bcherry94

Thanks, Eloise, for the suggestions. Both cards look very interesting. And as far as I can find on the web, they and the Xonar all have excellent sound. What should I choose?

Thanks, twdodge. I looked up Furutech ADL GT40. To my (admittedly, modest) understanding, it seems to be doing exactly the same thing that Xonar Essence does. Here are a few differences I can point out: Furutech can take the phono input directly, Xonar can't. That means the Furutech has an RIAA equalization circuit (which adds a few dollars to its cost). By using my analog preamp before the sound card, I use the RIAA equalization of the preamp, thus all the signals from the preamp are at the line level which is fine for the Xonar. Using this system is slightly simpler - the turntable and the tape deck are permanently connected with the preamp as usual and the input is selected on the preamp. With the Furutech I would have to unplug one and plug in the other as the need arises. Apart from that, the main difference may be in sound quality. Furutech costs about $500, Xonar $200. Is the price difference justified based on the sound quality? I have not heard either one, but would very much like to hear the opinions of those who have.

Thanks, ESL. I had my ESLs basically rebuilt by Sheldon Stokes a few years ago (if you have ESLs I am sure you know who Sheldon is. If not, take a look at http://www.quadesl.com/) He replaced the power supplies and rebuilt 2 panels. They are sounding great now.

I have a ~20 yr old system (Speakers >30yr!) which I am fond of (Quad 34 preamp, Quad 306 amp, Linn Sondek turntable, Quad ESL57). I am mainly an LP guy, but now even I have to go digital. My question is, would the following minimal upgrade work satisfactorily with my system: A PC with an ASUS Xonar Essence ST Sound card, where the input into Xonar is the "Tape REC" output from the Quad 34 preamp and the output from the Xonar is the "Tape REP" input into the preamp. What I hope to achieve this way is (1) the existing sources (turntable and tape deck) would play as they do now, (2) I would be able to pipe their analog signals into the Xonar for digitization, and (2) digital music files stored in the computer would play through the Xonar->preamp->amp chain. I would like to start with minimal upgrades and then add things (maybe a DAC) as needed. My main goal in this project is to digitize some old tapes (before my tape deck dies because a hard to find or irreplaceable belt breaks) and vinyls. Any advice is appreciated, even if you tell me I should throw away my paleolithic system and start from scratch!