Hello Friends

[anupamsps]

This is my first post in this forum. And i guess, after a tiring search in Internet it has not been wasted after all.

I need your advice to upgrade my sound system in PC.

The following things i have sorted out so far. So please advice

1. Sound Card: M-Audio Audiophile 2496

2. Headphone(any one):

a) Amazon.com: Porta-Pro Folding Headphones: Electronics

b) Amazon.com: V-MODA Bass Freq Earbuds - Platinum White: Electronics

c) Amazon.com: SR80: Electronics

Sr80 is little costly for me. But if don't find any audiophile headphone, i may go for it. Will it be wise?

Choice of speakers is more confusing. But looking for a good one. 2.1 is not problem.

1. Amazon.com: M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Powered Speakers: Musical Instruments

2. Amazon.com: M-Audio BX5a 5" BiAmplified Studio Monitor Speakers: Musical Instruments

Now the confusion is where in Delhi i can get M-audio?

I also think i need to buy amplifier. And i am totally noob in this case. Which one to buy? How well it will perform with pc interface.

Please advice

 

[ram_mohan_p]

Hi Dear Ones,
Greetings to one and all in the forum.
This is my first post here. I am now a proud owner of ONKYO HTSR800 Home Theatre System-I got it installed just last night. A childhood dream has been realised!
Bye and have a great day.


Ram Mohan P

 

[vinay]

It is nice to know that your child hood dream is come true to get a home theatre system, is it a 5.1 or 7.1?

These home theatre gadgets, there is no end to it, which just keep coming, like water from the tap.

You will use it to watch movies too?

 

[ram_mohan_p]

Its a 7.1 with HDMI.
Ram Mohan P

 

[mridulgoel]

This is my first post in this forum. And i guess, after a tiring search in Internet it has not been wasted after all.

I need your advice to upgrade my sound system in PC.

The following things i have sorted out so far. So please advice

1. Sound Card: M-Audio Audiophile 2496

2. Headphone(any one):

a) Amazon.com: Porta-Pro Folding Headphones: Electronics

b) Amazon.com: V-MODA Bass Freq Earbuds - Platinum White: Electronics

c) Amazon.com: SR80: Electronics

Sr80 is little costly for me. But if don't find any audiophile headphone, i may go for it. Will it be wise?

Choice of speakers is more confusing. But looking for a good one. 2.1 is not problem.

1. Amazon.com: M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Powered Speakers: Musical Instruments

2. Amazon.com: M-Audio BX5a 5" BiAmplified Studio Monitor Speakers: Musical Instruments

Now the confusion is where in Delhi i can get M-audio?

I also think i need to buy amplifier. And i am totally noob in this case. Which one to buy? How well it will perform with pc interface.

Please advice

Dear Anupam

You mean to say you want to use your PC as a source unit...right...???

Anyways, whats your total budget for the complete setup...???

Hey guyz, can anyone update me on this...
I know its a noob question, but i am really confused...

Do we really need an sound card, in the source (PC), when we are using an amp for the setup...???

I have always, burn CD/DVD and have played on my system, but has never tried directly from PC...

Kindly update...

Thanking You

Mridul Goel

 

[anupamsps]

@mridulgoel
As such i dont have any audio system. But i was thinking about integrating and build a audio system with pc. Budget is moderate one, Max 20k is needed.

 

[ranjeetrain]

This is my first post in this forum. And i guess, after a tiring search in Internet it has not been wasted after all.

I also think i need to buy amplifier. And i am totally noob in this case. Which one to buy? How well it will perform with pc interface.

Please advice

Hi,

For the soundcard get a Creative Audigy 4. This is one of the best cards available and my personal favorite among the ones available in India. The M-Audio you have mentioned is also a very good card, but I am not sure where you can get one.

Out of the three I would advise the Grado. As an alternate you may consider a Sennhiezer or a Behringer. Both Grado and Sennhiezer are available in India.

For the speakers, you may go for the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40. Alternatively consider an AudioEngine 5. They are reasonably priced and a great performer.

 

[ranjeetrain]

About the Creative card, don't let review on the Net fool you, they are great sound card.

 

[particleman]

Anupam,

You can buy the computer equipment at either:
Welcome To Bharat Music House
or
Sound Interfaces - BAJAAO.COM - India - Buy & Review Musical

I would recommend the ESI Juli@ although you need a headphone amp for the headphones and a pre-amp if you wish to do professional quality recording via microphone.

