RobbieR

Edit: deleted

If you got denied a tour at the B&W factory, the "B&W A Sound Experience DVD" might be the next best thing. This is a free DVD from B&W that has several Music Tracks (The Sara K. Running from you" is amazing) , it also has a 12 Minute Clip about how they make the 800 Series Speakers. A must have for any B&W fan. You can get it free from B&W from this link if you sign up to get their newsletter. http://bwspeakers.pilotbean.com/dvd_promo/getadvd.aspx?lang=en

I tried to use the ASIO driver that I downloaded from the link provided by Media Monkey, and I also get the "Pops and Clicks". I was only trying to play Redbook Cd's ripped into wave files using Media Monkey, No High Res Material (I don't own any yet). To my ears the ASIO driver did sound a little better than the wave_out driver, but I only spent a few minutes playing with it last night. Tonight I am going to play around with the settings in MM and try to get the ASIO driver working for Redbook CD Rips. One thing I don't understand, Is there only one "ASIO Driver"? Or are there different ones I can try? Thanks Rob.

I've been researching Sound Card and USB DAC options for a couple weeks and decided on the E-MU 0404 USB. (Thanks to all the positive remarks in this thread) After not being able to find one at local computer stores, I called a Musical Instrument store near my house and they had a used E-MU 0404 USB for $130.00. It did not have all the Installation CD's and Software, but the installation software was available to download from the E-MU web site. All the software that it comes with would have been nice, but for $130.00 I am not complaining. It did come with the "Red Card" with all the Serial Numbers for the software it came with, so maybe I can get copies of the software from E-MU. Currently I am using Windows XP and Media Monkey. I am using the "wave_out" option in Media Monkey. I downloaded the AISO driver as per Media Monkey Instructions and installed it, but have not tried it out yet. I am shocked at how good this Sound Card/DAC sounds. Nice Highs, Big Tight Bass, Detail & NOT BRIGHT. Truly amazing sound from a $250.00 DAC/Sound Card. I spent the weekend ripping my CD's (All just Redbook) and don't plan on taking them out of their Jewel Cases EVER AGAIN! I love the convenience of using my PC, and now it even sounds fantastic. :-) Thanks for posting the mini review Joel (and to all the other posters in this thread). It has been a big help in getting my Music Server up and running.

Thanks For All the suggestions.. NO, I did not turn the KMixer off of, or by-pass it. I will try that tonight. Seems like this might be the source of my problem. I will also check to see if my Speakers as set to small under the USB Audio Setting. Will I find this in the "Audio & Sounds" Section of the controll panel somewhere?? Thanks Again & I will keep everyone updated with the results.

Last night my brother & I tested the waters of using a PC as a transport in his system for the first time. The PC was a Dell Desktop P4 2.8 with 1 Gig of RAM, Windows XP Pro Freshly installed, Media Monkey Software (Thanks to the Cash List) All of the Audio Settings in XP Pro were set to full. Under the Type of Speaker we selected "2 Channel Stereo Monitor". System: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300 Integrated Elac 210 Speakers Elac 4PI Plus2 Super Tweeters Chord QBD76 64 Bit USB DAC (Sadly Not His, On Loan from a Friend) Transport to compare was a Toshiba HD DVD player Music was Eric Clapton Unplugged & Stevie Ray Vaughan Double Trouble, Redbook CD's, Ripped to Hard Drive Using Media Monkey, WAV File. The PC was plugged into the DAC using a plain old USB Cable from the bottom of my desk. Now for the results..... The PC sounded OK,, yes just OK. It was not offensive in any way, the highs were very nice and not bright, the sound was very detailed, (Maybe more then the HD DVD Player) Midrange Seemed Fine, But the Bass Response from the PC was greatly lacking. The Bass Response was the only real problem with the sound. It left the sound from the PC seem very empty. If we could get some bass out of the PC we would be jumping into PC audio head first!!! So what can we do differently to improve the sound??? Should we RIP the CD's with different software? Was WAV. The right file format to RIP the CD's? Should we use a better USB Cable? Should we add a sound card to the PC and send Coax, or Optical to the DAC? Would a newer PC running Vista help? Do we need a MAC? (Please don't tell me I need a MAC!!! I have been making fun of my wifes MAC's for 10 years, and I would have to eat a lot of CROW if I wanted to use her old MAC) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Rob