[rebith75]

buying a new sound card, heard of these, why should you have them and why not? better than standard pci in what ways? worse in what ways? thanks in advance

 

[LFC_SL]

Better for compatibility - desktop or laptop. Unplug and take it to mates
Worse - it seems usb versions of PCI cards cost more

 

[buzz]

Depends on what you need a soundcard for - games and or music?
Some USB souncards work better than PCI SC for 16bit 44.1kHz stereo music, but they wont work with 5.1 or 7.1, 96, 192kHz.

 

[rebith75]

ya this is for 100% foobar music action, connected to my oldish denon amp and dayton BR1's or HD280 pros

 

[Ross1]

I would one of the main cons is if you are concerned about how much cpu cycles its going to take up. The other is price.

 

[uzziah]

i'd just get a chaintech av710 (used on ebay if possible) if i were you; otherwise, the chinese pc-link is $30+ship from diykits and also has COAX

 

[Gatticus]

External soundcard won't get electrical interference from PC like a PCI soundcard can.

 

[HIPPOhifi]

With respect to USB soundcards:

Advantages:

• More specialist options, producing better sound quality for your requirements
• Portability, although ensure you check the size of the unit before purchase
• Future-proof especially in laptops, USB standard is here to stay
• Upgradeability, many laptops wont allow you too upgrade the internal soundcard
• Easy to install software/hardware

Disadvantages:

• Features, in some cases limited connections and limited audio processing/effects
• Price, as LFC_SL comment

PS HIPPOhifi and a number of customers haven't noticed extra computer resources being used with the Bloat (External soundcard/DAC). In the near future, we plan to benchmark machines with/without to prove/disapprove this theory.

cheers,
Brent

 

[Ross1]

Well HIPPOhifi, my 0404 usb certainly uses more resources. When its play music through foobar, CPU usage is at around 15%. Using the onboard sound to play music through foobar, CPU usage is at around 2%.

I would however say usb soundcards usually have just as many ins/outs and PCI cards do. For instance with the 0404 usb, you have:
Two E-MU XTC™ Ultra-low Noise Mic/Line/Hi-Z Preamps with Soft Limiter and 48V Phantom Power (-127dBu EIN)
Two 1/4" Balanced Outputs (117dB SNR)
Stereo 1/8" Speaker Output (117dB SNR)
24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF Optical In/Out (Switchable to AES/EBU)
24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF Coaxial In/Out (Switchable to AES/EBU)
MIDI Input/Output
Stereo Headphone Output (114dB SNR)

with the 0404 pci you have:
Two 1/4" Analog Inputs and Outputs
Optical 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
Coaxial 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
MIDI In/Out

 

[tuhnu]

At least my SB Audigy 2 NX ate CPU a lot. Eventually I had to sell it because games ran so badly with it. My system is quite low-end though.

 

[HIPPOhifi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well HIPPOhifi, my 0404 usb certainly uses more resources. When its play music through foobar, CPU usage is at around 15%. Using the onboard sound to play music through foobar, CPU usage is at around 2%.

Will be interesting to see the results. I will see if I can run a few benchmarks over the next couple of days and let you know, not enough spare time.

cheers,
Brent

 

[rebith75]

Hey I looked at the pclink from diykits.com. would I need to buy a DAC seperately? right now I have the red/white coming from the amp (denon dra-365R) into the green from the onboard. This is talking about optical etc. what would I need to do to make this happen? thanks in advance

 

[rebith75]

Basically im looking for the best setup for around 75 or under. im interested in the usb's because I am getting a laptop soon. I have also heard of the M-audio transit, this looks good as well, what do you guys think? best budget usb sound card

 

[OGTL]

Cons: can be annoying as hell to configure

Pros: Excellent sound

 

[audioengr]

Buy a used Edirol UA-5. This is the best stock converter IMO.

The Creative Audigy 2 NX is also very good and no pops and ticks - also used. If you cannot find these, then the M-Audio Audiophile USB. These are the inexpensive mid-performance solutions. They all come with drivers that will be better than the Windows native driver.