[MrEcted1]

Hello,

I'm just wondering what you guys think is a good budget minded soundcard that provides good sound on my Klipsche speakers and of course offers good sound for headphones. I'm thinking $120.00 or less.

Thanks a lot!

 

[jcx]

ESI Juli@ leads on specs in this price range, can be found for <US$130 online

not associated with seller but search here shows: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs-esi-juli-282595/

 

[Uncle Erik]

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is pretty good for about $100. Here's one:

Buy M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI Digital Audio Card online at Musician's Friend

It uses the same chips as their Delta 66, which I have. It's pro gear, and I like to use it for needledrops.

 

[nghiasays]

Any particular reason it has to be internal vs. USB? You have no mention of a headphone amp so just a reminder to make sure the analog out on the card can power a headphone and not just a line out.

 

[Michgelsen]

I really love my M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I haven't compared it to the ESI, which some people here like better, but I do know that the 2496 is a pleasure to use. Its driver has always worked flawlessly and it works really well with Audacity for instance, with which I used it quite a lot to record stuff (with analog input, digital input through SPDIF and digital input from other programs). It sounds good, it's cheap and it always works in the way you want it to(o).

 

[MrEcted1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nghiasays /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any particular reason it has to be internal vs. USB? You have no mention of a headphone amp so just a reminder to make sure the analog out on the card can power a headphone and not just a line out.

No particular reason, so external would work as well. I just mentioned PCI because I don't have PCI-E slots - although i don't think any soundcards use PCI-E slots cuz that would be overkill... I think... been outta the computer game for awhile.

By the way for my headphones I'm using Grado HF-1s without a headphone amp.

Also it's worth mentioning that my Klipsche 2.1 setup is analog (but actually it sounds pretty good).

 

[MrEcted1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is pretty good for about $100. Here's one: Buy M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI Digital Audio Card online at Musician's Friend It uses the same chips as their Delta 66, which I have. It's pro gear, and I like to use it for needledrops.

That seems perfect! It doesn't have a 1/4 inch jack, so does it still sound decent with halfway decent headphones? (Grado HF-1)