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What PC Soundcard is Closest to Macbook Pro sound chip (DAC)?

C

cheez

Golden Member
Because I fell in love with the Audioengine A2 speakers so much, I am going soon get another pair for my living room and add a HSU or Velodyne sub woofer (probably 8 or 10"). I love the way stock Macbook Pro sound chip produces in sonic signature. So what PC sound card will have closest sound to that of the macbook pro? Anyone experienced in this? please input. I currently use a 12 year old SoundBlaster Live card.

p.s. it also needs to support Server 2003/ 2008 operating system.


thanks a sea,
 
I'd ask around a more audio-oriented forum, such as Head-fi. I expect you will be inundated with responses.

I haven't heard the MBP personally though I suspect its quality is decent at best. A lot of DACs should easily beat it.

And, you should specify a budget.

p.s. I had the Live! and Audigy 2 before. They weren't that good SQ-wise IMO. Don't know about the X-Fi though.
 
Zorander said:
I'd ask around a more audio-oriented forum, such as Head-fi. I expect you will be inundated with responses.

I haven't heard the MBP personally though I suspect its quality is decent at best. A lot of DACs should easily beat it.

And, you should specify a budget.

p.s. I had the Live! and Audigy 2 before. They weren't that good SQ-wise IMO. Don't know about the X-Fi though.
Click to expand...
Hey Zorander thanks for the response!
I'm looking at anywhere from $50~ 100. I don't think I need one with bunch of feature perse, but something with good neutral sound and good soundstage. Macbook onboard DAC sound pretty natural to me, and has good soundstage.

Agreed, the SoundBlaster cards seem to have more saturated / colored sound. I respect it for not breaking on me all these years. This thing is a freakin tank!

Oh and not planning to use Macbook for my living room cause I have a nice HTPC with server OS. I think it's time for a sound card replacement, LOL!

🙂
 
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I'm guessing it might vary a little on the vintage of your MBP.

That said, the Cirrus 4206BCNZ looks like it might be the audio chip in the MBP. It's a starting point, at least, though I couldn't find any sound cards using anything that seemed near-ish in a quick search.
 
I've not heard the Macbook pro but in the $50 -$100 range you may want to check out the Auzentech Xfi cards (Forte or Bravura). They take the Creative Xfi chip and add higher quality analog stages than the CL cards use (except the Titanium HD but that's $200).
I don't know the Bravura well but the Forte sounds great. It uses an AK4396 DAC, that's found in some high end CD players and Dedicated DAC units. It also has the ability to swap out Opamps to tweak the sound to your liking. Throw on a Burr-Brown OPA2107 for $4 off ebay and you'll notice a difference over stock.
 
PhoenixEnigma said:
I'm guessing it might vary a little on the vintage of your MBP.

That said, the Cirrus 4206BCNZ looks like it might be the audio chip in the MBP. It's a starting point, at least, though I couldn't find any sound cards using anything that seemed near-ish in a quick search.
Click to expand...
Yeah I remember that chip name and model number now... cause I downloaded a driver for Windows OS for my MBP a while back for testing...

blotto said:
I've not heard the Macbook pro but in the $50 -$100 range you may want to check out the Auzentech Xfi cards (Forte or Bravura). They take the Creative Xfi chip and add higher quality analog stages than the CL cards use (except the Titanium HD but that's $200).
I don't know the Bravura well but the Forte sounds great. It uses an AK4396 DAC, that's found in some high end CD players and Dedicated DAC units. It also has the ability to swap out Opamps to tweak the sound to your liking. Throw on a Burr-Brown OPA2107 for $4 off ebay and you'll notice a difference over stock.
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Intriguing!... MMmmmm~~~ Forte or Bravura. Sounds tempting. I will check them out shortly.

😎
 
As an addendum, I just replaced my Forte with an Xfi Titanium HD and I can notice a difference. The Titanium seems to have cleaner extension into the highs and feels more "airy". They do cost more but if you want the best....
 
Does "good soundstage" in PC audio mean that there isn't a high level of crosstalk between the left and the right channels? I'm not sure how else a soundcard / DAC system could change the stereo separation in an audio recording...(??) I remember seeing some soundcard reviews years ago where they actually measured crosstalk between output channels.

FYI some PC audio people argue that an external (USB) DAC is superior to an internal card because it isolates the analog side from the electrically noisy computer case. I'd imagine that a high end audio card will have good shielding and grounding to avoid this problem as much as possible.
 
Knavish said:
Does "good soundstage" in PC audio mean that there isn't a high level of crosstalk between the left and the right channels? I'm not sure how else a soundcard / DAC system could change the stereo separation in an audio recording...(??) I remember seeing some soundcard reviews years ago where they actually measured crosstalk between output channels.
Click to expand...
A soundstage can refer to the "depth" of sound you are hearing, i.e. how far back from your listening point does the soundstage extend. Many have also referred to soundstage in terms of "height" but this is something that I personally have not quite been able to grasp either with my equipments or ears. In a nutshell, soundstage is about having believable dimensions (note: not artificially created 3D-processing) and not sounding like they are coming from a flat/linear wall in front of you.

Think of it as listening to a live performance, instead of to a pair of generic speakers. 😀
 
Zorander said:
A soundstage can refer to the "depth" of sound you are hearing, i.e. how far back from your listening point does the soundstage extend. Many have also referred to soundstage in terms of "height" but this is something that I personally have not quite been able to grasp either with my equipments or ears. In a nutshell, soundstage is about having believable dimensions (note: not artificially created 3D-processing) and not sounding like they are coming from a flat/linear wall in front of you.

Think of it as listening to a live performance, instead of to a pair of generic speakers. 😀
Click to expand...

I'm just trying to figure out how this is physically produced from, say, an MP3 file playing through your computer hardware. I'm thinking that most of the three-dimensionality or depth that we in audio is based on the ability of the speakers to recreate the actual recorded environment rather than just playing back tones. If you take the speakers and amplifier out of the equation and just focus on the computer hardware, it seems like the ability to recreate the separate stereo channels in the recording accurately are the most important. I guess a DAC or computer hardware that change the frequencies in music could mess up the soundstage, too: I've always heard that certain frequencies are more important than others for aural imaging. (i.e. you can frequently get away with a single sub rather than stereo subs b/c you supposedly can't hear directionality in really low frequencies)
 
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