[Grodecki]

Hi all.

Fairly new to the head fi scene, have a pair of Audio Technica A900s which I'm currently using with the PC.

PC has a RealTek HD Audio chipset, I forget the exact model number as it is broken (see further down), but I know it has a lot of 8s in it, and not much else

So my motherboard BIOS corrupted and is being RMAed and I'm having to use the family PC for a while, which has a better sound card, and the difference is immense, far better than using the awful software that comes with the Vista X64 drivers for the card. I couldn't work out how to do Kernal streaming with it or the like.... not so tech savy on the sound side of things. If you had the output set to headphones; it crackled like anything, and if you had it set to speakers, it sounded a bit dulled. I couldn't find a way to just skip it.

So I'm looking for what is the best, and reasonably cheap option to get a good output out of the card, or is it best to just get a new soundcard? Or use the digital out with a low cost amp/DAC?

Reccomendations, anyone?

Cheers.

 

[cerbie]

A decent sound card is your best option, by far. With the AV-710 being so hard to find, now, though...

 

[Grodecki]

Dang

Would it be better running straight into the realtek if I could get it to bypass the realtek audio manager and use kernal streaming or the like? If so, can anyone suggest how to do this with Vista X64.

Cheers

 

[Seaside]

Realtek onboard chips are getting better to compare with theirs few years ago. But still not that great.

The board manufacturers put sound circuits in tiny space on motherboard, and they are known for skimpping money for years. We simply can not expect the onboard sounded as good as soundcard... yet.
One possible option is replacing those crappy capacitors near the sound circuit of the board with good ones. This may able to get rid of the noise onboard sound produces, and may improve sound quality to the certain point.

But... kernel streaming or not.... a dog can not be a tiger even if we paint stripes on him.

 

[Grodecki]

If I don't have the input set to headphones in the RealTek sound manager, there is zero interfearence, yet the sound is flat and dull. I can't understand why headphones setting has loads of interference yet speakers does not. It's the same physical port, just a different setting in the software!

 

[Operandi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grodecki /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I don't have the input set to headphones in the RealTek sound manager, there is zero interfearence, yet the sound is flat and dull. I can't understand why headphones setting has loads of interference yet speakers does not. It's the same physical port, just a different setting in the software!

The interference is still there no matter what the setting. It's just more perceivable with the headphone setting most likely because it's boosting the signal (along with the interference) to drive your headphones.

 

[Grodecki]

eug. I'm totally stumped for what to do.

I really don't want to spend £130 on a 0404 USB....

Am looking for a decent priced good sound card now...

Edit: Think I'm gonna get a headroom total bithead, fits everything I need pretty much perfectly, and the portability is handy.

 

[ataraxia]

USB DAC sounds like your solution here.

 

[panda]

i've been meaning to get an echo indigo dj, but i can't bring myself to get one because i'd rather use my portable player than listen out of a laptop unless i'm at home and can hook it upto the stereo.