High bang for buck Audiophile Soundcard recomendations

[tr1kstanc3]

motu / digidesign / rme >>> creative (emu) / m-audio

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Why Creative has not utilized A3d baffles me.

The good news is that now some games ( HL2/Doom3) have taken the inititive to create a greater in game sound quaility and have developed their own software coding that does not rely on hardware such as Creative EAX which I was never impressed with.

In essence someone using an M-Audio and an Audigy suffer the same fram rate "hits" in Half Life 2 since these newer titles do not take advantage of Creatives on board processing. I like this trend. Todays CPU's can easily handle the extra load.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Originally posted by: tr1kstanc3
motu / digidesign / rme >>> creative (emu) / m-audio

Please expand on this. Sounds interesting!

 

[konakona]

RME hammerfall, maybe. for that price you are better off getting an external DAC, however (modded 1212M/0404 > stock hammerfall). i am not very well informed about motu/digidesign products tho... pls educate us on that, sounds intriguing

 

[NEVERwinter]

motu / digidesign / rme >>> creative (emu) / m-audio

if I'm not wrong, Avid-Digidesign has acquired M-Audio....

 

[tr1kstanc3]

I guess I would consider myself an audiophile though it has a different meaning to each individual. The equipment I use is a motu 828 mkII audio interface connected to Event TR8 studio monitors via Monster performer 500 cables.

This is my audio interface, basically a pro-level soundcard with multiple input/outputs.

http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/828/body.html/en

These are my reference studio monitors. Much better than any pair of logitech's...

http://www.americanmusical.com...EVE-TR8--brand-91.html

Cables. So expensive but they reduce EMI and hum.

http://www.monstercable.com/pr...ctPagePro.asp?pin=2427




I work mainly on music from home as a hobby. Play guitar, drums, bass, programming synth/beats. Regular job as an IT supervisor ughh... Here's a sample of a work in progress.

http://www.tr1kstanc3.com/mp3s/



As for your original question, I actually use the chaintech a710 card as my computer soundcard for gaming. I have it running into my toslink (optical) input on the 828mkII. When I listen to mp3s and watch movies I actually switch over to the 828 because it has a much warmer sound and not the typical flat signal that consumer cards put out. The maudio cards are decent. I used to own the delta 410 card and it put out a decent signal but I would agree the emu 1212m is better albeit buggy. The real question is how much money you are trying to invest. When I compare the chaintech to the motu you should know I am talking about a $25 card versus a $700 rackmount interface. If I had to make a recommendation for a basic 2 channel stereo I would go with ...

http://www.m-audio.com/product...udiophile192-main.html

They pretty much run the market for entry-level pro-audio cards.