Audio cards for PC

[Rikki Kitto]

Got a massive iTunes library on my PC, can't help feeling I aren't getting the best sound out of it. Comparing it to the CD player it feels a bit thin and flat. Any opinions on upgrades?

I have a Dell Optiplex 745 midi size PC so space is a problem for an internal board but wouldn't mind having an outside box for it

[newsh]

Echo Audifire external cards sound great and are great value, you will need a firewire connector on your computer though. Use something simple like Foobar to play your tunes (iTunes does some strange stuff to the sound) and save stuff as WAV files, MP3s are an abomination.

(If you need a nice pair of speakers you know where to come )

[Ross]

Yeah something with a digital output, then use an external unit for DAC and power amp. Or you can use a digital streaming device and host a media server from your PC, lots of options depending on budget and how decent you want your sound to be!

I can't help with a PC card that will offer good DAC I'm afraid.

[johne]

Can't help feeling your problem lies with iTunes and the option you've chosen to rip your CDs in the first place - WAV or Apple lossless is the way to go.

Try ripping a CD you've already got in your iTunes library again as Apple lossless as well and then compare.

I doubt a new sound card is going to make any difference.

John

[Rikki Kitto]

Echo Audifire external cards sound great and are great value, you will need a firewire connector on your computer though. Use something simple like Foobar to play your tunes (iTunes does some strange stuff to the sound) and save stuff as WAV files, MP3s are an abomination.

(If you need a nice pair of speakers you know where to come )

Got Pro Ac's thanks they sound amazing from CD player but so so off the PC

[Rikki Kitto]

Can't help feeling your problem lies with iTunes and the option you've chosen to rip your CDs in the first place - WAV or Apple lossless is the way to go.

Try ripping a CD you've already got in your iTunes library again as Apple lossless as well and then compare.

I doubt a new sound card is going to make any difference.

John

I have ripped most of my collection at higher bit rate 256 or 320kbps but use mp3 for ease of transfer to other players, will try the lossless system but can't imagine going through my whole collection again. Suppose if I want quality I will just have to put the CD on.

[Ross]

Fairly simply you've got Source -> DAC -> Amp -> Speaker as major influences on how it sounds...

I've done ALOT of comparing and lossless is definitely the way to go, my collection is mostly FLAC and WAV. 128k MP3 sounds crap in all areas, 256/320 sounds pretty good but with flat, boomy bass and loss of detail. The better your kit the more imperfections you'll notice from compressed material.

A good way to compare is burn your compressed media back to CD and then play it via the CD player as a 'direct comparison'.

I got very impressive results, for example, using a digital output from my PS3 to a surround processor. I would say getting a digital signal from your PC would be a good start - you can even look at 'squeezebox type devices, that will connect to your PC via wireless and RCA output to your amp.

[newsh]

Good man, at least you have the CDs to play! It makes me weep when I hear of people who've ripped all their CDs to iTunes at 128 and sold them (or worst still ripped all their irreplaceable vinyl with one of those USB turntables and sold it on ebay..)

People talk about the bass and the treble and yes these things change a lot but you can kind of get used to it but its the midrange that really tells the story, take a tune with a nice piano and rip it to 128 and then burn it back to CD, now compare with the original, if you have 2 decks and a mixer its even better but just playing one then the other is ok. Soul to Soul "Keep on Moving" is one we use to demo this. Listen to what the data compression does to the piano. Once you have that in your head then you'll start hearing the same kind of nonsense on 320s

[mcandmar]

I just use a Digital out to an external amplifier, the less the onboard sound card has to do the better. I use a regular X-Fi card so i have full EAX for gaming, and the ability to steam out DVD/Blueray rips as dolby digital so the external amp has surround for movies, but for music playback pure PCM stereo though the optical out. I actually listen to 90% of the music with headphones so have been tempted to get a dedicated headphone amp instead.

[borderS2]

USB audio interface

This is cheap and has software with it if you want to improve the audio in/out on a pc.
http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardwa...terface--32730

[dgacampbell]

I use this one, not cheap but a really good sound. My only complaint is now mp3's sound worse au you can really hear whats missing.
Flac and cd sound much better though. There are other audi cards on the site, maybe more suitable to what you want...... If you can afford one of these cards i can highly recomend it.
HTH
Dan.

http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_D2X/#specifications