[photographlondon]

I'm looking to get a decent soundcard, probably an Emu 0404. However I still want to keep iTunes as my music player because I really like the playlists and the way it integrates with my iPod.

In the light of this will I still benefit from an Emu card? My understanding is that iTunes won't support ASIO and upsampling, and some people seem to think that without it the Emu isn't that great.

I'm open to any card suggestion, I currently have an SB live in my computer. I never play games or watch movies on my PC so music playback is all I want.

 

[EasyRaider]

Well, at the very least get a Chaintech AV-710. The Live is awful for music (at least in my experience).

 

[bangraman]

Edited as this would be a duplicate, and it wasn't an answer about the 0404 anyway but the Chaintech

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...378#post998378

 

[photographlondon]

Very interesting post Bangraman!

I may be better off sticking to my iPod when sat at the PC then. To my ears the iPod sounds better than the SB live. My Linn classik sounds considerably better than either, but it is in my living room and is staying there.

Are there any alternatives? Maybe an outboard DAC? I don't want to spend crazy money, but could maybe stretch to something like an Ack Dack.

As an aside I tend to favour warmth over detail when listening to music, so I would prefer components that match that kind of sound.

 

[photographlondon]

Actually, on second reading you are really comparing the SB Live with the Chaintech, but I wonder if the Emu cards can perform better from iTunes?

 

[bangraman]

That's one of the reasons IMO when it makes sense to get the E-Mu 0404, for the optical/coaxial outs. There are affordable DACs all over the place.


One of note though is http://home.triad.rr.com/scottnixon/dac.htm.


I can't give you an answer re: the 0404. I do however need another soundcard and will probably be going for it. I can do another test then, but I'm not going to give any time.

 

[EasyRaider]

That's interesting. I upgraded to an Audigy 2 1/2 years ago. The perceived difference in sound quality (using Denon AH-D750) was very minor, nowhere near the huge gap some made it out to be. Granted, I mostly listened to low quality mp3s at the time, but I had expected more of an improvement. The noise floor became a little lower, from slightly annoying to the point I can just barely discern it at normal listening levels. I felt myself enjoying the music more, but that could just as well be psychological.

With that noted, I have never been happy with the Audigy's sound, definitely not hi-fi. The AV-710 seems to be regarded as being a lot better, but maybe you need "golden ears" (which I do not have) to really appreciate the difference.