High end sound cards.

Is this http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Gina/Default.htm any good for hcpc use. I've been offered one for £150 second hand.

How would it compare to the say, the MAudio Audiophile 2496.

 

Greetings from Brabourne! (nr ashford)

I have a Echo Darla in one of my machines. Very good card. However, I would say the MAudio is a better buy. Excellent sounding card, and you dont pay extra for the VST etc.

 

I just got the TerraTec 6fire 24/96khz DMX LT for £104 inc. vat. Works very well and the quality compared to my old sound card is phenomenal

No problems in Windows XP either

 

Where from? Sounds a bit more reasonable, I like the sound of £100 much more than £150, especially if it will essentially do the same job.

 

Komplett have them for 92.70 including VAT. Just ordered one myself.

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?action=info&p=22399&t=867&l=2&AvdID=1&CatID=16&GrpID=3&s=pl

 

Yeah I knew komplett sold it for cheaper but I was buying a lot of other stuff from dabs.com at the time. bradsjm could you tell me if you get an optical cable with your sound card, mine was fully sealed and it had a optical cable in a bag with the soundcard.... quite surprised really as I heard they were quite expensive to buy and it does not mention a free optical cable with the sound card in the rather excellent documentation.

I thought about buying the Delta 410 but most places had it for £180 or so... quite a bit more than this sound card and I believe they have the same chip onboard so the quality should be the same...and besides the quality of this card makes mp3's I already had sound much clearer for some reason (no hiss either from the speakers !). Also I heard Delta 410 has problems with zoomplayer so I thought what the hell....worth risking 100 quid and it paid off in every sense of the word

 

bradsjm did you get your TerraTec 24/96 6fire in the end from komplett?. Did you get the optical cable inside aswell?.

 

Echo Gina is one of the finest sound cards available today. The audio quality is noticably above M-audio/Terratech and even RME. AFAIK At present there are only two card that surpasses Echo, LynxONE and LynxTWO.

If you have a chance of getting this level of quality for £150, it is exceptional offer. To get a comparable or at least a close enough quality of playback with consumer grade hardware, you need to spend couple of thousand pounds at least.

 

Thats the sort of response I was waiting to hear

The only thing that bothers me a little is the size of the breakout box and where to put it. Any suggestions.

 

I would personally go for a rack mount PC case and the break-out box than neatly sits on one of the shelves.

Rack mount PC case is a bit more expensive. Good cases start from £150 onwards and a reasonably smart rack will set you back by another £100. You'll be then able to put the rest of your system in the same rack and tidy up all your cables.

Alternatively, as you are very rarely going to need the access to the box, put it anywhere behind the PC.

 

Branxx

Cheers, yes i am waiting for a dign case on the powerbuy and i have a optimum 2000 stand, (need an extra shelf though), looks like I'm going to have to take the man up on his offer

 

Before you fully plunge, make sure that your favourite music and DVD player application is fully compatible with the Echo drivers.

I expect you should have not problem in 2-channel applications, but 5.1 or 7.1 needs to be tested. Also try new Windows Media Player 9 Series, as it now supports surround mode (with its own codec).

 

Branxx

Hmmm...not thought about compatability issues really, I an only beginning the process of getting bits together at the moment. The Echo site comments on windows media7 CD support, but makes only makes reference to win dvd. Any idea how to go about finding out about compatability with other dvd programs?

Edit

Just got this off the echo site FAQ:-

I can not get audio from my CD player to play thru Echo card

We recommend using Windows Media Player 7. With Windows Media Player 7 you do not need an internal cable connected to the Echo or CD ROM.

Windows Media player allows you to turn your audio files on your CD ROM in to wave file so your Echo card can play what is on your CD. Echo cards do not replace multi media sound cards. Echo cards are designed for pro audio and recording.


The bit in bold concerns me.

 

It sounds like a fairly clear statement that the cards ar not going to be suitable for home cinema use.

If you decide you dont want it, pass me onto your contact!

ad

 

John,

The marketing message you are reading is abviously written about 2 years ago when WMP 7 was a current product. WMP 8 was introduced together with the launch of Windows Xp and Microsoft is currently introducing WMP 9.

I suggest you send an e-mail to Echo support or even call them with 'pre-sales enquiry' asking them a direct quastion along the lines: "I have Win XP with PowerDVD and I want to output 6 channel surround sound via Echo Gina. Is it going to work?"

As for CD player the statement about WMP 7 actually confirms that the card is goind to work properly in 2-channel mode.

 

Branxx, any suggestions on where to get a "reasonably smart rack"?

Steve

 

Couch Potato,

Sorry to have missed you post.

I've got mine rack from www.turnkey.uk.com but you can also try www.digitalvillage.co.uk. Look for Quiklok range.

 

To change the subject slightly,
Is the TerraTec 6fire 24/96khz DMX LT any good for games ? I would like a card that would be a good all rounder for music/games/movies and would like to stay away from Creative if possible !!

 

A better place to get a rack from would be:-
www.millennium-music.biz

These guys have been making customised computers for pro audio for ten years and kick the ass off turnkey and digital village. They can also make solid recomendations on soundcards. Though in all honesty, they, like alot of people, will struggle to tell you about any conflicts between the cards and specific HCPC software. Because these cards are all from a pro audio world.

Spicer, if you've got a problem with the breakout box, why don't you consider an Echo Mia. This does'nt have multiple analogue outs, so you'd have to do some external processing, but then nor does the audiophile, that you were considering, have multiple analogue outs. Brankxx is right with regards to the Echo's being better than the M audio's. This is due to the on board DSP. I'm still not convinced they are better than the RME's though.

 

From a pro-audio perspective, I like the RMEs but if you need analogue the Lynx is better although the driver arrangements are a bit neanderthal.