Is it possible to create your own sound card from various parts?

[Kristijonas]

Is it? For example someone very rich, could they hire someone who knows audio electronics well and pay them ~50000 to assemble the best electronics parts and build a custom card? I assume the software part wouldn't be a problem because sound processor manufacturers produce the drivers. The other parts usually don't need to be driver-specific. So I'm just interested if it is theorically possible. (and no, I'm just a bum with an imagination :awe: )

 

[Exophase]

Sure, it's possible to make something like this with off the shelf parts and your own software. But the $200 solutions already sound as good as the $2000 ones in blind studies among those with distinguished hearing, and in many cases so do $2 motherboard codec chips. And as far as I'm aware the most expensive stuff you can get already uses the highest quality ADCs, op-amps, references, and circuit design you can get. So what would be the point?

You probably wouldn't be able to have it made for only $50k either, unless you got a team that was in it for more than just a job.

 

[Kristijonas]

Why more than 50k? It's not that you would be making a fabrication design - just one model. I mean, it's just some electronic pieces put together on a chip or something, no ? I think it would cost probably less than 50k.

As for how I came up with this idea - I was reading about making modifications to my Sound Blaster ZXR and thought "Wait a minute, if all those parts of this sound card can be changed, then perhaps sound cards can be made from scratch too?". Anyway, all this SB ZXR modification business is so difficult, I really should learn more about audio electronics.

 

[Fardringle]

The parts wouldn't cost much. The resources and expertise to design a custom card would be expensive.

 

[Exophase]

Why more than 50k? It's not that you would be making a fabrication design - just one model. I mean, it's just some electronic pieces put together on a chip or something, no ? I think it would cost probably less than 50k.

As for how I came up with this idea - I was reading about making modifications to my Sound Blaster ZXR and thought "Wait a minute, if all those parts of this sound card can be changed, then perhaps sound cards can be made from scratch too?". Anyway, all this SB ZXR modification business is so difficult, I really should learn more about audio electronics.

You'd be paying people to select the parts, create a schematic, create the board layout, perform various forms of analysis, manufacture the board (with very poor economies of scale, making just one board is basically as expensive as making several), populate the board (also with very poor economies of scale), and write driver software. All that added up is not cheap.

And you'd need talent that goes well beyond average to ensure a sound card that's of top notch quality, especially when it comes to the high level and low level aspects of the circuit design.

 

[Kristijonas]

Is it really that difficult? Frankly I thought it could be made in a "garage" simply by buying every single part and then making crude connections between them.

As for software - I don't think that would be necessary - the sound card would be made using already existing parts, meaning a sound processor that already has its own drivers made by manufacturer.

 

[lamedude]

Just get a really expensive AVR and HDMI cable and call it a day.

 

[Fardringle]

The only way existing drivers would work properly is if the new card is exactly identical to an already existing card, and in that case you might as well just use the existing card.

 

[mmntech]

Of course it's possible but probably nor worth it. Any hardcore audiophile who had $50,000 to drop on making a custom sound card would probably prefer using analogue gear anyway. Besides, as has been mentioned, it's impossible to tell the difference in double blind tests between gear that costs a couple hundred bucks versus that which costs thousands. Audio playback will always be limited by the equipment used to record it. Frankly, nothing is mixed and mastered for superior audio quality today. All about loudness. That includes fancy audiophile grade vinyl. Might as well just attend the symphony.

That said, it's definitely possible to design and build your own analogue amplifiers.

 

[Kristijonas]

Interesting. Thank you for your insights everyone!

 

[Automaticman]

Is it really that difficult? Frankly I thought it could be made in a "garage" simply by buying every single part and then making crude connections between them.

What's the point in spending $50k building your own sound card and having it slapped together like that? Sound card manufacturers put a lot of money and research into designing their PCBs to minimize noise/cross talk/etc - there's a reason for that. There just wouldn't be any point to the exercise if it doesn't perform better than every other card on the market.