PC soundcard recommendations?

G

guest109

Well-Known Member
My original soundcard is really bad...lots of distortion. So I need one that will also let me put my turntable into it to transfer LP's to CD's.

any suggestions?
 
Register to hide this ad
It is an HP desktop PC and I didn't want to spend more than 80.00 for it....I had found that the M-Audio 2496 units that sell on Ebay have been going for 60.00 and it has regular RCA input and output jacks on it. Any comments?
 
I know you are asking for soundcard info but here is my 2 cents...Soundcards can be a huge bottleneck in your pc based audio system. You have to get a real high end to get a decent output. The movement these days is to skip the sound card altogether and use the USB DAC.

I have used this product for a few weeks and is working great. Tube amp for external speakers or headphone.

Check ebay number 130345149098 or link below:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Tube-Amp-w...ptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item1e592d22aa
 
wsjoe said:
I know you are asking for soundcard info but here is my 2 cents...Soundcards can be a huge bottleneck in your pc based audio system. You have to get a real high end to get a decent output. The movement these days is to skip the sound card altogether and use the USB DAC.

I have used this product for a few weeks and is working great. Tube amp for external speakers or headphone.

Check ebay number 130345149098 or link below:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Tube-Amp-w...ptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item1e592d22aa
Click to expand...

300.00 is way out of the ballpark to replace the soundcard in my PC:thumbsdn:
 
hobie1dog said:
300.00 is way out of the ballpark to replace the soundcard in my PC:thumbsdn:
Click to expand...

That USB DAC will not do what you want. You need an Analogue to Digital converter to get the signal onto the pc and a DAC to play it back.

I have been looking at sound cards for the last few days and the ESI-Juli@ is the only other one that has RCAs, but it is over twice the price you found for the M-Audio one.

Regards,
Todd
 
I recently picked up a cheap Dynex card off overstock.com = less than $10 total. I was using headphone out w adapter to rca for listening to net radio.Did some rewiring & added outlets to room - developed hum. New card has digital optic out(& in I believe)i'm using.No more hum & sounds good to me.Not sure if this will work for what you are wanting to do but think it is poss. Card has a couple types of ins & outs.Dont know model # but could dig up manual on it. They had many of these on auction.
 
hobie1dog said:
It is an HP desktop PC and I didn't want to spend more than 80.00 for it....I had found that the M-Audio 2496 units that sell on Ebay have been going for 60.00 and it has regular RCA input and output jacks on it. Any comments?
Click to expand...

I've been using the M-Audio 2496 for about a year for both recording and playback and have not had any problems. :thmbsp:
 
The M-Audio will work very good for what you want. They also have very stable drivers so it will be trouble free. The Asus card is a very good card as well as others but are primarily gaming cards But Asus is TOTL when it comes to PC parts.. M-Audio is meant for your application.:yes:
 
juniorJBL said:
The M-Audio will work very good for what you want. They also have very stable drivers so it will be trouble free. The Asus card is a very good card as well as others but are primarily gaming cards But Asus is TOTL when it comes to PC parts.. M-Audio is meant for your application.:yes:
Click to expand...

Agree with your ASUS comment ln some cases but the Xonar Essence STX is the exception. It is a stereo only card targeted directly at audiophiles. The Burr-Brown PCM 1792A D to A, Cirrus-Logic CS5381 A to D, Nichicon "Fine Gold" capacitors, OPAMP sockets, 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, 124dB SNR, great grounding and shielding.

Even the TI TPA6120A2 headphone driver sounds better than it should.

Granted there are some external DACs that compete at $200 but very, very few.
 
I should also point out that I am biased as I have been it the computer field since about 84' and have always used Asus parts. Just got a G-71gx a2 and really love the unit.

Back to SC's. The M-Audio stuff is pretty good stuff and should be good for the application at hand and the price seems right for Hobie1dog. :yes:
 
I have been looking for an external, usb sound board that I could use with a laptop and reuse it on a PC and was disappointed that no usb devices are anywhere close to being input/output and audio grade quality.

Some firewire good quality units exist (but my laptop doesn't offer a f/w port).

I agree that this particular Asus board is something I would look for but my alternative would be to use an older/smaller PC that doesn't have any PCI Express slots.
 
These are in/out USB

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=USBinterfaces

http://tascam.com/catalogue;40,15.html

SaSi said:
Some firewire good quality units exist (but my laptop doesn't offer a f/w port).
Click to expand...

If you have a PCMCIA/Cardbus slot on your laptop then get:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product_l...m_guid=1-_-100000000000000168469-_-2937477441

If you have an express slot then get:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001V9LQ7K...e=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B001V9LQ7K
 
Last edited:
For myself in desktop PC computers, I use these:

AudioScience
DigiGram

Problem is, they're way outside of your budget. M Audio is usually very good. Asus is said to have very good consumer cards at good prices. I normally use broadcast oriented cards for PC duty due to my work needs. M Audio is recommended on your budget and needs.
 
I just bought a M-audio 2496 soundcard on Ebay for 60.00 shipped, so I'll see how that works for me.....thanks for all the suggestions though.
 
I had a Creative X-Fi, it had problems with not being recognized by XP. I took it out and replaced it with a LILO III USB device for $60. Works a lot better than the Creative plus I can use it on my laptop.
 
Best soundcard I've ever used is my current E-MU 1616M... but somehow I'm guessing this was out of your price range anyway. Has a pretty decent RIAA RCA input which I've recorded vinyl through from my Pro-Ject Debut III. Also has the CS4398DAC which is one of the best sounding DACs I've personally heard. And all in a nice breakout box too... if you get ever get a windfall and fancy a further upgrade get one of these! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
LP's to CD's-soundcard question
Replies
14
Views
2K
mageworlder
mageworlder
krimney
windows xp to record vinyl ???
Replies
16
Views
2K
Reel 2 Reel
Reel 2 Reel
jlc76
External USB soundcard for 24/192
Replies
6
Views
2K
Peter_HK
P
B
USB Soundcard for PC+Kenwood Amp
Replies
4
Views
1K
RamblinE
RamblinE
Bozzmonster
Help with Soundcard; M-Audio Audiophile 2496
2
Replies
36
Views
4K
jmathers
jmathers
Back
Top Bottom