[MrYman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriksson My Edirol UA-25 is still available for purchase

Ohh then, you can surely test something for us, put DAC1 after UA-25 and let us know if sound is any worse than putting DAC1 after Transit?

 

[eriksson]

That would indeed be interesting.. But I have the Edirol at my other place, so I will have to do it this weekend.. Stay tuned

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrYman Ohh then, you can surely test something for us, put DAC1 after UA-25 and let us know if sound is any worse than putting DAC1 after Transit?

 

[MrYman]

Anyone heard Flute and PPA/M3? Your opinion?

 

[Supacon]

I just purchased a pair of Etymotic Research ER-4P canalphones, and I was testing it with my available audio interfaces. I have a first Generation Creative Labs Audigy, an M-Audio Transit, and an M-Audio Firewire 410.

The Audigy was noisy, and not all too nice. I tried the Transit, and the sound was much cleaner, no perceptible noise, etc., but the bass seemed really diminished.

I then tried the Firewire 410 (headphone outputs), and it's superb sounding. All the bass is there, very clear sound, no noise. It's such a flexible soundcard too, with eight analogue outputs that can be assigned to two headphone monitors. Edit: I can hear a very slight bit of noise when I turn the headphone volume controls on the actual device up to the maximum. I'm not too happy about this!

I'd love to try this with an amp now... but has anyone else noticed that bass really seems to suck on the Transit? I'm wondering if maybe I'm just used to a distorted and uneven frequency response on other soundcards or something.

I also have a firewire Audiophile in stock, but I'm supposed to sell that, as much as I'd like to rip it open and listen to it.

 

[MrYman]

Thans for this info! It would be nice for many here if you could compare your M-Audio Firewire 410 to some amp up to $400 (as much as M-Audio costs), any chances you can do that?

 

[Supacon]

Well, there's a chance I *could* compare my soundcards to amps, or with amps. I'd love to try the firewire 410, or even the transit with amps as well. The bass just sucks on the transit, but the sound is mighty clean - no hissing or anything when playing quiet music. Maybe an amp would improve that situation. It is only powered by USB, after all.

The only problem is that I 'aven't got one. Anyone willing to donate one, or maybe, trade a nice headphone amp for a Firewire Audiophile or M-Audio Transit and some money?

(I guess this would make more sense in the for-sale section)

 

[MrYman]

any news? any friend with an amp with whom you could compare your fw 410?

 

[MrYman]

UPDATE #9: Added “Behringer B-Control audio BCA2000” ($220) and “Behringer B-Control DeeJay” ($150) to the list...

 

[MrYman]

UPDATE #10: Updated some prices as of today April 29. To note: “Focusrite Saffire” is now JUST $400 in USA!

 

[spike33]

listened to edirol ua25 headout for a bit... it is only cmoy level at best. lacks the clarity of pimeta and nowhere near m3 or gilmore lite. But pair it up with an amp, and it rocks! ua25 = Great source, halfway decent amp. Also heard m-audio audiophile and it is pretty bad, only slightly better than transit.

conclusion: edirol ua25 = waveterminal u24 > m-audio audiophile

 

[burrough]

Hi, I'm also pretty much at the position of choosing a decent soundcard solution for my PC. I'm just wondering if a combination of a great PCI soundcard with a dedicated headphone amp will beat a portable USB/Firewire products given not considering the price factor.

Also, in terms of just sound quality, is it true that PCI soundcards generally are better than these USB/Firewire ones?

Thanks.

 

[TheReds]

....for the gamers out there who like EAX, Are any little tricks similar to the Audigy digital to Emu 0404, that would give us some EAX action on a high quality sound card such as the M-Audio FireWire 410? b/c if there is...

, maudio might have a new customer pretty soon.

Cheers!

 

[ToS_Maverick]

the audigy-trick should also be possible with the FW 410 due to it's optical and coaxial SPDIF input.

i'm also considering a 410... i'm a bit torn between the 1212m and the 410, but i think the 410 is nicer for me because it has a headphone amp and i can use it together with my laptop if i want to record on the road

 

[PFRfan]

You might consider adding the Mackie Spike to the mix also. It's got a very powerful headphone section. It sounds better than my Indigo IO with my DT770-80s - just enough that I could probably tell the difference blind. Of course it can drive them MUCH louder, so I'd know that way for sure.

http://www.mackie.com/products/spike/index.html

 

[halcyon]

Err.... I just noticed you need more than just output (i.e. a real sound card with inputs too. Ehh... silly me). Hence Apogee USB mini-dac will not do.

Some other options are:

Digidesign Mbox (focusrite mic preamps built-in)
http://www.digidesign.com/products/m.../mboxspecs.cfm
- It's somewhat old though (2002). USB 1.1. ASiO drivers.

Lexicon Omega (nice Lexicon mic preamps built-in), RRP $449USD, can be bought for c. $300USD via mail order
http://www.lexiconpro.com/Omega/features.asp
http://www.lexiconpro.com/Omega/specs.asp
- No 96kHz recording, quite big (esp. for portable use). USB 1.1. ASIO drivers. Reviewed favourably:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar0...xiconomega.htm