Sound Cards & S/N Ratio

[idfubar]

I'm looking for a really good sound card that uses a DSP with a high S/N ratio, preferrably 96 (theoretical CD S/N limit) or above. I'd also like to find one that has low THD and good tonal range.

Can anyone suggest something? I've looked at the Extigy, as well as the Audigy and Audigy 2. I currenlty have a onboard CMedia 8738 (that's curiously been marked as a "SoundPRO" chip - the thing actually produces excellent sound, but I've had a hell of a time finding hard numbers for the chipset. I do not have any specific requirements in terms of price or brand, but external would most likely be preferred. SPDIF is also unimportant for my purposes.

-Rishi

PS: Also, can anyone think of a reason for having S/N greater than 96? Even if the files being used are mp3/wma/ogg based, since the creation process requires resampling, they won't have an S/N greater than 96. Also, how would the impedance of the speakers/headphones affect the sound produced?

PPS: If I was to introduce an EQ somewhere into the system, where would the ideal place for the EQ be? Would SPDIF help in this respect? Can a software-based EQ (such as the one in Winamp) provide sufficient functionality without sacrificing sound quality?

 

[blahblah99]

Well if your concerned about sound specs, I wouldn't even use a PC based sound card. I would use the digital out on the sound card and feed that to a standalone dolby digital decoder and have that output feed into dedicated amps.

1) S/N of 96 for computing purposes is already good. No need to go higher than that. Majority of amps have S/N of >100.
2) The output of the sound card can source enough current to drive headphones directly.
3) Software eq such as WinAMP is fine since it doesn't require synchronization with video. However, if you use a 3rd party eq software while trying to play games or watch movies, it might add a delay and the video/sound won't play in synch. As for sound quality, everything's done digitally so there's no more noise added than a hardware eq.

 

[idfubar]

Any reco's on DD decoders?

 

[holdencommodore]

Here's some results for the C-media 8738 http://audio.rightmark.org/test/c-media-8738-1648.html.... (newer drivers tend to improve these figures somewhat)

Philips Acoustic Edge / Seismic Edge 5.1 cards have very low THD figures, only bettered by the SB Extigy.

Cheers

 

[Piano Man]

Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96. Better than the Audigy2 in my opinion. There's better out there, but it will cost you a lot more.

 

[Beatnik]

I was just looking at this question myself.
I think a nice solution at the moment would be the "Echo Mia", and then
do all your EQ and processing in Cool Edit Pro.

The reason I like the Mia is that it has balanced and unbalanced
analog. That's nice if there is ever a chance that some of your
equipment is balanced. From the Sound-On-Sound review it appears
that you could record in 24-bit/48KHz, which is my preferred target.

The other thing I like about the Mia is that ECHO appears to have
done a good job on the drivers this time around. I mean, really,
go out there and look at all the drivers. Finding a good ASIO2
driver at this point is completely hit-or-miss. On the downside for
the MIA, depending on how you look at it, is that there is absolutely
no pre-amp GAIN on input. So if you are depending on levels other
than the two standard defaults, -10dB or +4dB, then you are out of
luck. But as you'll see below, this kind of simplicity may or may not
be a preferred feature for you.

I've looked at the reviews on the Audigy2, and am interested in
the Audigy2 Platinum Ex. (on their website, but not yet avaliable.)
It's very hard to tell what route they are using for A/D controls.
Since there is both an 18-bit AC'97 A-to-D converter/mixer, and a
much more capable Philips 24-bit A-to-D converter, I'm hard pressed
to tell you which inputs take which path and when. Not a complete
deal breaker, but worth noting.

The M-Audio Revolution looks interesting as well, but again, driver
support, and really nailing down what you want to do, is going to
control a lot of factors. It comes bundled with WinDVD4 and does
do DolbyDigital decoding, and possibly DTS. Might be worth a look,
but I can't believe a card that inexpensive is going to be near-pro-quality.
Haven't seen any tests of it yet.

( Creative has a lock on the Souncard market,
so if the Audigy2 Platinum Ex turns out to allow you to avoid the 18-bit
AC'97 on A-to-D conversion, then that seems good. It will be funny if
it turns out that the "Ex" bay turns out to be tied to the 18-bit ADC.
If that's the case then it almost seems like a waste to go that route,
although it remains to be seen what the real differences are on the
released product between the "Ex" and regular Audigy2.

So go here:
Then go to the "General Specifications" section.
Audigy2 Users Manual
You tell me at what point the Philips ADC comes into the audio chain.
I couldn't tell you. Tell me what point the Sigmatel AC'97 ADC and
mixer comes into the audio chain. )

See also the reviews at iXbtlabs.com and look for the Rightmark
Audio test site if you are interested in more performance numbers.
iXbtlabs does excellent hardware reviews.

 

[idfubar]

This is gonna be a little off topic, but:

Would anyone have an idea of how sony can get away with having a 1-bit D/A converter in their car stereos? I remember asking this question in a system and signals class, and was told there are some PHD papers that apparently explain how signal processing can be done somewhere else in the "pipeline", eliminating the need for a high-bit D/A converter...

 

[Beatnik]

Found a really great summary link here, just for checking prices and specs.
All the brands are here:

audiomidi.com pci soundcards

I've done business with Sweetwater Sound, Bayview Pro Audio, and
zZounds. Those are all places to get cards like this as well.

As for builtin DSP, the Aardvark guys seemed to do a super job of combining
pre-amp + dsp in one box. But the move to 24-bit has put everybody a
little off balance. I would expect that at somepoint their onboard DSP effects
in hardware will be upgraded. In the meantime, it's hard to judge who is really
doing what internally at what word length. You really have to pay attention.

 

[BoomAM]

Heres what i know.
Audigy 1 S/N Ratio = 96dBa
Audigy 2 S/N Ratio = 100dBa(maybe more, cant remember)

 

[idfubar]

Funny thing is, most digital music source recordings (i.e. CDs) have a S/N of 96... Which makes you wonder what you can do with the extra mileage of the Audigy 2.