[bindibadgi]

Hi All

I have an onboard C-Media 9738 AC97 sound card and I'm finding it very hard to live with. There is nasty hiss/distortion/crackle etc and I don't know how to fix it (perhaps I can't). I've muted everything but Wave, and I've tried plugging my headphones (I have no amp) into the front and the back sockets, but there is still nasty stuff happening whatever I do. I've resorted to using my iRiver h340 as my source all the time. It is MUCH better than the sound card.

Is there a way to clean up the signal? This post seems to offer a solution, but I can't find anywhere hosting the foo_output_asio.exe.

I don't have money to spend, since my phones just broke so I need to shell out for new ones, but if it is unavoidable I guess I'll have to save. My budget for the phones is no more than $200, but I'm undecided between Audio Technica a900 and Equation Audio RP-21 phones. The a900s are $179 but the RP21s are much less, so if buying the RP-21s allows me to get something to fix my source, then that is an option.

So the bottom line is a free fix is what I'm after, but if I can't have that, then I need something cheap (no more than $70), and I'd prefer something easy. I could do something external, either USB or optical, but inside my PC there is a huge mess of stuff, so I'd rather not fight with all of that.

What options do I have? Or am I screwed?

 

[Joshatdot]

Buy a Chaintech AV-710

 

[mADmAN]

i think the alien DAC + CMOY would be a good bet.

OR

Chaintech AV710 + CMOY

these are the cheapest combos i can think of.

 

[Tachikoma]

The SB Live 24 bit deserves a mention, as far as budget sources go. Cheaper and easier to find than the AV-710 too.

 

[Xhristmas]

x2 the SB Live! 24 bit. This is the card that I have now. It does sound great for the price, and it is easily available.

 

[]|[ GorE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma /img/forum/go_quote.gif The SB Live 24 bit deserves a mention, as far as budget sources go. Cheaper and easier to find than the AV-710 too.

Live! 24bit or Audigy SE.

 

[Apocalypsee]

May I know what so special about SB Live! 24-bit, it seems a lot recommending this card, is it better than the old SB Live! 5.1?

 

[Xhristmas]

I'm not sure how much better it is than the old 5.1, but I'm pretty sure that it's an upgrade to it. The SB Live! 24-bit is actually even 7.1

Here's a review: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...=sound+blaster

 

[a shovel]

My Sound Card SUX - What to do?
buy a dac1 usb.

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

May I know what so special about SB Live! 24-bit, it seems a lot recommending this card, is it better than the old SB Live! 5.1?

A non-audiophile friend of mine got it and she absolutely loved it <_< especially after I told her to do the stuff on this page http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...ht=live+24-bit

I had a hard time differentiating sources at the start... the AV-710 didn't sound that much better than integrated on my system, so the SB live 24 bit doing that for her means something, I guess.

 

[MCC]

My AV-710 is a level above dad's 24-bit Live! but YMMV.
Edit: Plus, I have blackgates in mine.

 

[spongezone]

I doubt there is a software fix to that problem. It sounds like its just the typical onboard sound issues of being able to hear hisses and pops during CPU and/or hard drive use. Anyway, I've heard good things about the AV-710 (theres an open box one at newegg for a little over $20 shipped). You'd no doubt be better off getting a sound card and a lesser pair of headphones than a more expensive pair of headphones that will be listening to fuzz.

 

[bindibadgi]

Nice spotting! One problem though: I live in Australia, so getting things here is often a problem (and forget buying it here. We get shafted big time - not the shop's fault but it happens unfortunately).

The other thing is I'm still reluctant to fish around in my (extremely messy) PC case, so I still think something external would suit me better. I already have an optical out, if that helps (although anything which uses it is probably out of my price range).

That brings me to my other problem, as I already mentioned, I am pretty broke. I think I've nearly decided that I should go for the Equation headphones, so that saves me some $$, but not too much.

I was actually thinking of going for one of those little turtle beach audio advantage micro things, but damn it's expensive to get one to Australia! And I'm not brave enough to try one of the ultra cheap Chinese knockoffs, because they seem to be a crap shoot.

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

My AV-710 is a level above dad's 24-bit Live! but YMMV. Edit: Plus, I have blackgates in mine.

Tried the 24-bit without the mixer device? It was a pretty large difference, from what I've heard (from my friend).

 

[bindibadgi]

OK I looked in my box last night and it's not as bad as I remembered. So maybe I will get a new card.

Question though: what kind of comparison is there between these inexpensive sound cards (Live! 24 and AV-710) and say the Alien DAC? Would I notice the differnence?