As for speakers, why not consider the Audioengine speakers put up for sale by couple of our members here? If you need something beefier, consider the Audioengine A5 speakers for 18k available from Bajaao.

Mind you, the speakers you have mentioned are studio or near-field monitors but the Audioengine is NOT. It is specifically engineered to make compressed audio sound better and will therefore not give you the flat, transparent sound a monitor will. But it beats the competition for sound quality. Your other option of course is the amp + speakers route.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Do we really need an sound card, in the source (PC), when we are using an amp for the setup...???

Hi Mridul,

Source - Reconstructs an audio signal from a source material (CD/LP/Tape)
Amp - Amplifies an audio signal
Speaker - Converts the amplified audio signal into sound waves

A PC must have a sound card (dedicated or onboard) in order to be used as an audio source.

 

[particleman]

About the Creative card, don't let review on the Net fool you, they are great sound card.

Sorry, Ranjeet, but I'd emphatically disagree with that. Creative makes some of the lousiest sound cards known to Man. Having worked extensively with sound and video editing I speak from "working" experience. They tend to have very high noise levels and do not come close to the kind of quality offered, for only a little more money, by say the ESI Juli@, M-Audio Audiophile or even Creative's sister company EMU's soundcards. Just as with CD players these cards employ superior DACs while avoiding the gimmickry of Creative's cards. Fewer bells and whistles (no hardware acceleration so no use for video games) but superior sound.

 

[anupamsps]

Thanks guys for all the response.
I am also fan of creative but reviews regrading m-audio card shows it as some serious audiophile card. Maybe Pros can highlight that matter in better way.

But i am totally in dark about the amp/ preamp. How to connect the with pc, where to get, what to get etc.

Please forgive my noob question.
Can you guys work out a complete setup for me with the price and availability.

Thanks in anticipation

 

[particleman]

I've mentioned "where to buy" in my message above. You don't need an amplifier if you are using any of the speakers we've mentioned here because they are all active speakers, that is to say that they have a built-in source of amplification. The pre-amp is only required for a good microphone if you wish to record vocals. For playback it isn't necessary.

So all you need is: sound card + active speakers.,e.g.
ESI Juli@ (7,900) + Audioengine A2 (9,000) or A5 (18,000).

 

[ranjeetrain]

Sorry, Ranjeet, but I'd emphatically disagree with that. Creative makes some of the lousiest sound cards known to Man. Having worked extensively with sound and video editing I speak from "working" experience. They tend to have very high noise levels and do not come close to the kind of quality offered, for only a little more money, by say the ESI Juli@, M-Audio Audiophile or even Creative's sister company EMU's soundcards. Just as with CD players these cards employ superior DACs while avoiding the gimmickry of Creative's cards. Fewer bells and whistles (no hardware acceleration so no use for video games) but superior sound.

Hi pman,

Its okay if you don't like Creative cards. My guess is that you always worked in analouge domain. Is that correct? People who would use onboard DACs can benefit from other cards, and in that case there are many other considerations, which probably you didn't come across in your work.

When someone wants to use PC as a source, I understand, that implies he wants it to be a multimedia source in which case a Creative serves a good all around purpose.

However, I am curious to know what cards you have worked with and what your observations with each card was. Just knowledge sharing if you like: I'll open a new thread.

 

[particleman]

Hi pman,

Its okay if you don't like Creative cards. My guess is that you always worked in analouge domain. Is that correct? People who would use onboard DACs can benefit from other cards, and in that case there are many other considerations, which probably you didn't come across in your work.

When someone wants to use PC as a source, I understand, that implies he wants it to be a multimedia source in which case a Creative serves a good all around purpose.

However, I am curious to know what cards you have worked with and what your observations with each card was. Just knowledge sharing if you like: I'll open a new thread.

