slchang
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2004
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I'm looking for a budget (< $100) USB sound card for hooking up my laptop to a Corda HA1. That's the *only* thing I'm going to use it for; I don't plan on ever carrying this around while traveling, or trying to run headphones directly out of it. So, I'm hoping to maximize audio quality by being able to minimize frills.
Basically, I just want good analog, ideally in stereo RCA format, from the DAC; optical out is a very minor bonus. Also, I listen to CD-quality audio at best, no DSP, no recording, so higher-res than 16/44 doesn't seem like it will be useful to me. It doesn't even have to be USB-powered, but I think all the low end cards are.
The options I'm currently aware of:
* M-Audio Transit, $70 - $80
* M-Audio Sonica (not Theater) -- discontinued, but I think there are still a few places you can find it for $60
* Edirol UA-1X, $80
* Edirol UA-1A, $80? (fewer features than above, but I guess not as popular so it doesn't get cut from its list price)
* Xitel Pro HiFi Link, $80
* Griffin iMic, $35
In this forum it seems like the M-Audio Transit has a good following, but I'm a little concerned with the 1/8" mini (instead of RCA) out, since I'm not planning on using the optical out. However, if I were to go with M-Audio, is there any reason not to go with the cheaper Sonica if I can find it?
Also there's the Edirol series, which I haven't seen discussed at all on this forum. I'm intrigued by it because more like M-Audio, Edirol is a pro-music company (not a computer or consumer electronics company). If anyone has any experience with the low-end Edirol USB sound cards, I'd be curious to hear your opinions.
Finally, I'm not using this on super high end equipment -- AKG K240S, Beyer DT250-80, both via the Corda. So another major possibility is that it doesn't matter much which one I buy, and you should feel free to say that too.
Thanks for any input.
(apologies if this thread is a repeat; google search didn't reveal as much as I was hoping)
Basically, I just want good analog, ideally in stereo RCA format, from the DAC; optical out is a very minor bonus. Also, I listen to CD-quality audio at best, no DSP, no recording, so higher-res than 16/44 doesn't seem like it will be useful to me. It doesn't even have to be USB-powered, but I think all the low end cards are.
The options I'm currently aware of:
* M-Audio Transit, $70 - $80
* M-Audio Sonica (not Theater) -- discontinued, but I think there are still a few places you can find it for $60
* Edirol UA-1X, $80
* Edirol UA-1A, $80? (fewer features than above, but I guess not as popular so it doesn't get cut from its list price)
* Xitel Pro HiFi Link, $80
* Griffin iMic, $35
In this forum it seems like the M-Audio Transit has a good following, but I'm a little concerned with the 1/8" mini (instead of RCA) out, since I'm not planning on using the optical out. However, if I were to go with M-Audio, is there any reason not to go with the cheaper Sonica if I can find it?
Also there's the Edirol series, which I haven't seen discussed at all on this forum. I'm intrigued by it because more like M-Audio, Edirol is a pro-music company (not a computer or consumer electronics company). If anyone has any experience with the low-end Edirol USB sound cards, I'd be curious to hear your opinions.
Finally, I'm not using this on super high end equipment -- AKG K240S, Beyer DT250-80, both via the Corda. So another major possibility is that it doesn't matter much which one I buy, and you should feel free to say that too.
(apologies if this thread is a repeat; google search didn't reveal as much as I was hoping)