[hatfi]

The H5 is on the way. I am looking for an upgrade from my Audigy ZS.
Q1: is the Audigy really that bad?
Q2: Is the digital out on the Audigy good?
Q3: I want to move my rig to a laptop and maybe to a CD player. Would it be better to get a DAC? If so, which one for 100-200usd and how should I get the digital signal from my PC and laptop?
Sorry if this is unclear, but I have been drinking.
Hat

 

[hatfi]

Sober now.
I am thinking that the Entech 203.2 might be a good buy. Would my 2zs be a good enough digital source? What about the TBAAM as a digital source?

 

[yeeyy]

Or you may want to try out EMU 0404 USB, which is a combination of soundcard, DAC and headphone amp.

The DAC used is a top notch AKM AK4396 and the headphone out is driven from the same DAC.

 

[aestuo]

I have an audigy zs (Creative's external usb card, right?), I don't know much about dacs and I don't have much to compare it to - but I use the headphone out quite a bit to drive my Grado sr60s directly (32 ohms@1khz), it sounds alright to me and has no problems driving them, getting pretty loud at 10% master volume.

As for the DAC, my fear (am I wrong to worry about this?) is that creative might just be lazy enough to do an immediate D/A on the USB signal then another A/D on the SPDIF output - I've heard this is done in cheap soundcards. Two other annoyances about the audigy - their only digital input is optical, and you have to have your USB device (the computer) turned on or the soundcard mutes itself. If I ever upgrade, however, I'll trust the USB-to-SPDIF digital out but I will want to add a stand-alone DAC.

 

[hatfi]

My Audigy 2Zs is internal.

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeeyy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Or you may want to try out EMU 0404 USB, which is a combination of soundcard, DAC and headphone amp. The DAC used is a top notch AKM AK4396 and the headphone out is driven from the same DAC.

I read somewhere on this site that good implementation is more important than a good chip. I think it was Jan Meier who said it when people doubted the quality of the basic DAC in the Corda Aria, but I'm not too sure.

 

[yeeyy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read somewhere on this site that good implementation is more important than a good chip. I think it was Jan Meier who said it when people doubted the quality of the basic DAC in the Corda Aria, but I'm not too sure.

Based on EMU series of cards, you can safely say that the design itself is a solid implementation. Here is the RMAA Result for 0404 USB from HERE.

16-bit 44.1 kHz
Analog output

E-MU 0404 USB -> Lynx Aurora 8
Frequency response (40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.03, -0.07 Excellent
Noise level, dB (A): -96.1 Excellent
Dynamic range, dB (A): 96.3 Excellent
THD, %: 0.0007 Excellent
IMD+N, %: 0.0045 Excellent
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -97.6 Excellent
IM at 10 kHz, %: 0.0048 Excellent

Total score: Excellent


24-bit 44.1 kHz
Analog output

E-MU 0404 USB -> Lynx Aurora 8
Frequency response (40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.03, -0.07 Excellent
Noise level, dB (A): -110.9 Excellent
Dynamic range, dB (A): 110.9 Excellent
THD, %: 0.0006 Excellent
IMD+N, %: 0.0014 Excellent
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -107.1 Excellent
IM at 10 kHz, %: 0.0016 Excellent

Total score: Excellent

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeeyy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Based on EMU series of cards, you can safely say that the design itself is a solid implementation. Here is the RMAA Result for 0404 USB from HERE. 16-bit 44.1 kHz Analog output E-MU 0404 USB -> Lynx Aurora 8 Frequency response (40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.03, -0.07 Excellent Noise level, dB (A): -96.1 Excellent Dynamic range, dB (A): 96.3 Excellent THD, %: 0.0007 Excellent IMD+N, %: 0.0045 Excellent Stereo crosstalk, dB: -97.6 Excellent IM at 10 kHz, %: 0.0048 Excellent Total score: Excellent 24-bit 44.1 kHz Analog output E-MU 0404 USB -> Lynx Aurora 8 Frequency response (40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.03, -0.07 Excellent Noise level, dB (A): -110.9 Excellent Dynamic range, dB (A): 110.9 Excellent THD, %: 0.0006 Excellent IMD+N, %: 0.0014 Excellent Stereo crosstalk, dB: -107.1 Excellent IM at 10 kHz, %: 0.0016 Excellent Total score: Excellent

Those are brilliant real-world specs. I wonder how it sounds?

 

[yeeyy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those are brilliant real-world specs. I wonder how it sounds?

You can read the subjective listening from the link above, the reviewer found more details and attack than Juli@. However sounds preference is subjective to individual, so you may like to take a listen to it.