USB Audio Help

[The_Engineer]

I would like some help deciding on a USB sound card for my laptop.
I have an inspiron 9300 and a pair of Sony MDR-V600
I am going to get a pair of Audio Technica A-900's here to compliment my new soundcard which I need help choosing, see below:


The links below are currently all in the running for a USB soundcard. I will mainly use this to play games, and wtatch movies, as that is what my 9300 does the best. I will not be hooking it up to a mulitchannel audio solution, so no need for 5.1 or 7.1 or anything. Just good quality headphone outputs. Suposedly these A-900's do pretty well without an amplifier, so i'm just gunning for a good quality solution, that i'll be able to enjoy, and stay portable. Any hints on which one I shoud get, and why? or anyone have a better solution? Budget for this usb device is approx 200.00 and shouldn't be any much bigger than a decently thick paperback novel. Thanks for your help!

Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro
M-Audio Audiophile USB
M-Audio Transit

 

[The_Engineer]

sadly, it seems i've fallen off the front page already -.-

thanks in advance for your help/suggestions.

 

[FastCorner]

I'm interested in knowing the same thing. The output from my laptop sucks in comparison to the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 on my desktop, but the desktop is getting decommissioned...

How come you can find endless pages of information on RAM performance, but almost nothing objective about sound cards?

FWIW, I would buy a Sonica Theater if only M-Audio were still producing them.

 

[The_Engineer]

Fastcorner:
I was led to belive by this review, that there is a USB version of the M-audio Revolution.
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h405.htm

I wasn't able to find a retailer ...

odd? I think so....

Anyways, ,I don't need/want a 7.1 solution, as I will be using headphones. Hope that helps you find what your looking for. -.-

anyone else have any ideas/suggestions?

what about the bithead... anyone used it?
http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-mobile-line/headroom-bithead.php

thanks...

 

[FastCorner]

The review is dated March 17, 2003. If I'm not mistaken, I think that's when I bought my Revolution 7.1. The Sonica Theater came out around the same time, but I ignored it because I wanted a PCI sound card. Since then, M-Audio has dropped the Sonica Theater, but continues to sell the Revolution in a 7.1 and 5.1 format. I think all three are based on the same VIA/IC Ensemble HT24 chip, which does 44.1KHz without resampling.

I'm kinda after the same thing you are: high-quality stereo output. I have a set of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1, I'm mainly listening to my CDs/MP3s, and I don't game.

M-Audio's current USB offerings are the $100 Transit and the $250 Audiophile USB. I'm considering both, but I'm holding out for something with really good stereo output for $50. The Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Amigo sounds interesting, but their website is so lacking in technical details that I wonder if they really want any customers at all.

Thanks for pointing out the BitHead. I came across it long ago when researching headphones, but forgot about it until now. I just did a quick search at HeadFi and came across this one, too:

http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/amplifiers.htm

For those prices, though, the wiring should all be 24k gold.

 

[magnetik]

Have you looked at just getting an Audigy2 ZS Notebook version? You won't have to carry around a usb audio box since it just connects to the PCMCIA slot. You will also get all the features of a full blown Audigy2 ZS card. It should work fine for stereo and if you ever decide you wanted surround.. they would work there too. You also get full acceleration in games if you want it.

 

[The_Engineer]

Thanks for the linkage on the meijer-audio, i'd probably go with the bithead over those tho, if nothing else because of price... 200.00 is really my cap for this single piece of equipment...

Magnetik:
I'm sorry, I forgot to mention my *shakes fist at dell* single PCMCIA card slot is in use by a sprint EVDO card. And I'd like to be able to use this on a desktop too every once in awhile, if its going to have pretty good quality.

(i'm slightly biased against creative's cards as well, but if its a good deal/quality, i might change my mind -.-)

 

[FastCorner]

Alright. I have an AudioTrak OptoPlay sitting on my desk at the moment. On the PCB, I can see a TI TAS1020A (USB controller) and an AKM AK4353VF (DAC) and a bunch of capacitors. No other identifying chips. I believe the Revolution used some kind of AKM CODECs, too.

Searching on the web, I get this:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94520&page=3

From what you've posted, the Transit & the U24 share the exact same USB controller & codec (TAS1020A & AK4584).

and:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77088

The Sonica and Transit use different DACs (AKM AK4353 vs. AKM AK4584) and have a slightly different architecture, but sound similar.

So it would seem that the the OptoPlay is kind of like a Transit/Sonica at least for the digital portion. It sounds decent enough on my Sony MDR-EX71SL headphones for the $50 I put down for it a couple of years ago. I think I'll go hook it up to my Klipsch and see whether it would be good enough for my purposes.

