[Duperman]

Whats up head-fi, first time here; word on the street was that this was the place to talk about audio-related stuff! Just want some recommendations on what's a good audio card for my the m-audio studiophile av40. I recently got them and they are much better than my old logitech pair so I figure getting a discrete sound card would actually be worth it now.

It's really just for listening to music and watching movies...extra juice for gaming performance isn't really a priority and I don't ever intend to expand to a 5.1 or 7.1 system. My local comp shop carries (CAD prices btw) asus xonars, auzentech, creative, m-audio, and a couple of e-mu, which are most of them I guess?

Now I've done snooping around and am thinking in the 80-90$ xonar dx or m-audio 2496. Or a little more @ $130-170 range covers the xonar prelude, emu-1212m and m-audio 192 as well, but I'm not sure they will make too much an improvement given my speakers. Though it might be nice just to have for "futureproof" sake should I get some really high end speakers down the road.

That said, if I'm never going to set up 7.1 speakers (I won't), does one assume the card that only offers 2 channel stereo vs 7 (i.e. 192 vs prelude) would offer better sound for the 2 channels? And why are there so many sound cards

? I know video cards are always improving and old ones become obsolete quite fast, but I thought audio technology never really changes that much. And these are all ready vista sp2 compatible?

Again I don't need any features or extra functionality that professional mixers/recorders might want- I'm just a music enthusiast that listens to a lot of songs on his computer and want it to sound as nice as my budget allows

thanks in advance!

 

[bernado]

You might want to have a look at the Xonar DS. Rockbottom price and if you're main priority is 2 channel stereo, it's a winner. It shares the same AV2000 processor as other Asus cards and has an upgradeable opamp. I've just ordered a replacement chip (on a sample basis) for a few dollars to cover postage.
I have this card and am well impressed; It's internal spdif header, which enables me to pass audio to my Nvidea video card for multiplexed hdmi output, is another plus for me

 

[Duperman]

Heya whoa I thought you made a typo but there is an Asus DS, haha...great why's it named so similar to the DX =/

I looked at some info for it, I guess it's a pretty new card as it's not available in north america yet, or at least not Canada. Would it be an improvement, solely on sound quality, to the dx? I know its a lot cheaper but I think it also stripped down application features, though I'm not concerned about that, or the nice swappable opamp, so long as it sounds the same or better ^^

 

[Aevum]

and it comes with two screens

 

[bernado]

I can't tell you how it compares sonically to the other Asus cards, but fed into my LDMKIII amp and HD650s, it sounds pretty nice, I'm expecting some nice improvements when I swap out the stock op amp. This extensive review does provide some useful info and interesting comparisons - Elite Bastards - ASUS Xonar DS PCI sound card review

 

[Zoomastigophora]

That's a bizarre move by Asus. The DS comes with the AV200 instead of the AV100, but actually has worse DACs. I guess the swappable OPAmps are supposed to make up for that. I'd probably just stick with the DX if you're looking to stay under $100 since it has better DACs and gold plated connectors. The AV100 and AV200 are both the same C-Media Oxygen HD chip, but the AV200 supposedly passes some quality screening process. Most listening tests places the DX as indistinguishable from the D2X.

Past $100, you've got a lot more options available to you and that's the price point where I stop paying attention. Stuff gets esoteric with regards to audio quality, although if you're into using your PC in a home theatre, you may want to pay attention to what digital encoding support is available on the cards. I'm happy with my DX and 2.1 setup.

 

[Duperman]

Yeah I did decide to go with the asus xonar dx, DS isn't available here but either way I think this card should be pretty good given my budget.

But er, I've run into a problem installing it. I have my dell 435 minitower desktop lying open right now. I can get the card into the free pci slot, and I can plug the 4 pin connector into the card but I see no way to plug the other end of that 4 pin connector anywhere. Confused

I thought audio cards just needed to plug into the pci slot.

 

[my.self]

if u got the xonar d1, which is what i got, u just need to plug it into the pci slot. the dx is the same thing as the d1 (i think) but it uses a pci-e x1 slot. so u need extra cables for more power cuz supposedly that one x1 slot doesnt have enough power.

 

[Duperman]

Dang...no the dx indeed needs extra juice, it came with a 4 pin to molex adapter, the 4 pin fits into the card snugly but my dell doesn't seem to have any molex connectors lying around.

Um I don't quite know how to explain it, but I do see this cable hanging in the air.

Its actually split off from a same cable that plugs into what I assume to be my hard drive. So I guess it's free for any extra optical drive? Since my computer does have an expansion slot.

If thats the case are there adapters that would plug my molex into that cable, and does this degrade any sound quality or affect my hard drive power...

 

[Zoomastigophora]

Terrible angle, but I assume that's standard SATA power connector in which case this is probably what you need:

Newegg.com - Nippon Labs SATA to Molex Power Adapter SATA-FM SATA 15 Pin male to Molex 4 pin female adaptor for SATA I and SATA II Hard Drive Model SATA-FM - Adapters & Gender Changers

Your hard drive power is unlikely to be affected, and it won't affect your sound quality. Well then again, this is the forum where people have built an external power supply for their Essence STX so...

 

[ROBSCIX]

The extra power input is a good thing as it takes power directly from the PSU as oppsed to taking it from the slot. I think the idea is cleaner power from the direct tap.
Both the DS and DX are aimed at the entry market but the DX is a bit higher up the ladder based on what I have read and tested.

 

[bernado]

My upgrade op amp is on it's way. I'll report back my findings when it arrives. For very little money, this card with a relatively cheap upgraded chip (via sample deal), has potential to be quite popular within a certain market (me included)

 

[Duperman]

heyyy so my local computer shop carried this.

I can't try it until i get home but I think it should work...my sata connects to the female end, which changes to the female molex, which connects to the xonar's male molex, which connects to the 4 pin floppy, which powers the card.

I read this though...

All about the various PC power supply cables and connectors

"You have to be careful about SATA power cables. Some of them are missing the 3.3 volt wire. People with older power supplies often use adapters which convert from 4 pin peripheral cables to SATA power cables. But since 4 pin peripheral connectors only supply 5 and 12 volts, the SATA connector is missing 3.3 volts (there's no orange wire)."

I've no clue if that applies to me. My sata cable has 5 wires though (includes orange) but the sata-to-molex adapter shows 4, will it fry?

by the way i'm surprised no one else with dx had this problem...I noticed even the Xonar STX requires extra power. Are most computer PSUs supposed come with spare molex/4pin connnectors?