Sound Card Questions

I've pretty much decided to give M Audio a try with their line of sound cards. Debating which one to get, however.

I can get a good deal on the Audiophile 2496, which has the A/D converter. This would give me a few options: 1) it maybe be used as a standard sound card w/ surround output (if I'm reading it correctly); 2) it would not require me to use the A/D converter in my DAT deck (which I'm doing now). Disadvantages: 1) I'd have to run a long RCA interconnect from my audio system to the computer, or build a completely separate computer for my dubbing; 2) the thought of having audio near the computer is scary--the computer is a very noisy environment and I'm concerned about the audio cables picking up EMI or RF interference; 3) this card does NOT have a full complement of digital ins and outs (my current card has both coax and optical in/out for both S/PDIF and AES/EBU digital signals--it's a semi-pro card).

My other option is to get the M Audio "DIO" card, which is strictly digital and has all the digital in/outs I'd ever need. For monitoring purposes, it does have an analog out, but does not have any A/D converter on board. My option there is to continue using my DAT deck for A/D, or get an inexpensive A/D converter outboard. I like the idea that there is less chance for EMI or RF interference in this setup.

I *could* theoretically get both cards, though.

One question I have that stems from my comparison: does anyone else experience a lot of "noise" from the computer into the audio, when using analog inputs on this sound card?

Another: would I be better off building a separate "home theater" computer for the audio dubbing, and possible future use with a DVD burner or use for time-shifting with the appropriate software?

A third: does anyone using the 2496 use it with home theater at all--in other words, does it do surround decoding and give me five outputs, or does it just pass a digital signal out?

Final question--if I do go with the 2496, would it be better to record at 24bit/96kHz and downsample to 16bit/44.1kHz for CD using software, or better to record at 44.1kHz right off the bat? I say the latter. But I also want to have the possibility to make DVD-A discs in the future, so it seems like duplicate work to record at both rates.

 

I've got an old Gadget Labs (now defunct) 4 channel card. It does 24/96. I originally got it do xfers of old quad tapes (8 tracks, reels) and made ac-3 cdrs. Just for fun. Now I just use it stereo lp -> cdr xfers.

I just run a 12' cable across the room from my phono stage to my computer desk. No noise problems at all. Of course the cable isn't crossing any other cables. I just hook it up when I want to do a xfer. Otherwise the computer is isolated from my stereo.

I record at 24/44.1, edit, de-click, convert to 16 bit for cdrs. I wasn't happy with converting from 24/96 to 16/44.1, digital artifacts.

With my own comparisons between a 24/96 recording and a 16/44.1 recording from vinyl, I couldn't tell much of a difference. Maybe a bit smoother but it wasn't night and day. Originally I thought audio dvd-r would be very cool but I decided it wasn't worth it. Besides, I do the cdrs more for convenience rather than archival purposes.

Integrating a PC is an interesting challenge. Home theater even more so. Good luck!

 

I was thinking a home theater PC might get some usage around here:

1. Playback of ripped files in either WAV, MP3 or WMA format.

2. Playback and preview of ongoing CD transfers I'm working on.

3. Time-shifting of TV programs, a la TiVo, w/o the monthly fees.

4. Transfers of LD and VHS to digital. (Would probably need a removable hard drive to transfer the data to a better PC for editing--moving all that data across the network would take too long.)

5. Transfering LP, tape and DAT to the computer for editing and burning to CD.

6. Playback of streaming internet radio.

7. Playback of movie DVDs.

It does make sense once I think of all the usage for it.

In the near future, I'm going to be moving my computer and audio system up to the main floor of the house...and there will be no practical way to run an audio cable between the two. 30 feet, and it would be across the floor.

I'm having too much fun with the idea right now.

 

The only thing I have found with the M-Audio cards is that for some reason, the ones I have tried to not pass the DTS signal out through the digital out without corrupting it. I had to send back a card I had and revert to my original Yamaha DSP Factory which worked fine. One other person I know had the same problem, although Sweetwater music AND M-Audio tech support both told me that it should work. Maybe it was a combo of the card and XP.

