hi-fi gurus wanted

spartan · Wed, Jan-30-2008, 11:12:50 PM

HecDog im looking your way on this. I bought a Senn HD650 and am waiting on a Woo Audio 3+ amp to power it through my x-fi PC card. I was going to stick to the stock headphone cable and use mogami interconnects for the amp. How terrible a source is an x-fi sound card? if my source files are 320kbps or .flacs will I be able to appreciate the recording quality through the x-fi? How important would you say adding an external DAC to this equation is?

spartan · Fri, Feb-01-2008, 11:36:01 PM

no one here? I thought we had some gurus on the board

sy0296 · Sat, Feb-02-2008, 01:51:43 AM

Emu, onkyo, and M-audio come to mind for audiophile grade sound cards. add a preamp and you should have a sweet setup.

i've never used a computer as a serious sound source but seeing that the three brands mentioned all have pro-audio back ground and used in recording studios, i don't see how you can go wrong.

go through some threads at this forum. it's about audiophile grade carputer setups and iirc there are a few threads talking about soundcards.
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/high-end-solutions/

**porschetech** · Sat, Feb-02-2008, 02:07:03 AM

i have an EMU set up on my PC

spartan · Sat, Feb-02-2008, 07:43:55 AM

cool, thanks.

how is your setup working for u?

Mash3 · Sat, Feb-02-2008, 09:47:44 AM

Do not make the D-A conversion in the computer. Ever. I can't think of a worse environment for analog audio. Get an external DAC, like this one, which has USB, and which also has a headphone amp built in:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/

Those are great headphones, btw!

Greg

.

spartan · Sat, Feb-02-2008, 05:30:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mash3

Do not make the D-A conversion in the computer. Ever. I can't think of a worse environment for analog audio. Get an external DAC, like this one, which has USB, and which also has a headphone amp built in:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/

Those are great headphones, btw!

Greg

.

Thanks for the tip, what do you think of the x-fi external breakout DAC? it is said to be 'professional grade' but i don't know about all that.

Mash3 · Sun, Feb-03-2008, 10:18:28 AM

I looked at Sound Blaster's website for that card/external box. Phrases like "Make MP3s sound better than CDs," make me skeptical, but it does do up to 24bit/192kHz resolution, which is as good as my $30k ProTools HD2 rig can record. It has SPDIF in/out and MIDI too. There's a lot in this box for only $300! I'd keep it just for its features.

Real pro-grade D/A converters (like that Benchmark) start at $1k for 2 channels. You will hear a difference between the two, especially with those nice cans, but I'd keep the X-Fi anyway, unless you really had to have the best sound possible.

(Ditch those MP3s!! Stick with FLAC or Apple lossless. Any MP3, regardless of bit rate, still suffers a big loss in stereo image, not to mention the loss of frequency response below 50Hz and above 15k.)

Upgrade to iTunes 7.6, if you use it.

Greg

.

spartan · Sun, Feb-03-2008, 08:48:20 PM

thanks for the advice, you clearly know much more than I do!

Mash3 · Mon, Feb-04-2008, 06:50:35 AM

Thanks, I do this for a living!

Just getting the digital out of the computer before the D/A conversion is the most important thing, and you have that covered.

Greg

.

Wed, Jan-30-2008, 11:12:50 PM	#1
spartan Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,233 Reputation: 0	hi-fi gurus wanted HecDog im looking your way on this. I bought a Senn HD650 and am waiting on a Woo Audio 3+ amp to power it through my x-fi PC card. I was going to stick to the stock headphone cable and use mogami interconnects for the amp. How terrible a source is an x-fi sound card? if my source files are 320kbps or .flacs will I be able to appreciate the recording quality through the x-fi? How important would you say adding an external DAC to this equation is? __________________ GTR HATERZ CLUB MEMBER #1

Fri, Feb-01-2008, 11:36:01 PM	#2
spartan Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,233 Reputation: 0	no one here? I thought we had some gurus on the board __________________ GTR HATERZ CLUB MEMBER #1

Sat, Feb-02-2008, 01:51:43 AM	#3
sy0296 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 5,534 Reputation: 0 Location: CA	Emu, onkyo, and M-audio come to mind for audiophile grade sound cards. add a preamp and you should have a sweet setup. i've never used a computer as a serious sound source but seeing that the three brands mentioned all have pro-audio back ground and used in recording studios, i don't see how you can go wrong. go through some threads at this forum. it's about audiophile grade carputer setups and iirc there are a few threads talking about soundcards. http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/high-end-solutions/ __________________ FS: my HPF stg2.5 Motor + Turbo Kit http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=425007 bye bye aa stg2 got hpf stg2.5 sam www.pbase.com/sy0296/m3 www.pbase.com/sy0296/e30_m3 www.pbase.com/sy0296/919

Sat, Feb-02-2008, 02:07:03 AM	#4
porschetech Cocky Brit Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 45 Posts: 42,387 In the garage: '04 PORSCHE CAYENNE Reputation: 125 Location: why joo wanna know?	i have an EMU set up on my PC __________________ I love all gingers 'n Plambers

Sat, Feb-02-2008, 07:43:55 AM	#5
spartan Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,233 Reputation: 0	cool, thanks. how is your setup working for u? __________________ GTR HATERZ CLUB MEMBER #1

Sat, Feb-02-2008, 09:47:44 AM	#6
Mash3 Look out below! Join Date: Aug 2003 Age: 43 Posts: 6,558 Reputation: 0 Location: Hollywierd	Do not make the D-A conversion in the computer. Ever. I can't think of a worse environment for analog audio. Get an external DAC, like this one, which has USB, and which also has a headphone amp built in: http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/ Those are great headphones, btw! Greg . __________________ Forum Member Since 2003. . . 2004 M3, SG/ IR. 75k miles. Original owner.

Sun, Feb-03-2008, 10:18:28 AM	#8
Mash3 Look out below! Join Date: Aug 2003 Age: 43 Posts: 6,558 Reputation: 0 Location: Hollywierd	I looked at Sound Blaster's website for that card/external box. Phrases like "Make MP3s sound better than CDs," make me skeptical, but it does do up to 24bit/192kHz resolution, which is as good as my $30k ProTools HD2 rig can record. It has SPDIF in/out and MIDI too. There's a lot in this box for only $300! I'd keep it just for its features. Real pro-grade D/A converters (like that Benchmark) start at $1k for 2 channels. You will hear a difference between the two, especially with those nice cans, but I'd keep the X-Fi anyway, unless you really had to have the best sound possible. (Ditch those MP3s!! Stick with FLAC or Apple lossless. Any MP3, regardless of bit rate, still suffers a big loss in stereo image, not to mention the loss of frequency response below 50Hz and above 15k.) Upgrade to iTunes 7.6, if you use it. Greg . __________________ Forum Member Since 2003. . . 2004 M3, SG/ IR. 75k miles. Original owner.

Sun, Feb-03-2008, 08:48:20 PM	#9
spartan Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,233 Reputation: 0	thanks for the advice, you clearly know much more than I do! __________________ GTR HATERZ CLUB MEMBER #1

Mon, Feb-04-2008, 06:50:35 AM	#10
Mash3 Look out below! Join Date: Aug 2003 Age: 43 Posts: 6,558 Reputation: 0 Location: Hollywierd	Thanks, I do this for a living! Just getting the digital out of the computer before the D/A conversion is the most important thing, and you have that covered. Greg . __________________ Forum Member Since 2003. . . 2004 M3, SG/ IR. 75k miles. Original owner.

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