirring noise that sounds suspiciously like EMI from the fans inside the computer. I suspect high end soundcards have improved a lot since you bought that Digidesign Audiomedia III (never even heard of that one). Unless the "complex sound wave" you saw was actually triangular or noise-shaped dither.

 

[Edwood]

So is the RME Digi Pad overkill as a transport for my Muse 2?

Or is it better to get the Audiophile USB and upgrade the power supply. Although both will end up costing the same if I buy a linear regulated power supply for the Audiophile USB.

-Ed

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Edwood So is the RME Digi Pad overkill as a transport for my Muse 2?

Probably, but that super low jitter clock and such certainly couldn't hurt. Not a bad price at $260 either, if you can see yourself spending that on a transport. If you ever got into stuff like transferring vinyl to digital (or any kind of digital recording/mastering), some of the card's extra features might eventually come in handy too.

 

[Edwood]

I know this may sound like a stupid question, but has anyone tried the RME Digi Pad with PC Games? Does it have hardware accleration of sound on the card itself, or does it rely on the CPU?

I want to possibly use my music computer for gaming as well, since I will be using headphones when I play most of the time.

I'm just trying to avoid having to build another computer. LOL, I have far too many as it is.

I am rebuilding two of my computers with Pentium M (Banias) based Boards and CPU's. Will run alot cooler than Athlons and Pentium 4's. Only down side is cost.

-Ed

 

[pbirkett]

I dont think the RME would work with games (I could be wrong) because I dont believe it supports Directsound in Windows 2000/XP. I think it does in Win9x though, so Win98 gaming me be an option with an RME card.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Edwood So is the RME Digi Pad overkill as a transport for my Muse 2? Or is it better to get the Audiophile USB and upgrade the power supply.

The PAD will have better digital outs than AP USB. I have the PST and it easily blows the AP USB even with upgraded power supply. Actually I preferred my AP 24/96 than AP USB.

Quote:

Originally posted by Edwood I know this may sound like a stupid question, but has anyone tried the RME Digi Pad with PC Games?

RME Digi96 doesn't have real DirectSound drivers so no games or watching movies with this card. There's just major stutter with ANY sound that's non ASIO. It's a true pro card.

 

[Edwood]

Crap.

Time to build another computer.

-Ed