Sibi

I have already tried creative audigy 2 nx and live! 24 bit but i had problems with both of them. I want a sound card that will have good enough sound quality, front/rear/sub outputs and will be able to play music from all speakers, not only from the front (audigy2 nx and live 24bit are able to do this,i don't know about other sound cards).I also want high preamp signal,2volts or more. I have found some sound cards but i don't know if they can do exactly what i want. please check them and tell me if they are good or suggest me another soundcard.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/7808...-sound-ca.html
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/1635...-1-usb-so.html
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/9367...n-5-1-usb.html
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/4621...ternal-so.html

durwood

Here is a list of external soundcards that was compiled.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=88081

I see you must be in Europe somewhere so I don't know what you can find over there compared to here in the states. I have heard the Terratec Aureon cards are supposed to be pretty good but I don;t have any personal experience with them. Keep in mind with any analog output of a soundcard you might have a small turn on thump when windows starts up. If you are happy with sound from the creative card then you could do a delayed turn on for your amplifiers using an I/O USB/serial relay card. Do a search in the Hardware or Input subforums.

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Sibi

I just bought the live 24bit (because i had some problems with my audigy 2 nx) and i have a very big turn on thump when windows start (i think that my speakers will explode) so i went back to my audigy2 nx. do you have any solution to sugges so as to eliminate this turn on thump that i experience with the live 24 bit? (my power supply is the m2-atx and i arleady use the remote turn on of the m2 for my amp,i didn't have any turn on thump with the nx but with the live 24bit the thump is extremely loud and annoying).thank you.

XC-C30

I myself am looking at an ESI GigaPort AG at the moment.

It has 8 rca-outputs, so that could be an option....

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Xenia: pink princess

status:

In progress

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'T SQiekenkot: No Car

hardware: 0%
software: 0%
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building: 0%

vigilante_xix

Did you go with the GigaPort USB card in the end? How have you got on with it?

Specifically, how does it handle hibernate or standby mode in XP? Is there a loud POP when ever the CarPC hibernates/standby?

Does Windows Volume Control handle all 8 channels or is there specific software which handles these? Can you designate frequency options for each RCA outputs? e.g. so you have Mid&Treble output on some and then Low (for bass) being output on others?

Also, there was mention in another thread that this isn't really a 24bit but 16bit instead. Can you confirm the bit the Gigaport uses?

__________________
Audi TT-R MkII
BOSE Speakers
Infill G4 CarPC
1GB Ram & 250GB HDD
Audigy 2 NX USB Sound Card
CentraFuse

danielkh

Are you aware this is a windows operation and has nothing to do with the sound card? There are multiple ways around it.

Here are 2 options.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/soft...r-powerup.html

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/car-...-carputer.html
__________________

__________________
.
"Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone."
--unknown--

scfountain

I'm running a XFI Xtrememusic, no problems, sounds great. I have it hooked to a creative I/O module, and it feeds sounds through a digital TOSlink cable to my Alpine surround processor, then from there to the amps.

__________________
Don't hold your farts in! They travel up your spine, into your brain, and that's where you get crappy ideas from!!!

vigilante_xix

I understand that hibernate/standby is a windows operation but different sound cards handle differently. Some are not recognised by windows again and others sound isn't reproduced again when the computer comes out of hibernate/standby.

I also have heard numerous reports that usb sound cards give off a loud pop when ever the system boots/hibernates/standy which I haven't found a definitive answer as to whether this card does this.

I have read somewhere that you can get around some of these issues by running the sound card through a powered USB hub. However, this hub must remain powered until PC shutdown/standby/hibernate is complete and must be powered prior to bringing the PC back online. Even though the hub has a relatively low power consumption, I would rather avoid permanently powering the hub.

What other methods are you aware of that can get around this when a card experiences these issues?

EDIT- Just seen your edits. Links don't work!

__________________
Audi TT-R MkII
BOSE Speakers
Infill G4 CarPC
1GB Ram & 250GB HDD
Audigy 2 NX USB Sound Card
CentraFuse

vigilante_xix

Hi danielkh, those links are broken, any chance you can update em?

