Does a sound card act as pre amp

[Cnu]

i have asus essence st sound card ...it has front output via rca (124dB S/N ratio)...can i use if for pre amp input to marantz pm 8003 ...cause it has highest S/N ratio at pre amp input of 105dB...pls suggest me...thanks in advance..even essensce st has headphone output with 18dB gain...which should give me best results

 

[magma]

most definetely you can
All soundcards can act as pre amps ( pro cards that have a good gain serve better than regular run of the mill cards)

In fact most pro cards like the Asus,M Audio,Lynx and Juli serve as excellent premaps

 

[Cnu]

any one know how much voltage a pre amp does send to a power amp?...i will check for my sound card output via voltmeter..can i experiment via connecting to pre amp of marantz pm8003...or any other suggestion...pls let me know...thanks in advance

 

[anm]

it can definitely act as a preamp. Is the vol control analog?
A preamp as a product can accept inputs from various sources. If your source is only the comp, you may not need to buy a pre-amp. But if you have a preamp, there is no harm in connecting your comp to preamp.
PM8003 is an integrated, isn't it? So you can connect your sound card to source inputs as well. Try various combination and share with up what you like the most.

 

[pnreddy]

any one know how much voltage a pre amp does send to a power amp?...i will check for my sound card output via voltmeter..can i experiment via connecting to a pre amp...or any other suggestion...pls let me know...thanks in advance

The power amp needs an input signal of at least 200 mV. So a compatible preamp should deliver 500mV to 1 V.

 

[Cnu]

it can definitely act as a preamp. Is the vol control analog?
A preamp as a product can accept inputs from various sources. If your source is only the comp, you may not need to buy a pre-amp. But if you have a preamp, there is no harm in connecting your comp to preamp.
PM8003 is an integrated, isn't it? So you can connect your sound card to source inputs as well. Try various combination and share with up what you like the most.

it doesnt have volume control hardware whereas the driver of it has essensce st user interface where we can control the volume of analog by pc...

 

[spirovious]

it doesnt have volume control hardware whereas the driver of it has essensce st user interface where we can control the volume of analog by pc...

You can use PC-remote(which I use)-
http://www.hifivision.com/audio-video-accessories/7209-pc-remote-review-2.html

It can do all necessary for you.

 

[Cnu]

@all thanks for the info

i have not yet recieved the amp yet...once i recieve i will share my experience

 

[dillihifi]

We have had discussions on these as well, posting the link address below. I would say based on the discussions that the preamp is indeed needed between the sound card and the power amp. You can directly connect the power amp to the power amp which will give you sound (but I think that with a preamp in the chain it will sound much better).

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...4805-do-we-really-need-audio-processor-2.html

 

[reignofchaos]

Since you have an integrated amp, please use it that way. The preamp inside your marantz would be far better than the volume control in the sound card. I've never been impressed by sound card volume control and I've had almost everything other than the Lynx Two.

 

[gobble]

Since you have an integrated amp, please use it that way. The preamp inside your marantz would be far better than the volume control in the sound card. I've never been impressed by sound card volume control and I've had almost everything other than the Lynx Two.

Since you've owned an essence ... How does it fare against a budget cdp ?
Thanks

 

[reignofchaos]

Since you've owned an essence ... How does it fare against a budget cdp ?
Thanks

Higher noise floor but slightly better dynamics and top end. I've only compared it to a CD5001.

 

[anm]

does higher noise floor means less noise?

Higher noise floor but slightly better dynamics and top end. I've only compared it to a CD5001.

 

[gobble]

does higher noise floor means less noise?

It means more noisy and disturbing than the CD5001.

Think I will go for an external usb DAC then

cheers

 

[s_sachin]

Old thread I know .. but had a question.

Trying out NAD 2400 power amp with Juli@ analog out for Pre. Its playing without a problem, intiail impressions possible bit better than my NAD 325 integrated.

I had a question on the windows volume level. I am playing at 55% for my regular volume level. Anything i need to be careful about increasin the volume levels so as to not cause any damage.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Most people try not to do volume control on the PC, because volume control in digital domain throws away data. I'm really not sure if it is as simple as saying 50% volume, only 50% bits --- and nor am I sure how many bits you can discard without the sound noticeably suffering.

For argument's sake, lets say that you believe it is worth obtaining 24/96 "high resolution" audio files. At 50% digital volume, you might as well not have bothered!

...intiail impressions possible bit better than my NAD 325 integrated.

Proof of the pudding. Whatever the theories, if it sounds good to you, it's good.

It must be unbearably tempting, though, to try a pre-amp

 

[BLASTO]

Old thread I know .. but had a question.

Trying out NAD 2400 power amp with Juli@ analog out for Pre. Its playing without a problem, intiail impressions possible bit better than my NAD 325 integrated.

For the bookshelves, it will sound almost same with little oomph due to extra headroom.

Real distinction comes when you connect hard to drive floorstands. 325s might not drive them.

I had a question on the windows volume level. I am playing at 55% for my regular volume level. Anything i need to be careful about increasin the volume levels so as to not cause any damage.

Woah??
Thats a risk I think??
If your speakers could not take 100w/ch and if you increase the volume to 100%, it might result in permenent damage.

Either,

1) Connect the 2400 to pre out of the 325 and use the volume control of the 325.

or

2) Move the left and right 'signal level' selector in the 2400 to extreme left, make windows volume 100%.
Move the signal level selector one step at a time until the volume level reaches the max of what you hear + some. Leave it at the point and you can ajust volume from the windows thereafter.

(1) is the safest. You can also use remote control also in that case.

 

[BLASTO]

Most people try not to do volume control on the PC, because volume control in digital domain throws away data. I'm really not sure if it is as simple as saying 50% volume, only 50% bits --- and nor am I sure how many bits you can discard without the sound noticeably suffering.

For argument's sake, lets say that you believe it is worth obtaining 24/96 "high resolution" audio files. At 50% digital volume, you might as well not have bothered!


Proof of the pudding. Whatever the theories, if it sounds good to you, it's good.

It must be unbearably tempting, though, to try a pre-amp

Am I the only one confused?
What is digital volume? He is still using analog out??

 

[stereorules]

Whoa blasto ....3:02 AM...
Let me try to explain ..The sound card analog out does not come at 100 % unless it is Line Out ..If it is Line out, then vol control has no effect ...But thats not the case here ...
The volume control in windows is a digital vol control as opposed to analog vol controls like a plain pot ..It is said, as Thad pointed out, digital vol controls throw away signal ....so the advice always is to put it at full and use pre amp vol control to do actual vol control ...But if u cant listen to the difference, no problem ...just use it as it is ...

Same holds good for Squeezebox vol control ...thats also in digital throwing away signal .

 

[hydra]

Somewhat OT:

I was going though the Computer Audiophile review of JRiver Media Center 17 yesterday. It seems they've taken some effort on the volume control side to give the user quite a few options there, including a 64bit digital volume control. It stops making the output bit-perfect, though.

Would all the new volume control options make the computer a better pre-amp than before?

Using the computer as a pre-amp is something that I'd been wondering for a bit about, but I have not taken the effort to do any research on it yet.