[wali]

People who criticize PC as source usually mention that the soundcard inside the computer case is susceptible to internal noise and electronic activity of the computer components. I agree with that opinion to a certain extent, but I think there is a potential solution to that problem.

Since most of the popular soundcards are PCI it has to be installed inside the case to the motherboard; however, what if one could bring out a PCI slot out of the computer case?

A simple extension device like: 'PCI Male -to- PCI Female' connected by a cable will do that job. One could plug the male PCI slot of the cable inside the case and install the soundcard to the female side of the extension cable outside the computer case.

With such an extension one could make a custom made enclosure for the soundcard and insulate it well (very easily done). Theoretically, sense the soundcard is out of the computer case it is isolated from the activities and noise of inside the computer case.

However, there is one major problem with this idea--I could not find any such extension cable. If any one has come upon such a cable let me know. Also any other type of cable with a female PCI slot in one end will do the job.

let me know what you think.

 

[IstariAsuka]

For those real DIYers out there, one of you guys should try making your own.

 

[Zeruel the 14th]

Fascinating idea. However, i've never seen 'plugs' that will allow for it. I've seen boards that will convert a vertical PCI slot to a horizontal one, relative to the mobo of course. I've never seen the connectors for sale seperately.

It does sound like a good idea though. A ribbon cable would be bulky though and bad for airflow, not to mention less than flexible...so some something not too different to what people use on their IDE drives. Round IDE cables...maybe fed though a hole in a back plate maybe?

 

[Daroid]

I had plans to do this also - with a dedicated linear PSU. I believe that upgrading the power supply is crucial to even hope for small improvements. I found a toroid with +5V and -/+12V outputs. That combined with LM1084 series of voltage regulators, two rectifiers and caps. You can use this extender: http://www.meshbook.com/shop/images/...nder_large.jpg from www.meshbook.com.

From the few soundcards I've seen they use two different pins and a ground to "present" itself during boot-up. It will tell the BIOS how much power the card will use at max. No soundcards use the 3.3V line. My plans of doing this stopped because:

- PCI is NOT designed for long cable usage, so you can't make it in an external case. That is why you won't find any, and why "extenders" are so short. They would not comply with PCI specs and would be illegal to sell as a PCI extension cable.
- A good shielded case, toroid, interfaces, cable would jack up the price for a questionable improvement.
- PCI is on it's way out - at some point (rather soon maybe) we will see PCI express cards.
- You will still have a connection to the motherboard and still use grounds and other pins besides +5V -/+12V supply which for audio use could cause interference.

If you still want to try this out I'll gladly assist if needed

 

[SDA]

I've heard this idea before, and as much as I'd love to see it in action there are serious problems there. Take a look at the number of pins in the PCI socket. It wouldn't be easy to get an extension cord with that many conductors, much less one that could run an appreciable distance (especially considering the limitations of the PCI bus as they are). Stubby PCB-based risers are one thing; long, flexible extension cables are quite another. Not that a solution is impossible, but considering the difficulties involved we're probably best off sticking with existing technologies for external cards.

Personally, I'm not convinced that the EMI inside a computer is really an audible sound card issue, but if it really concerns you then you could always build a little Faraday cage around the PCI card. If nothing else, it'd be kind of cute.

EDIT: Right, PCI-Express.. actually, I've heard that it could be possible to get a ribbon extender for PCI-E cards, probably at least partly due to that it's based on a serial bus architecture. Now you'll just have to wait for PCI-E to become commonly used.

 

[lan]

Why not gust use an external soundcard or a DAC? It's easier

 

[wali]

I see that there are some technical limitations for such a device. I'm also pretty sure that no one has ever felt the need for such a 'cable'... anyway, it would've been a very cheap and fun project but it seems impossible right now.

Hopefully with PCI express things become more flexible.

The main reason for this idea was 'not to spend money on a DAC'.

 

[SDA]

Ah, nothing quite like squashing hope.

Seriously, though, you still have some options. You can ignore EMI entirely (IMHO, interference in a properly set-up PC shouldn't be bad enough to audibly interfere with the sound card), you can go for the little Faraday cage, and of course you can just wait for PCI-E.

 

[Asmo]

A properly setup case with quality components, suchs as power supplies, ultra quiet fans and hard drives and a good quiet case, is as far as you need to go. There is nothing in the specs for PCI-E that would allow for this crazy mod either.

The solution to "Noisy PC Environments" is really in the sound card, thats one of the reasons the E-MU soundcards are so great, their ability to filter all that out.

 

[wali]

I usually use my Sony CE545 as source, since my PC is over-clocked (CPU, RAM and FSB) it is quite noisy and I have an Audigy2 as well so I don't usually use my PC to listen to music. However, I thought this 'crazy mod' will work well with a cheap soundcard like AV710.

 

[wali]

I think I found something!

Link: http://www.rackmountpro.com/productpage.php?prodid=593

What do you think about that?

 

[SDA]

Quote:

There is nothing in the specs for PCI-E that would allow for this crazy mod either.

Not entirely true... as a serial bus, it should allow for a little more room for weird tricks like this. I doubt you would be able to go far, but I've heard reports of short PCI-E ribbon cables that would seem to back this up.


Quote:

... since my PC is over-clocked (CPU, RAM and FSB) it is quite noisy ...

Overclocking shouldn't put much dump more interference into the system.. heat is an issue, yes, but not one that will affect the sound cards (until extreme levels are reached, anyway). Asmo had a point, too: sound cards are MEANT to deal with the noisy environment inside a PC. That's the whole reason they work properly in the first place.


Quote:

What do you think about that?

Neat, but there's still the length thing. That's not going to be making it very far from the motherboard at all, and with that distance you might as well try shielding the PCI card in its normal place.

 

[dallasstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wali I think I found something! Link: http://www.rackmountpro.com/productpage.php?prodid=593 What do you think about that?

How would you attach a PCI soundcard to that? From the looks of it, it's a "male" and we need a "female."

 

[IstariAsuka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallasstar How would you attach a PCI soundcard to that? From the looks of it, it's a "male" and we need a "female."

Actually, it looks to me like a flexible riser card, where you plug those male ends into your PCI sockets on your mobo, and then have normal female slots available wherever you need them to be. So, if you could simply use longer wires to connect the two halves without messing up the signal, then it seems to me that that would work.