Hi Ranjeet,

There's not much to say so I think I can sum it up in a single post. I'm not sure what you mean by analogue domain as the workflow in video is a mix of analogue and digital. I've worked on documentary and corporate films (albeit low budget) so the audio source has been Audio Technica mics connected to the Sony PD-170 DV camera. Since DV is stored digitally, the sound card has no impact on the audio quality and so in this phase it is used purely as a monitor. The sound card becomes crucial when used for recording analogue sound (human speech) for voiceovers. The ADC and DAC show off their stuff here. Sometimes the budget does not allow for use of voice processors so its just you, the mic and the sound card. Usually before presenting "rushes" to a client I sometimes do mock voiceovers using my own PC's sound card (which used to be a Creative). The difference is rather stark. The voice sounds weak and not full-bodied. Just like sound on satellite speakers compared to full-range floorstanders. When you use a professional sound card (for me, typically a Mac with a ESI Juli@), you pick up on the difference right away. The voice sounds much fuller and richer and more true to the original. Ditto while mixing sound. So its not like I've managed to compare a very wide range of sound cards since ESI, M-Audio and Emu are the most common cards to be found. But I have seen constantly the difference in sound quality from a Creative so I can say this with conviction -- any of these cards beat the Creative range hollow without breaking a sweat. Hope this helps.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Hey buddy, there you go. I guessed as much.

See, you are talking more from the "Recording" point of view rather than the "Playback". That's the professional side and the ADC is more important there than the DAC. I guessed it right, you keep everything in the analogue domain.

Playback is the most important feature for end-users like the asker of this thread, and Creative has "impressive" playback capabilities. (I have owned and used a dozen odd soundcards and I am saying this based on that experience.

May I assign you a home work if I have your permission Will it be possible for you to set up and test the recording and playback of cards alternatively. As in, record on card A and playback on B, then record on card B and playback on A? It would be a good experiment and a possible eye-opener for the rest of the world. Unfortunately, I am not into sound recording (at a professional level that is) and don't have great microphones. So carrying out that experiment is not possible for me.

There are many other things to consider when evaluating sound cards. One of them is "default configuration". Most people don't tweak the settings and hence don't utilize their card to the fullest. No experience with analogue recording using hi fidelity recording equipments but a well configured Creative will match or beat an M-Audio in digital recordings.

I can go on and on about why I prefer Creative but to keep it short, I prefer them because they are a great all-rounder. One just needs to configure them well.

 

[ranjeetrain]

"There are many other things to consider when evaluating sound cards. One of them is "default configuration". Most people don't tweak the settings and hence don't utilize their card to the fullest. No experience with analogue recording using hi fidelity recording equipments but a well configured Creative will match or beat an M-Audio in digital recordings."

I guess I wanted to elaborate on that. Some cards such as M-Audio are tailor-made to suit professional applications, whereas Creative type cards are tailor-made for home usage. The areas where they focus are different. A creative card can be optimized for playback or recording as required.

 

[rikhav]

Hi Anupam

For what purpose do you need a sound card?
Is it for stereo playback , stereo and multi channel audio playback or sound production?

As far as I know the M-audio 2496 sound card which you have selected is more for sound production. It would definitely play any stereo sound as well as any other sound cards but then the various input options would be a waste for you if you won??t be using it for sound production

Considering if your purpose for a sound card is for stereo and multi channel playback, I would advise you to choose one of them

M-audio Revolution 7.1
M-AUDIO - Revolution 7.1 - High-Definition 7.1 Surround Sound PCI Card

Auzentech X-plosion 7.1 cinema
Auzentech, Inc. Sound Cards. Audio You Can Believe In. World First soundcards for Music, HTPC, and Gaming.

HT Omega Claro Plus
HT Omega - Claro Plus+

There are M-audio dealers in Chennai and Delhi. I will give you the contact details in some days

About the speaker system if you are looking for 2.1, you can check out these from M-audio and Samson audio

Samson audio Resolv 2.1
Samson Audio - Resolv 2.1

Maudio BX8a moniters with Bx10s subwoofer
M-AUDIO - Reference Monitors

These are studio moniters and are active / bi-amped

Hope this helps you

 

[mridulgoel]

Hi Mridul,

Source - Reconstructs an audio signal from a source material (CD/LP/Tape)
Amp - Amplifies an audio signal
Speaker - Converts the amplified audio signal into sound waves

A PC must have a sound card (dedicated or onboard) in order to be used as an audio source.

Okies buddy... thnks

 

[anupamsps]

@rikhav
Thanks for the input. HT Omega Claro Plus is really looks nice card. Can you tell me in Rs what is the price of the speakers u mentioned. M-audio ones is really expensive;
$(500+600) > 1/2 lakh Rs is way beyond my imagination. That is why i was thinking abt m-audio 5xa. But do you think 70 watt may be an issue in delivering true sound.