I've tried searching the forum with 'carputer' under the car-audio section but none of the hits seem to relate to my question.

I have managed to find this thread http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/soft...r-powerup.html which I think is your first link.

Unfortunately, this doesn't help me because my BOSE amp is a stock amp which I do not have access to, therefore cannot switch off easily before system hibernates. I guess there is a way to hack it but I'd rather not get into all that.

If the sound card has protection against this POP sound, built in, it would be far more convenient.

__________________
Audi TT-R MkII
BOSE Speakers
Infill G4 CarPC
1GB Ram & 250GB HDD
Audigy 2 NX USB Sound Card
CentraFuse

danielkh

Sorry about that. Cut/Paste doesn't work from another thread. lol

That is the one. Here is the other that I use.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/car-...-carputer.html

__________________
.
"Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone."
--unknown--

vigilante_xix

Thanks for the info danielkh. Looks like another fix to turn off the amp though which I don't have access to as it's the stock amp.

Great idea for when/if I put in a bass box with amp though so thanks for the info.

Anyone know if this THUMP/POP problem is actually apparent with the Gigaport sound card?

__________________
Audi TT-R MkII
BOSE Speakers
Infill G4 CarPC
1GB Ram & 250GB HDD
Audigy 2 NX USB Sound Card
CentraFuse

danielkh

Do you think having something like hibernate trigger turn off the soundcard rather than the amps might work?

http://www.rpi.edu/~desimn/suspendtrigger/

Not sure how it would work, but it is a command line interface.

__________________
.
"Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone."
--unknown--

vigilante_xix

But isn't that the whole reason for the POP in the first place... that the sound card gets turned off before the amp does, due to hibernation/standby/poweroff and produces that sound??

__________________
Audi TT-R MkII
BOSE Speakers
Infill G4 CarPC
1GB Ram & 250GB HDD
Audigy 2 NX USB Sound Card
CentraFuse

danielkh

My bad......you're right. Gotta turn the amps off before the sound card.

__________________
.
"Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone."
--unknown--

vigilante_xix

I know there are USB sound cards out there with Anti-pop protection like the EMU 0404 USB card http://www.emu.com/products/product....Specifications but it's way to bulky and only offers 4 outputs as opposed to min of 6, preferably 8.

The specs on the Gigaport are very thin, the so called 'datasheet' offers no more information than what the website gives. Almost looks like a pdf print of the website! Anyway, the manual does offer a bit more info and clears up some inconsistencies found on other websites in that it is a 16-bit card but with a 24-bit D/A Converter. It's also not USB 2.0.

For anyone interested, the specs are copied below from the manual from ESI website... http://www.esi-audiotechnik.com/down...AG-English.pdf

1. Interface
- USB spec version 1.1
- USB audio class spec version 1.0

2. Output Type
- Analog 8 channel output (RCA jack)
- Digital 2 channel output optical mini jack
- Headphone output (3.5mm mini jack)

3. Analog Output Level
- -10dBV unbalanced
- -10dBV nominal
- +0.5dBV maximum

4. Analog Output Impedance
- 100 Ohm

5. Sampling Rates
- 32 hHz, 44.1 hHz, 48 hHz

6. Resolution
- 16 Bit

7. D/A Converter
- Dynamic range: 100 ~ 102dB A-weighted (typical)
- Frequency response: 20 ~ 22 kHz (@ fs=48 kHz)
- Resolution: 24 bit

8. Digital Output
- Type: mini plug optical connector, Toslink adapter included
- Format: IEC-958 Consumer (S/PDIF)
- Sampling rates: 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
- Resolution: 16 bit

9. Headphone Amplifier
- Output Power: 60mW maximum
- Signal to Noise Ratio: 110dB (typical)
- (THD+N)/S: -70dB, 0.03% (typical)

10. Power
- USB bus powered
- 250mA maximum



The search for a suitable usb sound card continues...

EDIT: Currently looking at the Audigy 2 NX from Creative.

__________________
Audi TT-R MkII
BOSE Speakers
Infill G4 CarPC
1GB Ram & 250GB HDD
Audigy 2 NX USB Sound Card
CentraFuse