Topic: Sound Advice needed on 24 bit soundcards

[cachesoul]

Hello campers, this is my first post; let me thank you in advance for all the information I’ve mined from the Taperssection over the years.

My question is simple,

I have a few 24 bit 96k recordings now and want to play them on my stereo; I have a new receiver that is 24/96 compatible. (coax and optical)  It is unlikely I will ever use my PC for common DVD movie playback nor will I ever use this card for recording; I only want to play audio and route the data directly to my stereo system.  I do have media center edition and would like to use Media Player.  For now I want to find a soundcard that will let me play the 24/96 wav files via toslink optical to my receiver.

My concern is from reading many posts here is which soundcards will convert the wav file to Toslink PCM for playback directly without re-sampling in some way.   From my research the manufacturers are a bit vague on their websites (I am now officially confused).

Not looking for the most expensive, not looking for bargain/garbage bin stuff either.  Just simple and effective.  If you have a suggestion for a moderately priced (under $200) soundcard please let me know.

[dnsacks]

a chaintech av-710 will do the trick for a whopping $25 -- try newegg.com

[cachesoul]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I found this review usable...
http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=140

Any input on M-Audit or Turtle Beach cards?

[fozzy]

I use the m-audio audiophile 2496 for my playback system and it works great, Some cheaper cards are not suitable for Dat transfers but just fine for playback.  I have used turtle beach a long timeago but had driver issues and incomtability problems w/ certain apps, YMMV.

[cachesoul]

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html

yep, that is one that I am looking at.  Just to confirm, will this?...

support Windows Media Center 24/96 wav playback > convert signal directly from wav to either bitstream or pcm without down sample or re-sample > output bitstream or pcm via s/pidf.

[fozzy]

Dunno about media center but w/ powerDVD and winamp it does not alter the bit-stream

[cachesoul]

Thank you, I think you have helped me confirm my choice.  The 2496 looks like it fills the specs/quality/value and price point Im lookin' for.   Prolly wont make a move for a week or two so anyone with more or different advice / experience should definitely chime in.

" nothing left to do but "

[dnsacks]

The audiophile 2496 is indeed a nice card (at 4x the price of the chaintech) but it does not, to my knowledge, have toslink (optical) out (only coax).

I've confirmed through several different tests that my chaintech av-710 does not resample the digital output.  The simplest way to check this is to see if a surround receiver can decode a dts-encoded digital signal.  If the digital signal being fed to the receiver has been manipulated/resampled, you'll only hear static. 

Further, through a simple bios flash, the chaintech av710 can be "converted" into a prodigy 7.1 and can then use the full asio driverset available for the prodigy.

[cachesoul]

Thanks for checking back in.  Will the chaintech av710 support the digital and analog outputs at the same time?  I.e. the sound system I use for my computer is not digital; the digi output will be going through the wall to my entertainment system.

[dnsacks]

it should without any problem in its native setup.  Flashing its bios to emulate the prodigy 7.1 disables its analog outputs.

In fact, the chaintech has a REALLY nice sounding 2 channel output via a seperate d>a converter "tacked on" to provide sorround channels 6&7 -- which is activated using the "high resolution" analog out.

I'm currently using chaintechs in 2 different windoze media center pcs.  I use one solely for its 2 channel analog outs (feeds my kitchen stereo) and the other solely for its toslink out (serves as the "nervecenter" for my home theater setup). 

Darrin

[F0CKER]

read this thread.  Audiophile 24/96 is not bit perfect unless using an ASIO driver

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=45757.0