Topic: Askin the experts...good sound card suggestions???Juli@, m-audio, turtle beach<?

[Ray76]

gonna be buildin a great box here shortly, (well probably not shortly...piecemeal. as money comes in)
and have everything figured out...exept for the sound card...Right now I am leaning towards the Juli@ and with the m-audio comin in close second...Experiences??This is gonna be my audio box...
Ray..
thanks for everything yall do.

[Stumptown Matt]

I believe the Turtle Beach resamples, but don't quote me on that.  I have a Hercules GT-XP and it has served me pretty well.

[dnsacks]

ray -- what do you want the soundcard to do?  provide an avenue to import music digitally into your pc or merely for playback purposes?

Will your music computer be used to output spdif (digital) to an external d>a or do you intend to use the soundcard to output analog to an external receiver?

If digital out/digital in, what sample rates/bitdepths do you foresee using?

Also, what recording equipment (jb3/dat/etc.) do you plan on interfacing with your pc?

Answering the above should help clarify what would help you out the best.

[Ray76]

ray -- what do you want the soundcard to do?  provide an avenue to import music digitally into your pc or merely for playback purposes?

Will your music computer be used to output spdif (digital) to an external d>a or do you intend to use the soundcard to output analog to an external receiver?

If digital out/digital in, what sample rates/bitdepths do you foresee using?

Also, what recording equipment (jb3/dat/etc.) do you plan on interfacing with your pc?

Answering the above should help clarify what would help you out the best.

Well,,,I plan on doin a lot of mixing down of my own band's stuff, listening to, (gonna have a nice sound setup on my pc) and I will interface with the JB3, but thats all I know. Im still learnin..But I can tell you i am gonna be mixing some, taping archiving, playback, a general audio computer with a lot of capability for audio applications...thanks yall..+Ts

[Kyle]

I really only transfer DATs to the computer so I have been using the m-audio audiophile 2496 w/ Sound Forge 7 going coax S/PDiIF in with great results and no problems at all. It has coax in/out, midi in/oui, and analog in/out (rca). It was $99 w/free shipping. Perfect for my applications. You may need something more sophisticated; good luck and happy recording 

[phrazelle]

http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=33942.0

[phrazelle]

 sorry   here is my post from the above topic, which is what i meant to send.

Re: SPDIF input on computer
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2005, 05:31:31 PM »     

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
here is one sound card w/ a s/pdif and optical input, relativly cheap
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1164887&CatId=107

i have a Soundblaster Live! Platnium 5.1 and it has s/pdif, optical, rca, and midi inputs on the front of the tower.
http://www.creative.com/products/welcome.asp?category=1

here is the front input section by itself
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=26

i would totally recommend any of creatives products.  i have never had a different brand sound card, dating back to the good ol' 486, and have never had a serious problem with any of them.  i have a used 5.1 soundblaster i would sell you cheap if you just wanted to buy the ir drive(3rd link).  hit me back   

[dnsacks]

Well,,,I plan on doin a lot of mixing down of my own band's stuff, listening to, (gonna have a nice sound setup on my pc) and I will interface with the JB3, but thats all I know. Im still learnin..But I can tell you i am gonna be mixing some, taping archiving, playback, a general audio computer with a lot of capability for audio applications...thanks yall..+Ts

Hmmm -- not sure a digital soundcard's exactly what you'd need.

a) mixing down band stuff -- analog or digital source?  If digital, what format?  The electronic noise found inside of a computer makes it a horrible place in which to perform analog>digital conversions.  Better to have a>d conversion performed in an external box that would then digitally x-fer to the pc.  Several companies make these and some  communicate with the computer via firewire (again, eliminating the NEED for a soundcard).  However, if you're already set with an external a>d that outputs a spdif signal, then the echo juli@ or maudio audiophile would be great choices.

b) listening -- d>a conversion in a computer is plagued by the same problems noted above.  While an internal soundcard is fine for casual listening, more critical listening (especially through a nice sound system) would benefit greatly from d>a conversion outside of your pc.

c) jb3 interface of course is soundcard-independent as wavs are transferred to/from the jb3 via firewire/usb.

