[da_burl]

One more thought on what is an inspiring thread. Even if you have a non-upsampling sound card, there is a "bug" in MS Windows (more specifically DirectX and Direct Show ) that re-samples everything, even 44.1khz audio. Yes, it will internally resample 44.1 khz to 44.1 khz! I didn't believe it either, until I read some posts.

”If I understand the K-mixer correctly, It translates 44.1 to 48 KHz, then retranslates it back to 44.1. Am I correct or not?”

You are not correct. The purpose of the SRC is to resample wave audio that has a sample rate different than the default or currently used (by client software) sample rate to enable multiclient compatibility. When Windows boots the KMixer/SRC defaults to the Redbook CD audio sample rate of 44.1kHz and any wave audio input, at that sample rate, to the KMixer should bypass SRC and be passed to the soundcard unmolested at 44.1kHz and if another wave file is played at the same time with a different sample rate (ie. Windows sounds at 22.050kHz) the SRC would resample them to the default sample rate of 44.1kHz. The bug in Windows is that the SRC is applied to any wave audio regardless of the sample rate, even when it is at the default of 44.1kHz. The SRC uses a resampling algorithm with a quality factor that changes the bits including when going from 44.1 to 44.1kHz.

”Anyway, whatever it does it degrades the signal and should be abolished. Every software program should have ASIO drivers built in.”

Agreed! If the bug were corrected ASIO would only be needed to lower latency."


This is why the fuss over asio and kernel streaming to bypass the Windows Kmixer (affectionately referred to as the KMangler at avsforum).

I don't know a lot of specifics, now I am wondering if it applies to CD Audio, or just wav files, or for that matter any other lossless or lossy compression.

Anyway, I safely use foobar2K and kernel streaming to avoid any complications!!

 

[Asmo]

Yes, this 'bug' with kmixer.dll I believe was 'fixed' in windows XP service pack 1. But all versions before that suffer from that problem I believe.

I plan to use asio 2.0 or foobar/kernel streaming for output to be safe too

 

[manstretch]

Asmo: Did you get your M-Audio card yet? If so, what do you think of it, I'm thinking of getting one myself... I'm torn between it and a Santa Cruz.

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally posted by manstretch Asmo: Did you get your M-Audio card yet? If so, what do you think of it, I'm thinking of getting one myself... I'm torn between it and a Santa Cruz.

Well I'm not Asmo, but I've got a Revolution and a Santa Cruz. I will probably end up keeping the Santa Cruz, my setup is: sound card -> Digital coax out -> H/K AVR225 -> Headroom Little -> Senn HD580's. Kernel streaming works with the santa cruz to bypass kmixer, so the only advantage left to the revo is that it doesn't resample CDs to 48kHz and the Santa Cruz does. Honestly, I can not hear the difference this makes. I am sure there are many audiophiles who can hear the difference, but for me the Santa Cruz sounds wonderful, AND it doesn't give me some of the problems the Revo does. The Revo's analog outs sounds much better than the Santa Cruz's analogs though, that is when they're not constantly dropping out (this is one of the aforementioned problems). Hope this helps.

Mike U.

 

[manstretch]

Thanks for the reply... any idea where I can grab a cheap OEM Santa Cruz card? Cheapest I've found is about $59.00 shipped at www.adamant.com

Thanks

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally posted by manstretch Thanks for the reply... any idea where I can grab a cheap OEM Santa Cruz card? Cheapest I've found is about $59.00 shipped at www.adamant.com Thanks

I got mine OEM at newegg for $60 + shipping. So that's not a bad deal. IMO, this card is one hell of a bargain at its price. Love it - though not as much as I love my highpower screen

Mike U.

 

[Uncledan]

I have both aduigy2 and M-audio 7.1, I find out M-audio 7.1 sound better then aduigy2. Can I hear huge different between them? No! Come on, you can not hear any big different if you are playing mp3 song.

Also, I find out a interesting thing about M-audio 7.1. When I am not playing any music on my computer, you will hear the hard drive running from headphone. However, when you start to play music, the funny sound disappear.

 

[Frag|LE-]

Quote:

Originally posted by Eagle_Driver Yeah, antness; don't expect a $200 soundcard to sound as good as a $200 portable or home CD player. If you want a soundcard to sound as good as even a mediocre CDP, you'll have to spend twice that much.

http://echoaudio.com/Products/Mia/index.php

less than $200.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally posted by Frag|LE- http://echoaudio.com/Products/Mia/index.php less than $200.

Oh, that quote that I had previously stated in order for you to respond with this one was due to me knowing only consumer-level soundcards at such a high price range. The Echo Mia series are professional soundcards designed for music production, NOT gaming or entertainment purposes.

 

[badmonkey]

Quote:

If you want good digital output AND good analog output, then I recommend the upcoming M-Audio Revolution as the cheapest possible solution. In addition to being a decent beginner audiophile card, it has gaming support (Direct3D, EAX, A3D, etc) which M-Audio Audiophile series does not have. Best regards, Halcyon

Does anyone have any idea what version of A3D the Revolution supports, version 1 or 2... I can't find that level of detail in their specs.

 

[vrao81]

The revolution should support only A3D 1.0. The only cards that support A3D 2.0 are the ones based on the vortex 2 chipset (diamond mx300, aureal sq2500)

Circuit city is offering the santa cruz retail box for $40 after rebate...