Best soundcard for music listening

[Senn 0]

hullo,

 

thanks for replying guys..

 

ahh.. some questions for you..

 

1. theres the Sonica theater and Revo 7.1 by m-audio.. which one is better? (im using desktop)

 

2. the revo has 7.1 but im going to use it through my cans only, wouldn't it be an overkill or like not get the full effects of the card?

 

3. in another post, someone say can try to bargain with the sinamex.. can bargain till how much??

 

4. the Audigy 2 ZS vs Revo.. which one is better for music and movies???

 

5. is this soundcard really worth the price?? i hvnt heard it myself

 

6. is this the best soundcard i can get for my budget(SGD $200) ?? considering i only need it mainly for music and i only require 2-channel..

 

thank u

Edited October 9, 2003 by Senn

[tropicalrips 0]

'm currently using the Tascam US-122, its an external USB sound device, but only USB 1.0

 

looks cool and feels great, metal case & volume control outside your pc, sound is ok for me, no complains

 

performance is "good enough" as long as your CPU is not too heavily loaded, i notice the the sound will hav a slight lag if i play back mp3 or wav files and perform other applications at the same time, maybe because my CPU only 850 mhz T-bird, but not lagging when playing CDs

 

it has mono 1/4" L/R line & balanced XLR L/R mic input, also Midi in/out and 1/4" stereo headphone jack, Phantom power and a "direct monitor" switch for u to monitor your inputs so there is "zero" lentancy.

 

i think its built more like a mixer that can interface with your PC rather then as a sound card, this means that when u use the direct switch , u r actually listening to the inputs and not what the pc is processing, it seems the US-122 does not play back what its recording in real time like other conventional sound cards.

 

this makes for some interesting patching of your input/output cables, they can be loop into your mixer and u will not get feed-back. u monitor your input from the device's phone jack, then when its done u came play-back from the pc and output into the mixer-headphone-speakers for the final mix.

 

just remember to switch off the direct monitor switch and monitor from the mixer side as the direct monitor will get feed-back when playback, but this is only in the recording software, not when u r just listening using other player softwares

 

its a little confusing at first but u get used to it

[Tenson 0]

But is it SG$200?

[lekguan 0]

3. in another post, someone say can try to bargain with the sinamex.. can bargain till how much??

 

4. the Audigy 2 ZS vs Revo.. which one is better for music and movies???

 

3. Bargain as much as you can. Be agressive. If can get a few big hunks to follow you. Use strength in number to bargain more (not to mention size as well )

 

4. I personally feel Audigy as being more like high end PC soundcard, but less 'audiophile'. Better for movies/recording IMO.

It has a very good point though, that is CPU utilization is very low. If you game, that will be your card, so you can crank up your resolution without lagging. M-audio has high CPU utilization, not exactly good for gaming, unless you have a top end CPU + GFX, and your monitor not too big so you don't have to up the resolution so much.

[ablaze 0]

the Revo is the superior recording card, not the Audigy.

get the ZS if you wanna game, or if you just wanna try out DVD-audio

[Sipher 0]

yes get the audigy if u are into gaming

[jasonhanjk 0]

Audigy 1 plat sounds nice with my HD600 after a power supply upgrade. Sucks wif DT231...

[dreamie 0]

if im correct, the terratec uses the same chip as the revo..

the chip that addresses the PCI bus (Envy24) is the same. but the DAC and stuff may not be.

[Senn 0]

Hi guys,

 

i did more research and i guess i need more help here.

 

Allow me to list my conditions :

 

1. i will only be using my pair of headphones for it ( HD 590), no speakers

 

2. often, i may connect my electric guitar to it and play through the soundcard to use together with a sound effects software and also do some basic recording.

 

3. i will mostly be using it for music(mp3) and sometimes movies

 

4. i have no intentions of buying a headphone amp at current

 

5. my budget around SGD $300

 

6. hopefully the price of the soundcard will not drop fast( good investment)

 

 

what is the best soundcard suitable for me?? pls advice..

 

 

btw, sinamex is selling SGD347 for the m-audio audiophile2496 , is it worth it ?? or shld i get the Revo instead?

 

Edited October 13, 2003 by Senn

[evil-zen 0]

get that revo instead. some say the revo analog out is better while the AP2496 digital out is better. and 2496 is certainly not worth almost twice the price over the revo. i've been using revo as my main card for music and games and no problems so far.

[Senn 0]

if i need to connect my electric guitar directly to a soundcard, where do i connect it to? is it the analog/digital ouput of a soundcard?

Edited October 13, 2003 by Senn

[Senn 0]

hi,

 

thanks for the reply.. hmm is there any better soundcard you can recommend me that matches my criteria?

 

else for me, i guess its the revo

[Tenson 0]

If you want to connect your electric guitar WITHOUT going through an amp first, then you may need to get a guitar pre-amp.

 

The reason it will not work so well on either the line in or microphone in is because the impedance does not match correctly. It should work on the line in input, but not as well as if you have a guitar preamp.

 

http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua5.html

 

That would be great for what you want. However I don?t know the price! It shouldn?t be too much though.

 

How to build a simple guitar preamp if you don't want to buy one - http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/

[Senn 0]

If you want to connect your electric guitar WITHOUT going through an amp first, then you may need to get a guitar pre-amp.

 

The reason it will not work so well on either the line in or microphone in is because the impedance does not match correctly. It should work on the line in input, but not as well as if you have a guitar preamp.

 

http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua5.html

 

That would be great for what you want. However I don?t know the price! It shouldn?t be too much though.

 

How to build a simple guitar preamp if you don't want to buy one - http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/

hi,

 

thanks for the advice but i checkedt it out and it costs USD $260(cheapest), thats really high considering i would have to get a soundcard too..

 

anyway, if i intend to use the line in temporary first, is the m-audio audiophile 2496 or m-audio revo more suitable?

 

and is it considered analog or digital if i connect my guitar to it??

 

thanks u

[Tenson 0]

Senn, You do not require a soundcard as well! You just plug it into your USB 'hole' on the back of the computer and it works. Everything is built into that little box

 

Connecting a guitar would be analog.

 

The main reason I am sugessting that one is because it has the right input for a guitar without useing any preamp. You just press a button 'HiZ or LowZ' HiZ is for guitars and LowZ is for a line input such as a CD player.