 

Could have been. I have had some compatibility issues here, but after months of suffering with annoying workarounds, I found out my motherboard was a piece of crap. I'm now using an Asus A7N8X, getting me away from the Via chipsets I had all the problems with.

 

Hello Rudy.

If you are going to build a computer for A/V use, I'd sugest you replicate a hardware and software setup that someone else is using successfully for the same purposes.

HT computers are quite inmature and on top of that, there's always something new. There are a lot of opportunities for things to go bad.

Check the HTPC forum at avsforum.com for a lot of info.

 

I have never had a problem with computer noise with my PC.

 

Lots of standard Windows cards pick up noise from inside the computer. I have installed an M-Audio card without noticing it. (Sorry, I don't remember the model and I don't have it handy.) I also have had no problems with my Echo Mia once I figured out how to work everything.

Some (all?) of the pro-quality (or semi-pro) cards don't have the analog inputs for CD and modem connections that plain old Windows cards do.

 

M-Audio cards are great! Just a note to everyone who's an audiophile, stay away from any motherboard based on a VIA chipset, as they tend to have issues with high-end sounds cards(M-Audio, Creative, etc...). Any questions on this issue, feel free to ask! I'm something of a computer geek, and am more than happy to answer anyone's questions.

 

Great to have you aboard! Post often and long!

 

Great post!

Thanks and welcome!

 

Hell, those (#@#$$ing Via chipsets have issues with everything!! I just ditched my Abit KT7A mobo because I got so sick and tired of all the incompatibilities with that board AND the chipset. I now use one based on the N-Vidia chipset and have had zero problems--everything just works. You name it, the motherboard or the chipset was to blame. Had to modify my IDE cables to get my WD hard drives to work. The webcam wouldn't work unless I disabled one set of USB ports. My SCSI card (or scanner) and my older audio card wouldn't work either. One or two other things...screwy. I may do a test to see how long it takes to roast an Abit motherboard on the Weber BBQ later today.

I figured I would try the Asus A7N8X Deluxe (woohoo--TWO ethernet ports ), or just scrap it all and go back to a Pentium-based machine. The Asus has been terrific. I disabled the crappy on-board audio, and everything else works great. Even has USB 2.0 and FireWire. Everything I've tried has worked great. Next upgrade is to swap a new processor into the board. The older one I'll get another mobo for and make it my new FreeBSD box, or the "home theater" PC I've been wanting to put together.

 

It's not just VIA chipsets. I can't remember the details right now, but I was helping a friend get their Audiophile card working on a custom made PC. It didn't work, and the place that made it even looked at it and declared everything to be working properly, which was a load of crap because it obviously didn't (stuttered sound). Then he spoke to M-Audio and they pinpointed the problem to be his motherboard. The place that made it replaced it and it worked GREAT.

Also, sometimes you have to mess with Drivers. M-Audio's drivers were crap for a while, and they've finally gotten around to fixing some major problems. For a long time, I had to use Windows 98 SE with a particular set of drivers. Luckily the new XP drivers rock. My dedicated audio computer has been purring along for over a year with no problems.

One last thing... Windows 2000 and XP had some BAD problems with something called the Kmixer. I don't know the details, but this bit of code was causing some major problems... depending on the software you used and the sound card (not just M-Audio cards). Essentially, if you recorded at 24-bit, the Kmixer would drop the top 8 bits... so even though everything looked like it was 24 bit, it was actually (undithered) 16 bits.

As I said, I don't know all the details. Check out the forums at http://www.prorec.com for more information.

 

That's cool. Other than an old Pentium Pro I use for my scanner and my OLD audio card, I have XP on all the other computers here. I do have a mini-rant though--I still occasionally see software or hardware manufacturers that don't have drivers for XP. Sucks, really--it's being shipped on most new computers and has been out since, what, late 2001? I do base my purchases on whether or not a device or program supports XP...if they decide to be outside the loop and support the old junk and not the new, then they lose out.

Ditto about XP here. Once my motherboard problems were gone, I have only rebooted XP when adding new software (which required a reboot to load the new drivers), or fiddling with the hardware. Since the new mobo, I still have yet to see XP crash. Even the crappy old Compaq my girls use to play their games on is a lot better than it used to be with Win98SE on it.