Good USB sound card - NOT Audigy NX?

Merzbow · 10-07-2005, 12:42 PM

Can anyone recommended a decent, compact USB sound card with TOSLINK out and PC headphone in that's NOT the Audigy NX? NX won't wake up from hibernate if the power is cut to it (and yes I have the latest drivers).

Sonicxtacy02 · 10-07-2005, 04:21 PM

um how about the extigy? I just ordered one of those earlier this week

Merzbow · 10-07-2005, 04:59 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

um how about the extigy? I just ordered one of those earlier this week

I'm through with Creative products.

turbocad6 · 10-07-2005, 05:44 PM

m-audio transit...... good stuff

Sonicxtacy02 · 10-07-2005, 07:25 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Merzbow

I'm through with Creative products.

The extigy doesnt have the hibernate issue that the audigy NX does. Just FYI

Merzbow · 10-08-2005, 02:21 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

m-audio transit...... good stuff

That would work... I think I may try this though:

http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua25.html

This will let me install my high-quality Behringer mic in the car, which I can then use for easy RTA/adjustment of my sound system in addition to voice recog (plus it has optical out). Damn this is gonna be cool. God knows if this thing can hibernate well. It uses bus power only (unlike the execrable Audigy NX, Creative has always hired rejects to write their drivers) so it shouldn't be a problem.

turbocad6 · 10-08-2005, 08:38 AM

that's a nice piece... the m does toslink out though(I think) from what I've seen& what it says on the box.... I haven't installed it yet, still rolling around in the trunk..... the one you showed is a bit overkill & has a lot of features that aren't very useful in a car..... not that overkill is such a bad thing really...... I looked at a bit of pro audio stuff but realized that the m transit is really all I need

the biggest thing that impresses me about what you linked is the digital out & back in internally...... don't know how usefull that is in a car, but def. good stuff

I have a stand alone pro rta that I use to tune installs, & although it is a great indespenable tool you will really only need it on initial setup.... then never really have to touch it again..... once you get past the rta tuning & then start tweaking past there, you won't need or even want to use it anymore....

the optical output is spdif.... not going to do much good in a car...... toslink is much more useful.... look into this before your final decission

zPilott · 10-08-2005, 09:26 AM

This is the one that I am using http://www.techspot.com/reviews/hard...um/index.shtml

i haven't had any issues with it.

DJKhan85 · 10-08-2005, 11:43 AM

I've went the USB soundcard way and frankly they all suck compared to a PCI soundcard. My suggestion to you is to find a way to run a PCI soundcard. I did and the differene is night and day.

Merzbow · 10-08-2005, 12:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

that's a nice piece... the m does toslink out though(I think) from what I've seen& what it says on the box.... I haven't installed it yet, still rolling around in the trunk..... the one you showed is a bit overkill & has a lot of features that aren't very useful in a car..... not that overkill is such a bad thing really...... I looked at a bit of pro audio stuff but realized that the m transit is really all I need

the biggest thing that impresses me about what you linked is the digital out & back in internally...... don't know how usefull that is in a car, but def. good stuff

I have a stand alone pro rta that I use to tune installs, & although it is a great indespenable tool you will really only need it on initial setup.... then never really have to touch it again..... once you get past the rta tuning & then start tweaking past there, you won't need or even want to use it anymore....

the optical output is spdif.... not going to do much good in a car...... toslink is much more useful.... look into this before your final decission

Err, SPDIF is a protocol, TOSLINK is a physical interface. You run SPDIF over TOSLINK. You can also run SPDIF over coaxial/RCA. It looks like the UA-25 supports TOSLINK.

Merzbow · 10-09-2005, 05:27 AM

Well I picked up an Edirol UA-25 from the only shop in the Bay Area that had one, and spent the whole day installing it, along with a Behringer ECM8000 microphone (being fed 48v phantom power!). It sounds awesome, no problems with hibernation at all. I'm probably the only person in the world with a pro audio microphone connected to a computer in their car.

ayasystems · 10-09-2005, 07:02 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Merzbow

Can anyone recommended a decent, compact USB sound card with TOSLINK out and PC headphone in that's NOT the Audigy NX? NX won't wake up from hibernate if the power is cut to it (and yes I have the latest drivers).

I have the NX sound card and wake up correctly after hibernate when the power is cut. I don't understand because you have problem.

Sorry but my english isn't very good

turbocad6 · 10-09-2005, 10:57 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Merzbow

Err, SPDIF is a protocol, TOSLINK is a physical interface. You run SPDIF over TOSLINK. You can also run SPDIF over coaxial/RCA. It looks like the UA-25 supports TOSLINK.

good to know, i was never to clear on this, the m was the only one that mentioned toslink & came with a toslink adaptor...... so your telling me that any spdif can run toslink???????

Merzbow · 10-09-2005, 10:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

good to know, i was never to clear on this, the m was the only one that mentioned toslink & came with a toslink adaptor...... so your telling me that any spdif can run toslink???????

Spdif is a format/protocol, it doesn't run anything, it runs ON different types of transports (the two most common being digital coax and toslink).

zPilott · 10-10-2005, 08:28 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DJKhan85

I've went the USB soundcard way and frankly they all suck compared to a PCI soundcard. My suggestion to you is to find a way to run a PCI soundcard. I did and the differene is night and day.

if you have any good ideas on using a PCI card on a laptop, lemme know