Sound card for computer again!!!

[garryfp]

Is there any agreement on the form as to what is the best sound card for recording vinyl ? At present I am using a turtle beach.

Thanks

garryfp

[Grant]

Anytime you get a large group like this, especially a bunch of audiophile/music lovers, you will get many differing opinions and disagreements. But, I use that Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, and it is the closest one can get to the semi-pro/pro cards for the money. It's a very good card with great specs.

[-=Rudy=-]

No, there's no agreement. ;) I have looked at the M-Audio line, though, and like what I see. They have an Audiophile 24/96 card that would do anything I need it to.

[Sckott]

The M-Audio card is a great choice lately..... Subject to change....

[Grant]

Just be advised, that the higher you go, the more driver/OS/processor issues you may encounter because the smaller companies don't always keep up with the wide user base.

[-=Rudy=-]

I second what Grant says. As a rule of thumb, if any software or hardware doesn't support the current operating system, I avoid it. Windows XP has been out since 2001...there's no excuse for any company not to have drivers or compatibility with it. If they're that slow to release new drivers for current operating systems, what will they do with new ones?

I have found that with current hardware and WinXP, I have had very few compatibility problems with anything I've purchased. Only problem I have now is that the motherboard I bought uses a Via chipset that has known issues. Because of this, I have to keep an old computer with Win98 around to run a few things.

I love my old AdB Digital input board, but they're out of business now. So longevity is certainly a factor.

[rontokyo]

Originally posted by Sckott
The M-Audio card is a great choice lately..... Subject to change....

Great card, but beware: Volume level cannot be adjusted using the card's "control panel." If you're recording an LP to your hard drive, you'll have to adjust the volume using your preamp. An integrated amp won't do the trick.

[petzi]

Originally posted by rontokyo


Great card, but beware: Volume level cannot be adjusted using the card's "control panel." If you're recording an LP to your hard drive, you'll have to adjust the volume using your preamp. An integrated amp won't do the trick.

It is always advisable to use the right volume at the analog input of an A/D converter, to make optimum use of the dynamic range of the card. You don't want an overloaded (i.e. clipping) input signal, nor do you want a digital recording that is too low in volume, because you'd lose some S/THD+N ratio. Might not be that crucial with a turntable signal though, which has a lot of noise already...

An integrated amp can do the trick if it has a pre-out.

[rontokyo]

Originally posted by petzi

An integrated amp can do the trick if it has a pre-out.

Thanks for the correction. Prospective buyers should be aware that there is no on-board means by which volume can be adjusted with the Audiophile 2496 card.

[jroyen]

I agree with Scott and Rudy, the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 is an outstanding card.

In that same price range ($125-175,) I'd say that the Echo Mia measures a tiny bit better: has a better design and layout (although it uses the same converters as the M-Audio,) has balanced output/inputs - sorta' :) - and can use virtual outputs - a really useful feature. The Echo Mia also has the capability to bypass the windows kernel mixer in software, and talk directly to the hardware. Believe me, this alone makes a huge difference in quality, as the audio data is no longer resampled, dithered, or modified in any way.

Either the M-Audio or the Echo product has the capability of producing extremely professional results.

Josh