Jamz3k

A friend offered me a good deal on a PC which i'm hopefully going to pick up in the next few days but I want to use my hifi equipment on it for audio playback.

I'd prefer to use a card with RCA out but I'm on a tiny budget, don't mind using secondhand parts either so can anyone recommend a soundcard to me as I know nothing about PCs?

Ant

Just use a 3.5mm to RCA adapter/lead

sovietspybob

iTrader: (3)

The adaptor will be the best bet, can be had on the bay for about a quid!

Like This

Otherwise you can go 'pro' and get somthing like an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 which i have in my PC as my studio recording soundcard, like this one

Jamz3k

I'm not keen on 3.5mm jack outputs as i generally find them quite poor. I was checking out that M-Audio card on ebay, going rather cheaply. Would you recommend it? Is it actually good for stereo reproduction as i'll be feeding it into a pretty good hifi setup.

Jamz3k

ideally I want a Cambridge Audio DacMagic but that will have to wait till Christmas!

Ant

Jamz your Hifi equipment got optical in? i would opt for a digital out card if it has.

sovietspybob

iTrader: (3)

I really rate the M-Audio card, but i use it for audio production with a set of studio monitors so not really sure how 'nice' it would make the sound into a stereo. But for truly accurate sound its perfect and i love it, i hate my sound to be tainted by anything else.

I've got an Creative Labs XFI in the PC for gaming, and while it makes everything sound big and posh it really isn't amazing for playing music imo as its just tries to do too much to the sound.

Jamz3k

No dude, my amplifier is old skool Marantz.

that actually sounds pretty much perfect. Thanks mate, most likely go for this then as it sounds the business. I'm sure that my Amplifier can add a bit of colouration into it if it is a little "flat"

jura11

iTrader: (7)

I have M-Audio LT 10/10 for my music production,probably best sound card for money with with 10ins and 10out,you can source this for around £100-£140.

If you fancy cheaper version,i would recommend also M-Audio Audiophile 192,still best sound card in class or you can go route external Sound card like Lexicon etc.


Third and not last is Asus Xonar series,great for movies etc.,but not the best for making music,due have high latency and in some programs sound is too choppy and same is the some movies.


Jura

Jamz3k

my friend came up trumps for me with an external soundcard thing with analogue outputs. Seems ok for what it is but thanks very much for all the advice, i'm still very tempted by the M-Audio yoke!

jura11

iTrader: (7)

Here is mine External Sound Car Tascam US-100,at this time cost £100,now you can source this sound card for around £50,i'm selling this





Jura

ScoobyDoo555

nice bit of kit

M-Audio stuff is ok for the money too.

I'd also look at Apogee Duet. And don't take this the wrong way, but it may be a bit too "pro"....

DAn

jura11

iTrader: (7)

Hi there yeah,this sound card is OK for money,my brother use this for laptop,because laptop sound card is little bit sh..e

M-Audio sound card i use for PC and some Hackintosh build,because are largely supported and have nice features too and sound is OK for me too.

Apogee Duet is still little bit expensive and i'm not convinced by this price tag and sound.


Jura

ScoobyDoo555

Yeh, personal preference and all that. They're expensive (for what little they do), but the sound (to my ears) is very good.
But I've always liked Apogee - their pro stuff is amazing (I've had some good results with it)
But for the purpose of interconnection between a PC and hifi (for domestic/consumer use), it's a bit overkill.
M-audio or your Tascam would be a good start.

Depends how much the OP wants to spend!!!
Jamz3k - I thought you had a really nice hifi setup - stop being a tight-a$$ and buy a decent card to hook your tunes up to the system!! If you're not careful, the weak link will be the D/As (Digital to Analogue converters) in your card......

Dan