[caveman]

I had already decided to get the M-audio 24/96 soundcard when the new M-Audio Audiophile 192 came on the market. For stereo plaback through Hi-Fi amp and speakers will I benefit from the 192 soundcard?

 

[Mr.Radar]

The 192 shouldn't make too much of a difference, however if you want to upgrade you should look at the EMU 0404 from the Creative Labs Europe online shop for £79.90 INC VAT.

 

[caveman]

Am I not right in thinking that both the Emu 0404 and M-audio 24/96 are the same spec card. What would be the advantage of the Emu card. Is it not just a favourite of you guys in the States whereas the M-Audio was favoured more in the UK?

 

[yeeyy]

I do not think they are the same spec. E-MU 0404 have a better DAC (AK4395) which make it a great soundcard for music playback.

 

[Lynn]

Hi,

It would be interesting to hear from someone who has actually tried both the EMU-404 and Audiophile 192. I think the EMU-404 also does 192 (I know the EMU-1212 does). So, both cards do support the same sample rate.

The big difference is in the DACs and perhaps associated components like opamps. I don't know anything about the M-Audio 192, but I respect the company. I do know that many people who have tried the E-MU (like me), have liked it.

Years ago, I did try the Audiophile 96 and personally compared it to Card Deluxe, RME, Echo Mia, and few others. As I recall, for the money it was a great card, but was bested by both the RME and Card Deluxe.

Since the E-MU has been compared favorably to the both the RME, Card Deluxe, and Lynx, unless the Audiophile 192 is a huge leap forward, from my experience with the Audiophile 96, I would give the nod to the E-Mu. However, there is a lot of supposition in this conclusion.

However, the differences in top end cards is not huge anyway, and you would probably not go wrong with either.

What I would like to find is a good card at a reasonable price that can output SPDIF 24/192. So far, the only two I have found is the new RME Hammerfall for $600, and the Waveterminal 192. The RME is a bit pricy and the Waveterminal has not received resounding reviews.

 

[Asmo]

Higher sample rate does _NOT_ equal better sound.

The 0404 is not capable of 192 fyi.

 

[Lynn]

Thanks for the info on the 404 (I have the 1212 so I was not sure).

By the way, I totally agree about sample rate. I have tried upsampling using both software and hardware, and for CDs 44.1 always sounds the most natural to me.

The upsampled sound sometimes seems clearer with what appears to be a lower background noise threshold. However, it can come across as strident when tones should be more mellow or have a natural decay. Try brushes on cymbals to see what I mean.

I recently purchased a DAC1, and it is the first time that I have liked an upsampled DAC (you have no choice it always upsamples to an odd frequency somewhere at about 110). Don't know why, but it still sounds great even though it upsamples.

Lynn

 

[Piccolo Daimaou]

Upsampling really isn't all that useful. As far as I'm concerned, all upsampling does (when implemented correctly) is reduce jitter, which can be advantageous, but if jitter is low to begin with, upsampling really doesn't serve much of a purpose.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

For CD's, IMO, the best upsampling is done with 176.4 kHz. That makes it an even multiple upsample, and bunch of other jargon that I fail to grasp

 

[tammx]

I don't want to start a new thread and the title on this one suits me, so...

I'm thinking of upgrading my soundcard, an onboard (Intel D865Perl) analogdevices chip, but some guy says in a byte.com article that it's as good as a Hercules Digifire 7.1... well it does sound a lot better than my ancient SB PCI128.
My budget is around 150$ but that isn't much for electronics in my location

Anyways, my choices are:
Creative Audigy 2 NX 7.1, 24bit, usb, external140$
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Extigy170$
Hoontech Digital XG116$
M-Audio Revolution 7.1130$
M-Audio Sonica USB115$
M-Audio Transit USB153$

I won't be listening to audio better than the kind you get on CD-s (44.1Khz, 16bit, etc.) and I'll be using a Technics A700MK3 receiver and AKG271s headphones (and two Jamo(???) s130 speakers when I'm in a un-neighbourly mood

)

So... are any of the above cards good enough for a notable change in sound quality? Or should I try to save more money and get an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (210$)?

 

[Mr.Radar]

The M-Audio Revo 7.1 is the best one on your list, and it probably will be an upgrade (though it may be cheaper to have a US Head-Fi'er buy a Chaintech AV-710 and then ship it to you if all you want is stereo output, as the stereo output on the AV-710 is suppost to be as good as the Revo). Another option is to order the EMU 0404 for 99 Euros (inc. VAT) from Creative's online shop (direct link to 0404 for Estonia (it's at the bottom of the page))

 

[tammx]

Thanks Mr.Radar, that E-MU 0404 seems very interesting but I think it (and 1212) are not supported on UNIX-like systems (in my case, FreeBSD(stoopid, should have mentioned this in my previous post)).
But M-Audio's Revo 7.1 and 2496 do appear in OSS supported hw list, so maybe I will go with one of them...

 

[Aman]

The 2496 is my favorite sound card ever. The performance is in between the EMU0404 and the EMU1212M but it still costs less.

And the IceTek cards are supported in ALSA and OSS, and they sound fabulous (much better than in Windows, not sure about Mac OSX).

I recommend a 2496. Especially if you want to go with a solid state amp

 

[ReDVsion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman The 2496 is my favorite sound card ever. The performance is in between the EMU0404 and the EMU1212M but it still costs less.

You're saying the AP2496 is better than the 0404?