Search the Community

Greetings Audiophiles! Having not been able to find what I want through my own research online, I have come seeking recommendations from those in the know. This is the first forum I came across. I'm guessing you are mostly US-based judging by the default timezone it wanted to use? In which case, greetings from the UK :-) Many years ago, while I was studying at University I used to have a PC that had a Soundblaster card with a breakout box. It was particularly useful for inputting midi and a mic and monitoring with headphones. Now, in the coming months I will be doing a new PC build and although my useage has changed somewhat, I am looking for something similar which no longer seems to exist. I now have a small YouTube gaming channel which I co-host. I would like a panel/external box which can handle: 2 sets of headphones (3.5mm) with independent volume controls USB mic in with level indicator MIDI-in or another USB I will also need a suitable soundcard. Last time I was building a PC there were crazy amounts of options for soundcards. I did quite like the look of the SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty, but with it being over a decade old will no doubt be incompatible (don't think it works over PCIe). Essentially I am totally out of date when it comes to PC audio. Initially I will be wanting to record from one USB mic (Blue Yeti), while utilising two sets of headphones. But at some point I will want to probably use a couple of (musical) keyboards (Yamaha PSR7000 and microKORG) to do some sequencing work. I don't want to be faffing around the back of the PC all the time. I don't need top of the range. Equally, I don't want to be using the garbage that is generally on-board MB audio. I am also a gamer. Your suggestions would be most welcome. All the best, TRC

Hi, I'm new to the forum but I've been tinkering away at the budget end of the file-playback and streaming spectrum for some years. I have a Cantatis Overture PCI soundcard gathering dust at home. As well as being an excellent dual-mono Burr Brown DAC in it's own right, it also has an SPDIF output which I am keen to use to feed my SPS DAC3 non-oversampling DAC, to see if this represents an improvement over USB input. My question is - might it be feasible to build a fanless PC with a PCI slot (not PCI-E)? Does anyone have any advice or am I on a hiding to nowhere with this idea? Thanks in advance.

Hi guys, So, I have a little problem with my USB-Sound device. I've got a Soundcraft Notepad-5 connected via USB to my Windows 10 computer. Overall I am very happy with this device, except for one thing. If I play for example a short note in my DAW, the soundcard won't let me hear it. When I play the same note over and over again it will eventually pick up. To me it seems like it thinks that that one sound isn't worth playing through my speakers or something.. very weird indeed! Playing music etc. works perfectly fine.. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? It seems very odd to me, and I can't find anything on the internet about it since it is a fairly new device. I also have installed the latest drivers for it. Thanks in advance! Gerard de Graaf

Hello, Windows 7 32 bit Asus Essence ST (7.0.8.1821 driver) iTunes 12.3.1 I have a question about an issue that has bugged me forever. I have an ASUS Essence ST sound card and it has four different options for Analog Out. Whenever you switch between Analog Out options or switch between gain options the sound card will make a physical clinking sound. Other message boards says this is normal. One user writes on HeadFi "That is normal. You are hearing the relays re-routing the circuit." My problem is whenever I open iTunes (7/10), my sound card will make the same clicking sound as if I'm changing Analog Out options or switching gains. I don't know what going on but I'm sure it's not normal. I don't know why this is happening but it's bugging me. I don't know if iTunes is changing any of my soundboard settings or what's going on. Does anyone know what's going on?

Hi all! Not having a lot of funds I started buying the components for my own dedicated music PC a while ago. I found this site too late to use all of the ideas in this website/forum, but I will be able to use some of them. I would like to hear comments on where I can improve what I have while keeping the cost low (under $200). Not having an outboard DAC, I've been using an ASUS Xonar DS PCI soundcard on my regular PC which allowed me to upgrade the opamps for the sound I want. The rest of my parts are: MSI B75MA-E33 (Military Class III with solid caps) LGA 1155 MicroATX motherboard Intel Celeron G1620 cpu with Integrated HD Graphics (so I don't have to use a video card) Kingston SSDNow 200 64gb 2.5" SATAIII solid-state drive Patriot Viper 3 DDR3 1600mhz 4gb (1 stick - I can add another if I need to) Seasonic S12II SS-330GB 330w ATX 80 PLUS Certified PSU I have two Hitachi hard drives with a lot of music (and room for more of it) one 3tb and one 2tb. After reading through the forums, I am planning on purchasing an Anker Astro E4 13000mAh Portable Battery pack to use with the SSD drive (unless someone has a better idea). My plan is to try Windows Server 2012 and, if that fails resort to Windows 8. I have been using MediaMonkey 4 because I really like the interface and all it can do. If it would sound significantly better I could change to JRiver or JPlay. If I had lots of money, I'd go for a fine outboard DAC, but as it is the ASUS soundcard does a good job with audio files up to 24/192 and I can play DSD files thru foobar2000. Where is the greater danger of noise/jitter in this system? I am depending on your experience to assist me. Peter

Hi all, I've built a quiet pc for my video and audio library and am quite happy with it with exception of the sound card and am wanting to upgrade it. The setup is: it runs on windows 7 64bit on a SSD (fast boot time) it is currently is hooked up to 2 pairs of B&O BeoLab 3 and a Velodyne subwoofer (ie all active speakers) via Creative Audigy 2 Platinum (yes not the best). I will add a centre speaker once I decide what to get. I use XBMC but am trialling JRiver Media Centre with an Andriod tablet for 2 way remote. This pc will one day drive a 84inch TV (when the new LG or Sharp LCDs finally get to Australia) I was wondering if I could get some recommendations for a great multichannel soundcard (for movies) for less than 1k. I considered adding DAC but its rare to find a mulitchannel DAC and I'm not sure if its feasible to run 2 DACs for front and rear. FYI the BeoLab 3 are great speakers (to me anyway), very detailed, neutral with high clarity and I would like to get something that would do it justice. FYI my requirements are: great sound stage,details - hopefully approaching Linn audio products. I listen to classical music, pop etc plus love movie multichannel (5.1 is enough) PCI Express windows 7 support for 192KHz @16/24bit minimum number of power supply i.e. prefers not to buy a prepro/AV receiver My current shortlist are: RME HDSPe AIO with the analog expansion card Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe with H6 daughter card Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe with H6 daughter card with OPamps on the h6 swapped to Burnson HD Audio Opamp I would greatly appreciate any recommendations. Also any comments on how pro audio DA converter (eg RME) sounds and work in multimedia consumer environment would be much appreciated. Kind Regards, William

First off, Hi, been enjoying reading these forums for a while now as a guest, but now I need some advice I'm looking for a laptop as my music server that will connect to my DAC. I've been considering a HP 255 G3 Laptop - Laptops at Ebuyer and a Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 - USB sound card - Creative Labs (UK) and was wondering if you guys had any better suggestions (I can't go Mac as I just can't afford one). Also, for my radio listening I was advised that I couldnt use a 3.5mm mini TOS to TOS (Optical Digital Audio Cable) to connect my phone to the DAC and to just use a Premium Grade Black Thin 3.5mm Mini Jack to Mini Jack Audio Cable connected to my amp's front panel. I now have the tablet and would a toslink cable work now or not? I really want to utalize my DAC more as I generally listen to the radio during the day and the poor thing isnt getting much use. Velve