[jvs]

I am looking for a PC soundcard for bit-perfect output of 44kHz stereo audio CD tracks (stored in .wav format) via SPDIF using iTunes. Preferably with a coaxial digital out.
I came across the Audiotrak Maya 44 mkII (around 100 euros) that has proprietary EWDM drivers that presumably bypass kmixer. Any opinions about this card?

 

[third_eye]

I posted about this very same issue several weeks ago. The consensus here seems to be that if you want to get bit perfect digital out using Itunes you would need either an Airport Express to stream wireless (presumably a Slim Devices Squeezebox SB2 would do the same trick) or possibly use an RME soundcard which bypasses Kmixer. I would also like to hear if anyone else could shed some more light on this topic.

 

[kytuphicanh]

If you need a good sound card with low Price,Prodigy is the best

Prodigy is better than Juli@ and Audiophile 192 ,you can notice big difference between audiophile 192 and Prodigy

if you only need 2 channel output then Prodigy at 89$ is the best for you now with a good headphone amp worth 200$ or more ( I have a Supermacro-3 340$ )

 

[jvs]

Thanks for the replies. The RME is quite a bit more expensive (2 or 3 times). I know about the Audiotrak Prodigy but the Maya 44 mkII - being of the same brand and around the same price - should benefit from the same type of drivers, shouldn't it?

 

[jvs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by third_eye The consensus here seems to be that if you want to get bit perfect digital out using Itunes you would need either an Airport Express to stream wireless (presumably a Slim Devices Squeezebox SB2 would do the same trick) or possibly use an RME soundcard which bypasses Kmixer.

The RME cards are rather expensive and you will basically only use the drivers with SPDIF output so that would be a bit of a waste. I read that the Marian Marc 2 and some Audiotrak cards also bypass kmixer to give bit-perfect output with any application (i.e. not using ASIO or Kernel Streaming). The cheapest possibility is presumably to buy a Chaintech AV-710 and flash the firmware to a Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1. Using the audiotrak drivers this should give you bit-perfect output via spdif and a non-functioning analog part. However, the Chaintech only has an optical digital out - the Airport Express too by the way - and I'd rather be using a coaxial connection.
The Audiotrak Maya mkII is about the only of the cheaper ones having a coaxial digital output, hence the question.

P.S. In Windows Vista - the successor of XP - apparently the WDM drivers that cause the kmixer resampling will be replaced by something more suitable for audio applications; keyword: WAVERT (RT = Real Time)