I have a friend who is in love with his M-Audio Audiophile 192 . I built him a new PC a few years ago, I bought an external USB sound card and he complained about it, saying the quality was poor and it didn’t get enough power from the USB port.
I saw recently that some motherboard manufacturers have started including a specific (yellow) USB port for sound related peripherals. Does anyone know if this has cured the problem?
If this isn’t the case, is there a good internal card that’s just as good as the 192? He’s had the machine for years but all the while his last machine is working (also built by me), he’s not fussed about upgrading, but I want him to get the benefits of the newer machine (or at least have it ready on standby). The old one is running Win XP, is connected to the internet and I must have built it around 2007. I did upgrade the internal HDD to SSD, but that’s about it. He’s in fear of anyone going near it, in case it dies!
AFAIK, no one is using sound cards in the audiophile space anymore. Everyone has moved to USB DACs and amps. I have some older sound blasters that would probably sound identical to that card hes using that I could part with. They are a newer PCIE slot type. Unless hes using the recording functions I’m not sure why that card is any good in his eyes. Who am I to come between a man and his preferred sound though.
My board has those yellow USB ‘isolated’ ports or whatever you want to call them. They are a gimmick IMO but maybe there is something to them that I personally cant take advantage of. I use one for my USB condenser mic, cant tell a bit of difference.
All that aside, modern motherboards often have very good quality op-amps built right in. I would have him try out a new machine with just the built in stuff. If that doesnt appease his listening palette then I would look into some of those fancy USB interfaces
P.S.
He needs to get off of XP though. Like now. I wouldnt have one of those machines on my network, nevermind connected to the internet. Hes only asking for trouble by continuing to use it. That is a internet connected machine waiting for exploitation with no patches ever coming to it.
What does he hook up to the M-Audio card out of interest?
If it is just connected to speakers (or studio monitors) then I can’t see why any DAC/Amp with the correct output ports powered through USB wouldn’t suffice.
I used the M-Audio M-Track II previously before switching to something with a headphone amp and it was a great little DAC. Don’t expect much from the headphone output though as it is only powered via USB - you really need something you plug into the wall if you want to power headphones properly.
Sorry chaps, thought I’d responded to this, but apparently not! Too busy…umm, watching that there Level1Techs Youtube channel
Thanks @Adubs Really kind of you to share your experiences. I might take you up on that sound card sometime, I’ll have a word with him when he’s prepared to talk about such things (moody at times…musicians). He is using the recording function though, and I believe this is his primary concern, the quality of it. He has quite a nice looking microphone, next time I’m round there, I’ll take some pics of his equipment.
Ah, I hope they’re not a gimic, the concept seems feasible, but I trust users to manufacturers blurb!
That’s what I thought you know, my motherboard has separated this and that, if I had the patience I would do some test recordings, but that’s quite involved!
Tell me about it (re XP), luckily his lives in a house not occupied by anyone else. He has 3-4 machines with Windows 7, Windows VISTA and another with XP. He uses the latter the most and it’s pretty reliable, although he does say, “It crashes sometimes, but I just re-start it and it’s fine”. Hmm, so that’s OK with you?
Sorry @raz0rblade , I’ll have to check it out next time I’m round there. I know that he has some sort of other box, like an Amp or something. I’ll check!
I think I need to return to him and clarify what his problem was…he will talk/moan for a loooooong time about this
Well the USB options available to the average consumer like the Mtrack you linked would probably be my go to first before a card, unless you absolutely have to have the DI from something else. Personally I prefer as little in the chain as possible as to reduce the chance of a noisy signal but with a mostly digital chain this shouldnt be as much of an issue…in theory anyway. More info about his use case is definitely necessary I think.
Perhaps its my ears, perhaps its my equipment, perhaps I already have good power so there isnt much of a difference. Consider my thoughts anecdotal at best.
Thanks for that @Adubs , I think he also likes a card inside the box instead of outside. He’s strange like that, despite having plenty of room…perhaps it’s one less thing that needs to be cleaned! I’ll certainly get back to you about his setup.
You’re right though, sound quality is a very personal perception. I have headphones that were cheap and to even the average audiophile, they would probably be awful. But to me they’re fine and do the job, unless I listen to music, then they’re rubbish.
You might want to look at the Focusrite Clarett Pre4. It is available in both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. It is a legit professional audio interface for PCs.
I personnaly love the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4. For playback the onboard DAC is crisp and for inputs the preamps on the 2 channels are super lush for the price. Plus it is really cheap nowadays.
