Hi-Fi Soundcards?

[rorythedog]

<font color='#000000'>Hi folks. Does anybody know of a soundcard which is designed with sound quality as a prerequisite. I can't find any in this country. A member of another forum pointed me towards one called &nbsp;&quot;Audiophile&quot; something or other, but on closer inspection the name seemed as close as it came.

Surely this can't be too difficult.

I've thought about the Soundblaster Audigy, but while the hardware is pretty impressive, the same cannot be said for the software. Creative software is almost all universally unfriendly.

I've downloaded music from the net (like most people here, I suspect), but I find the sound quality, or lack thereof, pretty disappointing.

I'm just going to have to keep buying CD's which are ludicrously expensive here.

If anybody has any ideas I'd be most interested.

Cheers folks.</font>

 

[Wabbit_Swayer]

<font color='#000F22'>read this</font>

 

[GeorgeM]

<font color='#000000'>The following may be of some help:

www.3dsoundsurge.com

Click on the 'Forums' and do a Search if necessary. &nbsp;It's a pretty good computer related audio site.

-GeorgeM</font>

 

[b_panther_g]

<font color='#000000'>Hello Rorythedog,

I use mostly PCs running Microsoft OS so everything below only refers to this type of computer.


(Short Answer)

Look for something by M-Audio. &nbsp;They have a consumer level Revolution soundcard. &nbsp;Their Delta series cards are pro/semi pro soundcards of very good sound quality. &nbsp;

Also try the RME soundcard. &nbsp;They are more expensive but sound extremely detailed. &nbsp;I know this may anger some people but, in terms of fidelity, these soundcards can compete with high-end CD transports that sell for thousands of US dollars.

For very a high-end soundcard, go with the Lynx. &nbsp;It is considered one of the highest fidelity soundcards you can buy. &nbsp;It is highly regarded by many pros. &nbsp;But you pay for all that fidelity.

(More Info)

In my opinion, any of the above-mentioned sound cards sound considerably better than the average consumer soundcard – including the SoundBlaster cards. &nbsp;SoundBlaster soundcards remind me of cheap mass-market receivers – many features - poor sound quality.


I’ve listened to the above cards (and currently own some of them) as well as many popular consumer soundcards.

To get the best sound quality out of your Windows 2000 or XP computer takes a little effort. &nbsp;

Microsoft has a “feature” called kmixer. &nbsp;Kmixer re-samples the music you play. &nbsp;To bypass kmixer, you’ll either need a soundcard with drivers that bypass kmixer (RME soundcards do this) or quality soundcards that support ASIO or kernel streaming. &nbsp;

The simple solution is to use an RME soundcard and not worry about the sound. &nbsp;Since their nonstandard drivers bypass kmixer, you hear the music/movie as it was intended.

ASIO and kernel streaming are different. &nbsp;To take advantage of their features you need two things.

1) A sound card that supports this feature.
2) Software that supports this feature.

For music, I like to use Winamp. &nbsp;There is an ASIO plugin floating around the Internet. &nbsp;Best of all, both Winamp and the plugin are free. &nbsp;There are other music software that support ASIO and/or kernel streaming, but I can’t think of them right now – I don’t use them.

As for DVDs, there are no software DVD players available that support kernel streaming for soundcards with analog outputs. &nbsp;

I hope this helps.

Enjoy,
B</font>

 

[Stbean]

<font color='#000000'>These seem to be of the highest quality ive seen. M-audio makes decent soundcards as well.

http://www.rme-audio.com/flash/rme_flash.html</font>