PCI Interface cards

Going to check out a Lynx E22.

It'll be interesting to try versus the Mutec.

 

I'd like to get my ears on the analogue output of that.

 

Guys, you are giving me the itch... Please keep us posted.

 

You and me both. RME also apparently has native linux support which Lynx doesn't have.

 

Some of the older products do, some of the newer stuff needs careful enquiry on that.

I think that the mentioned card has been around for a while, but is something like two generations more recent than the one that had and loved, which was actually obsolescent, and thus half-price, when I bought it.

(I still have it, but the last time I gave it a whirl it added some funny noises to the music. I guess something broke or wore out. I can understand that all too well!)

Also, you probably already know that native linux support does not mean "does all the stuff available in the Windows control interface."

Of course, Google is our friend. The forum Linux Musicians is a good resource.

 

Yeah i admit i just did a quick google and got some hits which gave the impression support was there. But like you say you never know ofc, for example some old tenor usb interface was broken for something like a year and then suddenly started working again.

About native linux support i indeed mean support in the kernel. And that's how i like it, i can choose my own interface/tool/what have you.

Shame your card stopped working, did you rule out software? Ie same problems under windows and linux? Would be interesting to hear how it holds up compared to modern stuff.

Interesting forum i'll give that a read

 

Yes, I thought so too, which is why I plugged it back in again. Some high treble has a sort of farting sound.. Was it always like that? I can't believe I could have preferred it over two CD players, one cheap, and one mid-price (Marantz and Cyrus), if it had done: I listened to a lot more music, a lot more attentively, in those days.

Originally, it was removed from a machine because it fell into the DPC latency trap: that PC would, somehow, only output unbroken audio to its own on-board, so I had to put up with that for a while.

These days, I don't have a working Windows install. I had to fire up a Bart PE CD to chkdsk an errorsome USB drive last week.

Actually, apart from high-level names like RME and Lynx, what I'd like to try now is a Juli@.

 

If that card has electrolytic caps they might have gone bad, there was a bad batch over a decade ago as is well known. Or it's something simple like dirty contacts. Or maybe even esd damage who knows. I doubt you wouldn't have noticed back then.

Yeah i noticed those juli@ cards, might be worth a shot. Not nearly as expensive as the big boys either.

Never had problems with DPC luckily. Usually go with Asus, Supermicro, MSI or intel for motherboards.

 

Bought in about 2003, and already an old model. None of this stuff is immortal.

There is/was a running thread on Gearslutz of loopback analogue-out/analogue-in tests of audio interfaces. The Juli@ scored very highly: it was up there with some very expensive gear.

There is also, on the net, a comparison that Ethan Winer did of multiple-generation loopbacks a) with a domestic-level card and b) with some fancy pro studio equipment, and the results were not that different.

However, I still say that my soundblaster sounded horrible back then. I think I took about four steps before ending up with the RME: each one was an improvement, but it was the RME that made the PC a true part of the hifi. The card had analogue i/o and optical digital. I used both, for recording as well as playback. Ahhh... just checked: it is a Digi 96/8 PST. 24-bit/96KHz. I got it half-price, but it was still a lot to spend on a sound card back then. I think the Hammerfall [?] range was then the new/current RME offering: mine was obsolescent already.

If you encounter it, and it does not give with some basic trouble-shooting like removing a wireless net card or, (altogether now...) reinstalling Windows, then, as far as audio is concerned, you throw the PC away.

 

So what makes a PCI interface a good one? Would a $60 Musiland card that outputs coax be a better option than my Wyrd when feeding something Bifrost level? What about a PCI card that has external power and isolates its USB port from the rest of the computer? Would that be a better option that Wyrd if I am sticking to USB for simplicity? It is a little dismaying to see $500-1200 devices being recommended to get the most out of modern DACs. What kind of percentages are we talking about? I am decidedly humble-fi right now, but have aspirations for upper mid-fi.

 

Keep us posted, I've been eyeing that card myself.

 

I'm an old-fashioned guy, and the cards I have been talking about are from the standpoint of analogue out. No dac. Or rather, no external dac. If you want, though, I think a Juli@ would give you the option of coax digital out, if you don't trust the one your motherboard has already.

You do realise that the price tag is part of the appeal for many people? In many parts of audiophile land, one of the things that is wrong with computer audio is that it is potentially far too cheap and simple. Damn, even I am suggesting a card that runs into three figures of GBP (but only just, so almost no audiophool appeal) whilst ignoring the built in audio-out on my MB both analog and digital.

I am not talking about any sort of "audio" USB card. There may be instances when USB electrical isolation is needed (cf Archimago) but otherwise, beware the audiophooling of ordinary PC components.

If there is something seriously wrong with your PC's USB connections, you either need a new PC, stop using a laptop with a horrible power supply, or check out basic electrical stuff like earth loops. First thing to treat is the paranoia!

 

I'm well aware of that, i resurrected quite a bit of hardware back in those days by replacing the caps. If you were really interested that might work but yeah, probably not worth the effort

I would be more interested in the AES/Spdif performance but none the less it sounds like a great deal if someone does not already have a good DAC.

I agree those cards were never quite there when compared to half decent cd-players, the one thing that did impress me was a Teratec Aureon 7.1 Firewire, it had a wolfson dac, phono amp and rca's. Really nice piece of kit, my brother still uses it for his old winxp studio pc. Before that i used several soundblasters, starting with the AWE64 then several Terratec cards before setling on the Aureon firewire. I did consider RME at one point but never got around to it, perhaps i missed out

Well replacing the motherboard for a different brand might be more cost effective but i can understand the frustration.

 

Well, throwing away the PC was slight hyperbole, but you know what I mean

In my case it was time for a new build anyway.

Quite an array of experience there: i can't say if you missed out, and I missed out on all your stuff! From the RME, I moved on to an Echo Audiofire2. A great box, but, as I have never previously been a headphone guy, it took me a long time to find out how bad its headphone-out is. The day I plugged my 'phones into the integrated amp across the room, my eyes lit up!

 

Yeah i understood no worries

Haha yeah i've been crazy about audio for many years now, it helped that there were lots of options back then soundcard wise. Also too much disposable income for a guy still living in his parents house.
Echo you say? Hmm i think i considered that one time but went for an M-audio, ugh what a pos that was. Guess we both screwed up those purchases hehehe. Also used an Asus Xonar that was decent enough as a spdif interface into an Apogee mini dac connected to some Focal Solo6 be studio monitors. Quite a nice sound but i just could never get that magic of my HD600 connected to a custom tube amp and a marantz CD6000ose cd player.

But yeah i needed to play music from my pc and the tube amp stopped working properly and i didn't know how to fix it. The guy that built it had a stroke unfortunately so that was quite sad all around....

 

Hmm this one looks interesting http://www.marian.de/en/products/seraph_d4
Anyone try this one? Ticks all the boxes, AES, no unneeded stuff well maybe a few too many AES input/outputs, can accept wordclock but will also generate it's own clock and of course no f'ing usb. Also cheaper then the RME and Lynx alternatives but those provide analog i/o which i have no use for anyway.

 

Not the Linux box.

I've looked at the Marian site from time to time over the years.

 

That is true but my htpc pc is running windows 10 now. A combination of netflix running like shit and wanting to try vst's made me switch. Blasphemy for sure but i will try to appease the linux gods by continuing to run linux on my laptop

Never noticed them before. They seem to not do much with marketing... Nevertheless i might try one out within the next couple of weeks.

 

It might be interesting, though I'll need to upgrade my PC first. I don't have enough PCIe lanes to make the best use of it.

 

I might be putting my JCAT up for sale. Still the best USB interface card.