EDIT: Found a review here. Numbers don't look so hot, but I use this thing at work, so I guess it's OK...

 

[FastCorner]

Dan's Data review of BitHead:

http://www.dansdata.com/bithead.htm

And a review of the Total Bithead:

http://www.dansdata.com/tbitety.htm

Nothing technical other than to say they sound "good".

 

[MartinX]

Edirol UA-25 FTW!

 

[Uncle Jim]

As you are getting AT A-900's they are 40 Ohm, so I do not think you really need headphone amp. I know there is plenty of ppl who claim headphone amp does ALWAYS improve things, but in all fairness do 40 Ohm headphones require a separate amp? Bitheads and such are so expensive cus they they have extra headphone amp you do not really need for these headphones.. I guess some sub $100 card from TB or Creative is your best value option, especially that you want it for gaming.

 

[The_Engineer]

thanks uncle jim.

one thing i've heard good about the AT-A900's is just as you say, that they don't really need an amp. I just want to make sure if i'm spending 180.00 on a pair of headphones, that I get the quality i'm looking to find in them... For instance, If I bought an HDTV I wouldn't be hooking it up with my 15.00 RCA cables from Radioshack... I'd be spending the money for the DVI>HDMI interface ^_^

 

[schapman]

If you wanna go for a decently cheap option. I love my OPTOPLAY. It always goes along with my laptop because that onbaord dell is crap audio. I've used it for some mild gamign (COD, which uses MILES positional) and had no ill effects from it. The amp in it doesnt do much, but the a900s are find ampless. I run them straight out of my audigy2 or the optoplay and love it. I also haev found the noise outptu on the OPTOPLAY to be virtually non-existant. And since video card is the main limitition on laptop gaming, a soundcard liek the audigy PCMCIA card probably won't get you much of a benefit. The optical output option on the optoplay is nice too.

 

[The_Engineer]

for those who own the opto play, are the positional audio features of this unit something that can be turned on/off? Have you used this feature at all? and if so, how do you like it? Thanks again.

 

[FastCorner]

I think there's some chicanery on the AudioTrak page because it shows up as a stereo device in Windows. I think what AudioTrak is trying to say is that you can get virtual surround sound if you're using WinDVD and enable Dolby Headphone/etc.

 

[AdamW]

jim: the impedence (along with the sensitivity) of the headphone determines whether you need an external amp simply to drive it to listenable volume levels from a line-out or weedy headphone-out. This is the most _obvious_ reason you'd need a headphone amp: with high-impedence cans you need something to give a big enough voltage swing to be able to hear much. However, amps also increase the level of _current_ delivered to the drivers, which does nothing for the volume but _does_ have an effect on sound reproduction, even on low-impedence cans. However, the A-T's are fairly widely reputed to improve much less than other cans with amping, so it's certainly not something you'd have to do right away to justify spending the cash on the cans, like you would with e.g. HD650s.

 

[FastCorner]

Back from the dead. Ha!

I just bought a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Roadie from Fry's for $66 (open box). Installed RMAA 5.5 and ... got really disappointing results compared to the other sound cards I have. All results 16/44.1 and recorded through the AAR.

Turtle Beack Audio Advantage Roadie:

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.10, -1.77 Average
Noise level, dB (A): -75.9 Average
Dynamic range, dB (A): 74.5 Average
THD, %: 0.064 Average
IMD + Noise, %: 0.460 Poor
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -76.5 Very good
IMD at 10 kHz, %: 0.126 Average

AudioTrak OptoPlay

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.16, -1.42 Average
Noise level, dB (A): -78.4 Average
Dynamic range, dB (A): 78.5 Average
THD, %: 0.032 Good
IMD + Noise, %: 0.053 Good
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -84.7 Very good
IMD at 10 kHz, %: 0.070 Good

Sony TR2AP built-in (SoundMAX)

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.10, -0.95 Average
Noise level, dB (A): -73.0 Average
Dynamic range, dB (A): 73.6 Average
THD, %: 0.029 Good
IMD + Noise, %: 0.053 Good
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -83.6 Very good
IMD at 10 kHz, %: 0.055 Good

So it looks like my laptop's audio is arguably the best of the three. Go figure...

 

[Mister X]

I just want to make sure if i'm spending 180.00 on a pair of headphones, that I get the quality i'm looking to find in them... For instance, If I bought an HDTV I wouldn't be hooking it up with my 15.00 RCA cables from Radioshack... I'd be spending the money for the DVI>HDMI interface ^_^

I am wondering if you think you got your moneys worth this time.