[TimSchirmer]

I am considering wiring either of these soundcards to my Musical-Fidelity X-Cans, then to my HD600's.

I am curious, I could afford a second hand 2496, or a brand new Revolution.

Is the stereo quality comprimised in the revolution because of the multichannel ability? I will only be using 2 channels most of the time.

 

[lan]

The Revo's analogue outs are better than the AP24/96s in my experience with both of them. I use both in my computer.

 

[TimSchirmer]

Really?

There is a computer show this weekend, I'll keep my eye out for one. If not, i'll buy it at compusa.

Does anyone know if these cost any less at computer shows? My only intention for going to this computer show is to find a good soundcard and maybe a liquid cooling system (only if i can get a cheap card)

 

[dd3mon]

I only have a Revo, but in your position a couple months ago, I found several reviewers who, like lan, liked the Revo's analog outs better than the Audiophile 24/96's.

The Audiophile is a much older product directed at the "pro-market", and it's priced accordingly. The Revo is a card for the consumer market, priced very competitively, however unlike most consumer-driven products, this one doesn't suck! They took all their past experience with pro-level soundcards, paired it with newer DACs and processing chips and the result is a good, cheap card that blows everything in it's price range out of the water (and many above). The next thing up the price ladder (performance wise) that competes with it is the Terratec card, and that costs 2.5x as much.

There are drawbacks, gaming is slower than popular gaming cards (Creative), and there have been a few issues with flaky drivers (getting better), but overall I would recommend this card to anyone on this board looking for quality output from their computer.

-dd3mon

 

[FrostyMMB]

Is it the green input that you'd plug your amp into? Is the sound much different from the Audiophile 2496? I'm finding the Audiophile card way (unbearably) bright and bass light with my SR-325s (Straightwire RCA to mini into CHA47), so while the sound is more clean and clear in comparison to my other sources, I just can't bear to sit through long listening sessions.

 

[lan]

I usually have to pay an entrance fee at the computer shows in my area and there's tax so getting it online maybe cheapest.

dd3mon, do you still have issues with the Revo drivers from a week or 2 ago? I found that even with the earlt Revo drivers, I have no issues just listening to stereo music for headphones. The issues were on speaker bass management, line input, etc.

FrostyMMB, yes the green is usually the output. The AP24/96's output just sounds "sterile" to me. It's not as lively as the Revo's. The AP24/96 is a bit rolled off on the top and bottom end where as the Revo's top end rolls up. That explains the brightness. I wouldn't use the AP24/96 to replace the Revo. That will be tough to find something not as bright yet as clear.

 

[pbirkett]

Has anyone compared the Revolution with a decent CD deck, say of the Cambridge D500SE caliber? I'm using a Santa Cruz at the minute, fed into a Cambridge Audio DAC3, and it doesnt sound too bad, but I wonder how the Revolution on its own would compare?

How does the Revolution compare with the Santa Cruz on its own?

 

[gbeard]

Posted by Ian: Quote:

lThe Revo's analogue outs are better than the AP24/96s in my experience with both of them. I use both in my computer.

I just ordered a Revo AND an Audiophile. I really wanted a digital input for recording from MD or DAT, and I had read mainly good things about the audiophile. I think the Revo needs more inputs to serve me as a recording and playback card.

I was going to try the Terratec, but they seem to have a myrad of problems if the forums are to be believed. I just sent back my second Audigy 2 Platinum Ex. I liked it but never got it running correctly. I was very worried the Terratec would be the same way. I hope I have not make a mistake.

gb

 

[dd3mon]

Quote:

dd3mon, do you still have issues with the Revo drivers from a week or 2 ago? I found that even with the earlt Revo drivers, I have no issues just listening to stereo music for headphones. The issues were on speaker bass management, line input, etc.

No, the only issues I personally had were those with conflicts between M-Audio and Creative drivers (leftover from Audigy) - amazing how resiliant Creative drivers are; simply uninstalling them is quite far from actually removing them from your system

There have been many cases of people having trouble with the drivers though. I'm still a happy customer

-dd3mon

 

[LobsterSan]

The benefit for me of the Audiophile 2496 is that it has RCA inputs, which for me is important for recording off my mixer. If you are using your card primarily for listening, then the Revo would probably be just fine.

 

[aos]

Revolution has actually excellent recording quality. Signal to noise and dynamic range are both over 100dB (exceeding 16bit audio) and the distortion is low. I haven't done any actual recording but the numbers are great. I bought this card solely for use as a measurement instrument and recording quality is critical.

M-Audio Revolution loopback measurements