Going to buy headphones and sound card...looking at Grado SR-60s and...what?

[KingNothing]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
I can't believe no one has suggested Philips line of soundcards. The Thunderbird Avenger DSP in the Acoustic Edge and Seismic Edge II is much more advanced than any of the other consumer soundcards like the Live, Audigy, Santa Cruz, and the Herc GTXP. It is the only DSP that outputs 6 distinct channels of sound from any stereo source. All the other cards just mirror the front signal to the surround speakers and mix in a little bass to the sub. The 5.1 Seismic Edge II can be had @ Newegg for a measly $39 shipped and it will outperform any of the other cards.


Edit: If you don't need a 5.1 soundcard, the Philips Rythmic Edge II(PSC-703) is a 4.1 soundcard that has the same Thunderbird Avenger DSP and it's only $29 shipped @ Newegg.


Rythmic Edge II @ Newegg

Out of stock! :| I suppose I could place an order anyway...that's a great price. Any comments on why I shouldn't get this card?

 

[Insane3D]

Review of the Seismic Edge @ IGN

"So what is important to know is that the Seismic Edge is a six-channel 5.1 capable sound card with S/PDIF output. It also has support for A3D 1.0, EAX 1.0 and EAX 2.0 (but not the new EAX AdvancedHD introduced with the Sound Blaster Audigy series) and DirectSound/DirectSound3D. For those curious, the 96 hardware-accelerated 3D streams is 50% more than the 64 offered by the nForce MCP-D and three times the 32 of the Live! and Audigy series."


Great Review of the Philips "Edge" Series of Soundcards

"Operational amplifiers on outputs of all 3 channels are very big. They are NE5532N chips from Philips. According to their specifications, they may be used in professional equipment. The level of output voltage is up to 10 V (RMS)! That is why I couldn't set volume on my 32-Ohm headphones Philips HP600 higher than a 20% mark on the mixer. But if you have high-impedance headphones or small passive speakers, then you will be pleased. "

I looked online, and a few places have the Rythmic Edge. Try EMS Computing, or do a search on pricewatch for the "Rythmic Edge" or "PSC703". EMS seems to have them in stock, but they are a little higher than Newegg @ $35.49. I've dealt with EMS before, and I've had nothing but good experience with them.

I use my Sennheiser HD495's with them and it sounds great.


Edit:

Another nice little feature of the Rythmic Edge II is the COAX SPDI/F output. It's nice to have that versus the more common 1/8"mini-jack style on most cards. Makes hooking it up to a digital receiver a little easier.

 

[diskop]

Originally posted by: trmiv

Originally posted by: diskop
Sennheiser 580s or 600s my man. I LOVE my 580s. I can't imagine listening on anything else. And I don't plan to

There's just a bit of a price difference between the Grado SR60's he's asking about, and the Sennheiser 580's and 600's.

Worth every penny though

 

[MarkW]

dont bother with the sound blaster line of products... as far as sound quality goes, get the turtle beach, personally, i have the GTXP hooked up to a receiver, then to some sennheiser hd 600's.

 

[JellyBaby]

I love my SR-60s but they're not very comfortable over long stretches and the cable is heavy. The sound quality is great (paired with SB Live 5.1 at the PC) but if I had to buy today I might opt for some Sein 570/580s.

 

[J3anyus]

Get a card based on the C-Media CMI8738 chipset...only $15 or so, works in all OS's, sounds great, inexpensive...they're nice cards.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: J3anyus
Get a card based on the C-Media CMI8738 chipset...only $15 or so, works in all OS's, sounds great, inexpensive...they're nice cards.

They are decent cards, but be aware they are not a full hardware based solution. They still offload a good deal of processing to the CPU. The CMI 8738 is like halfway between a software and a full hardware soundcard.

 

[jaydee]

Does the Phillips have Linux and Unix support?

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: jaydee
Does the Phillips have Linux and Unix support?

No.