Looking for external sound card w/ separate power supply

PioneerGuy85

needs more Fluroscan
...and I can't find one anywhere.

I was looking at the SB LIVE! when I first started thinking about ext. soundcards, but when I found that it runs off power through the USB port, I was turned off. I'm basically looking to isolate the audio from the PC's power supply, and thus lower the noise floor, so evidently the SB LIVE won't do this. Anyone know of an external sound card with a separate power supply?
 
What source formats/material do you want to play??

Is it something that could be served via a streaming server??

If you really want to lower the noise floor, you may want to take the PC out of the equation entirely... use the PC as a streaming server only... and use a "network music player" box of some kind (i.e. Roku Soundbridge)
 
hpsenicka said:
What source formats/material do you want to play??

Is it something that could be served via a streaming server??

If you really want to lower the noise floor, you may want to take the PC out of the equation entirely... use the PC as a streaming server only... and use a "network music player" box of some kind (i.e. Roku Soundbridge)

WAV, MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, WMA to name a few.

I just like the idea of having all my music in one place. I am absolutely horrible at taking care of CDs, so having everything in the PC is appealing to me.
 
I am the same way and I am considering going to a breakout box style setup from M-Audio. Haven't done enough research yet to make a firm decision. My PC is a POS which is another reason I haven't made a move yet. I also want to look and see what mobile DJ's are using. I have seen a few working off of laptops.
 
cheon57 said:
I also want to look and see what mobile DJ's are using. I have seen a few working off of laptops.

Mac. :yes: Check out Guitar Center's site for a quick path to the latest and greatest processor assited playback sources. Mac. :yes:
 
Had an NX, but didn't like the sound so much. Try a ZS Platinum Pro card -- powered via the firewire port, but great SN ratio and good sound (remote, too!). Found one really cheap on CL, and the difference is substantial when hooked up to my Marantz system.

Essential to keep your PC and other stereo components in the same circuit in your house -- funny little ground loops can really affect the noise floor on these units. Good PSU in your PC helps too.
 
Another option might be to get yourself something like an M-Audio Sonica, use the toslink (optical) digital out and connect it to a separate DAC. The DAC should be part of your main audio system, not your computer.

Completely isolated.
 
There are plenty of outboard DAC/soundcard arrangements available with external power supplies. I applaud your efforts to find one.

Firstly, the M-Audio Audiophile - in either Firewire or USB format - will work quite well. I used one for over 2 years. Have updated to a Presonus Firepod as I do a fair amount of recording of bands around here.

Then there's the Presonus Firebox, a smaller version of the Firepod.

Plan to spend about $250.00 for a decent one no matter the brand. Most of the big names in audio recording have a device at this price point. You'll find many of them at Guitar Center since they're marketed to the folks who play music. Online, check out MusiciansFriend or Sweetwater as vendors.

As an alternative and for about the same price point, you should also check out the Squeezebox 3 from Slim Devices. (www.slimdevices.com). If all you want to do is rip CDs to a big disk drive on your network then play them back, this is the coolest device. It can stand alone, away from your PC, and has a remote control. This allows you to keep the traffic off your PC, too.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

David
 
The Soundblaster line of external cards are (obviously) USB run, and therefore literally sucks CPU power - I know, I had one. Also, going the USB route will introduce other artifacts that are worse than the noise floor you want to remove - like the motherboards CPU noise/dither/clock noise-error, etc. Even though the cards CPU is suppossed to offload these things from the mobo's CPU it only handles the digital signal conversion. It's while it's digital and still in the mobo that it gets screwed up by CPU programs running simultaneously with the signal. That's why external breakout boxes aren't that good of an idea when it comes to getting the most of your signal. Getting a high quality PCI card will reduce the length the signal travels around the mobo and also will keep it from running simultaneous with internal programs - thus making those issues moot. PCI cards have come a long way. IMO, the X-Fi cards are the best I've heard in a computer card. I have one in my media server and with all my music encoded in WMA lossless sounds virtually indistinguishable to the original. The Audigy (and it's older brother, the Live! series) are so old and worse in sound quality that many people still compare the X-fi to them, and this is just not the same card.
 
I use the M-Audio Audiophile USB. Its drivers are a little unstable on Win2K but it sounds great. If you have WinXP they have a more modern driver available.
 
Have you actually heard a higher noise floor with one of these devices? I run a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage. It is a USB dongle-type external soundcard. It is dead quiet.

:saywhat:
 
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