Reply to: Question for Audiophiles

[chef]

HTH

[doodab]

The Essence one sounds like they have paid a lot of attention to sound quality. There has definitely been a gap in the market for really high quality cards for HTPC, a lot of people seem to be looking at pro audio devices but there is a lot of paying for things you don't really need involved in that, especially if you need multi channel outs as you are likely to end up with multitrack recording capability and microphone preamps that you have no use for.

I guess the main thing to worry about with the digital output would be AC3 passthrough. Aside from that I would have thought all digital outputs should be more or less the same but it seems that there is plenty of potential for the drivers to mangle things on the way out, especially if using "standard" windows drivers and having a mismatch between the sample rate set on the card and the source sample rate in which case windows will perform sample rate conversion. ASIO should avoid that but isn't going to work with media centre and friends.

You have got me looking at things I don't need again now. What I really need is a massive house in the middle of nowhere. And a suitcase full of cash.

[chef]

well the speakers option is a good one I agree, but I am also thinking of "investing" in one of the following:

Asus Xonar Essence STX soundcard
Asus Site
AvForums thread with mulitple review links

it seems to be the industry leader in the sub £200 soundcard bracket with it's main selling points being:
- 124dB SNR
- excellent onboard Headphones amp (not my main requirement)
- superior Analogue output

it cons being although the stereo analogue output is excellent and fit the bill for the majority of my audio needs (i.e music listening) and it has a digital SPDIF output which my current receiver can easily decode/process the Dolby Live signal, the digital output is said in some reviews to be average and not it's main selling point.

alternatively there is the

Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe
Home Site
Review

pro
excellent for both digital and analogue output

cons
the Xonar Essence gets better stereo ananolgue reviews for sound quality


and a review here seems to give the Xonar Essence the better review.. hmmm

[doodab]

Right now its via SPDIF from pc to receiver

Hmm, so you are already bypassing the converters in the computer, a new soundcard won't make any difference* unless you use it to do the digital-analogue conversion and feed analogue signals to the amp.

If you want to use it for home cinema you'll need a multichannel one e.g. RME 9632 which is about £300, and you'll need to make sure your playback software decodes surround sound.

If you just want it for stereo listening in conjunction with the stereo valve amp you might be better off with an external DAC like this.

Of course both of these options are only worthwhile if they are much better than the converters in your receiver. You might also end up with a lot of cable fannying about going on if you want to have both systems available.

Budget is debateable
GF chef has actually suggested better speakers as a combined Bday xmas present as she was so impressed with the sound and thought the speakers would make the biggest difference.

Otherwise 200notes or thereabouts on a soundcard and/or the bespoke made valve amp if its circa 500/600 for a new contract signing present from me to me whenever that happens.

I would take the speakers if she's offering...

*unless your receiver is particularly sensitive to jitter and the PC output is abnormally tulipe.

[doodab]

Back in the days, there was a noticeable advantage in buying the pro cameras (e.g. Olympus OM1 instead of OM10), but I don't see it now, from a photographic point of view.

I find it's more a case of keeping up with the technological evolution than moving up the range, there has been a lot of progress in making the sensors more sensitive with less noise, even in the entry level models. I think there are definite advantages to something like the Canon 5D over the cheaper models though.

[chef]

How is the PC connected to the receiver / amp at the moment? Does your computer have an SPDIF output that would allow you to connect to an external converter?

What is your budget?

Right now its via SPDIF from pc to receiver

Budget is debateable
GF chef has actually suggested better speakers as a combined Bday xmas present as she was so impressed with the sound and thought the speakers would make the biggest difference.

Otherwise 200notes or thereabouts on a soundcard and/or the bespoke made valve amp if its circa 500/600 for a new contract signing present from me to me whenever that happens.

[Ignis Fatuus]

You could get a nice one if you did. The digital ones depreciate a lot faster, but at least the lenses seem to hold their value.

I know. Not interested, though. Cameras have now done what computers did a little while ago, for me: reached the point where any decent consumer model does everything I want, well enough that I see no need to upgrade.

Back in the days, there was a noticeable advantage in buying the pro cameras (e.g. Olympus OM1 instead of OM10), but I don't see it now, from a photographic point of view.

[doodab]

Damned if I could afford to spend a whole week's pay on a new camera now.

You could get a nice one if you did. The digital ones depreciate a lot faster, but at least the lenses seem to hold their value.

[Ignis Fatuus]

I remember paying £30 for a Shure V15 III.

That seems cheap now, but it was an arm & a leg at the time.

Yes, I remember.

I remind myself of inflation with my camera-buying history. I bought my first camera for £15. That was a whole week's pay at the time.

When I started contracting I bought a new camera, for £200. That was exactly one week's pay then.

Later I upgraded to a newer model, for £600, when that was a week's pay.

Damned if I could afford to spend a whole week's pay on a new camera now.

[doodab]

I've already done that and I'm looking for decent soundcards to improve the onboard sound

How is the PC connected to the receiver / amp at the moment? Does your computer have an SPDIF output that would allow you to connect to an external converter?

What is your budget?

[Ignis Fatuus]

Replacement transformers for classic valve tube amps.

!!!

Very reasonable really, considering that the output transformer is the heart of your amplifier. That plus a good cartridge is what gives you quality.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Indeed you can't.

Proper KT88s are a mint these days.

The Sovtek & Chinese replicas are more reasonable though.

And it's not just the valves, the transformers are expensive too.

That's right Hundreds just for a tranny??? Should have kept the old Mullard 5-10 and dumped the Savings Certificates.

[chef]

Why not enquire how much this croatian audio buff will build you a comparable system for?

I've already done that and I'm looking for decent soundcards to improve the onboard sound

[Ignis Fatuus]

Why not enquire how much this croatian audio buff will build you a comparable system for?

Then you just need the other off the shelf bits (via ebay or specialist audio reseller if you don't want to risk getting newer yet possibly inferior alternatives) to achieve a fairly similar system.

I looked at valve amps a while ago, and was staggered at the number of digits in the price. So I looked at building one myself, and that knocked a digit off the price, but alas I had been looking at knocking more digits than that off the price.

Sigh. Can't just buy valves for a few bob from an ad in the back of Practical Wireless any more

[PAH]

I know that both the preamp and tube power amp in the cottage were hand built by a friend of the owners who is an audio buff and into that stuff, the speakers connected were fairly old Mission 702's (not the 702e floor standing ones).

Why not enquire how much this croatian audio buff will build you a comparable system for?

Then you just need the other off the shelf bits (via ebay or specialist audio reseller if you don't want to risk getting newer yet possibly inferior alternatives) to achieve a fairly similar system.

Then you've just got your room acoustics to worry about, and the neighbours if they're not used to you playing loudish music at your convenience not theirs.

Alternatively, spend a few weekends searching audiophile shops for the holy grail. Maybe other easier to obtain alternatives will sound just as good (or even better) to you.