[zhopudey]

Hmmm...I'd tried panning, without any luck. Maybe I'll try borrowing a preamp before putting money on a mic.

 

[sejarzo]

1. How large is your room, actually?

2. I see that I might have misread something earlier. Driving the amp directly from the card and using software volume control, you get adequate mid/high volume--just lacking in bass, or am I wrong?

If the sound card puts out adequate volume, then it's not the source of the problem. Do you hear adequate bass if you drive a headamp and cans from that same output?

The BM6's are nearfield monitors, designed to be flat to their practical limit in a control room environment--definitely not to fill a large room with bass.

The specs suggest that they are -3 dB at 43 Hz, so you cannot expect thundering bass from them. As you mentioned, putting them on solid stands close to the wall will give you the most bass possible, but are you possibly expecting performance beyond the capability of those speakers?

 

[zhopudey]

My room is 9x11, and with a bed, my PC table, and my bookshelf, there's hardly any space left.

Volume is not a problem. Mids and highs sound excellent, and there is no distortion at all.

Don't have a headamp, and my cans are a lowly Philips HP805. But even they give some amount of sloppy bass.

I haven't tried these speakers anywhere else, neither have I tried any other speakers in my rooms. But I've heard a number of bookshelves at my friends places, including Dynaudio Audience 42. This was in a room much larger than mine, and it could output a fair amount of bass. I've bought my speakers and amp used from a friend, and he assures me that they give a very good amount of clean and tight bass.

I've tried my sound card at a friend's place, with a NAD 320BEE and Jamo E855. Sounded excellent.

 

[zhopudey]

BTW, does anyone know the output specifications for the 0404 pci?

 

[infinitesymphony]

So, you've verified that it's not the sound card or the preamplifier. It's probably not the cables unless they're extremely cheap or stock. It could be the quality of power coming into the wall outlet, but that would be unlikely to cause the amount of difference you've described. That leaves either your power amplifier or your speakers.

Have you heard Dynaudio BM6 speakers in another system?

 

[zhopudey]

Actually, I have to try my soundcard with an active preamp. I'm trying to borrow one.

 

[Drewpy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zhopudey /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually, I have to try my soundcard with an active preamp. I'm trying to borrow one.

Since you've already tried your rig going direct from the soundcard to amp (bypassing the passive preamp), and still encountered the same weak bass problem, I fail to see how an active preamp will solve this.

You need to be looking at your amp, monitors, and soundcard (settings and F/X, or it's possible that something has been damaged since you tried it at your friend's place). Did you try just the soundcard at your friend's, or did you cart your whole computer over there? An ESD (electro-static discharge) when installing/removing/transporting the card could have easily fried a component.

 

[zhopudey]

But why would such a problem affect only the bass?

 

[TheVinylRipper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zhopudey /img/forum/go_quote.gif But why would such a problem affect only the bass?

That's what has everyone scratching their heads..

Do you have an mp3 player or a cd player, something you can use to replace the computer as sound source?

If so, hook that up to your preamp power amp combo and see how that sounds.

If it still sounds way too thin then the problem is amp or speakers.

More bass though means the problem is with the computer somehow.

 

[zhopudey]

Yeah, I'm trying to source a cd player.