So, while I'm not being helpful in providing an alternative, I hope my observations above serve as grounds for followup/discussion.

Darrin

[Ray76]

Well,,,I plan on doin a lot of mixing down of my own band's stuff, listening to, (gonna have a nice sound setup on my pc) and I will interface with the JB3, but thats all I know. Im still learnin..But I can tell you i am gonna be mixing some, taping archiving, playback, a general audio computer with a lot of capability for audio applications...thanks yall..+Ts

Hmmm -- not sure a digital soundcard's exactly what you'd need.

a) mixing down band stuff -- analog or digital source?  If digital, what format?  The electronic noise found inside of a computer makes it a horrible place in which to perform analog>digital conversions.  Better to have a>d conversion performed in an external box that would then digitally x-fer to the pc.  Several companies make these and some  communicate with the computer via firewire (again, eliminating the NEED for a soundcard).  However, if you're already set with an external a>d that outputs a spdif signal, then the echo juli@ or maudio audiophile would be great choices.

b) listening -- d>a conversion in a computer is plagued by the same problems noted above.  While an internal soundcard is fine for casual listening, more critical listening (especially through a nice sound system) would benefit greatly from d>a conversion outside of your pc.

c) jb3 interface of course is soundcard-independent as wavs are transferred to/from the jb3 via firewire/usb.

So, while I'm not being helpful in providing an alternative, I hope my observations above serve as grounds for followup/discussion.

Darrin

Hmm.SO what would you suggest as far as an external conversion machine??
What sort of setup would you suggest ?I wil be recording with my jb3, and mixing inside the PC, and then I dunno other than burnin to cd and such...SUggestions are welcomeI just know I want to good mulit purpose setup.... Just brief me well and give me details..Well.., cuz I am a dumbass.
Really. Ray

[dnsacks]

Ray:

NO WORRIES!  I just figured your soundcard needs might be different than those typically expressed here (spdif digital in to allow for transfer of dats>wav/pc).

Unfortunately, I don't have the magic answer for you

Since a bit-perfect, non-resampling digital input isn't necessary for you (at this stage), you'd seem to really be looking for a device that would output "good sound" through its analog outputs.  A few cards worth considering would be the hercules game theater xp (gtxp) or some of the creative soundcards with external break-out boxes.  Both of these solutions have been reported to resample incoming digital signals, but if you're using a jb3 as your recording device, you'd never be using this feature (and resampling would thus not be an issue to you) In a nutshell, you're looking for a device that performs d>a outside of the computer's case so that the analog signal is not exposed to the computer's inherent electronic noise.

Perhaps others with more pertinent experience will chime in with better suggestions.

or, to switch around 180 degrees -- A "giant killer" setup to consider if you can devote the $$$ - either of the digital soundcards  you initially mentioned>spdif>sony strda2000/3000/5000es>moniters/speakers (the sony receiver would therefore perform the d>a and power a nice set of speakers.  This would give you KILLER audio sound from your pc.

Another thougth -- digital moniters fed a spdif signal from either of the soundcards you initially mentioned. 

[Ray76]

THANKS MAN! KILLER +T
ray

[Chris K]

why dont you use the ua-5?

[dnsacks]

Could be 100% backwards here, but I thought the digimod prevented the ua5 from receiving a digital signal from an external device (i.e. it won't output sound when fed an external digital signal)

[Chris K]

hmm...i've transferred dats to my cpu with the ua-5 (d8 > progri 7pin i/o > ua-5 > cpu). granted it may not be bit perfect, but you would be hard pressed to hear any droupouts. and i did not think big ray was concerned over bit accuracy

[dnsacks]

chris -- ray's comments above indicated that he only records with a jb3 and doesn't need to go spdif> computer (since he can transfer wavs from the jb3>pc via firewire/usb).  His soundcard needs seem to be solely for audio (analog) playback.  While a digimodded ua5 will pass spdif to a computer via the usb, I don't believe it will (after digimod) pass analog to its rca outs from the usb/pc