William C

Hi all, I've built a quiet pc for my video and audio library and am quite happy with it with exception of the sound card and am wanting to upgrade it. The setup is: it runs on windows 7 64bit on a SSD (fast boot time) it is currently is hooked up to 2 pairs of B&O BeoLab 3 and a Velodyne subwoofer (ie all active speakers) via Creative Audigy 2 Platinum (yes not the best). I will add a centre speaker once I decide what to get. I use XBMC but am trialling JRiver Media Centre with an Andriod tablet for 2 way remote. This pc will one day drive a 84inch TV (when the new LG or Sharp LCDs finally get to Australia) I was wondering if I could get some recommendations for a great multichannel soundcard (for movies) for less than 1k. I considered adding DAC but its rare to find a mulitchannel DAC and I'm not sure if its feasible to run 2 DACs for front and rear. FYI the BeoLab 3 are great speakers (to me anyway), very detailed, neutral with high clarity and I would like to get something that would do it justice. FYI my requirements are: great sound stage,details - hopefully approaching Linn audio products. I listen to classical music, pop etc plus love movie multichannel (5.1 is enough) PCI Express windows 7 support for 192KHz @16/24bit minimum number of power supply i.e. prefers not to buy a prepro/AV receiver My current shortlist are: RME HDSPe AIO with the analog expansion card Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe with H6 daughter card Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe with H6 daughter card with OPamps on the h6 swapped to Burnson HD Audio Opamp I would greatly appreciate any recommendations. Also any comments on how pro audio DA converter (eg RME) sounds and work in multimedia consumer environment would be much appreciated. Kind Regards, William

Hi there I am building myself a HTPC and am looking for a sound card with audiophile grade analog multichannel output. I am intending to hook up my active speakers directly to the sound card for both movie and audio listening (preferably up to 24/192kHz). I am very happy with the sound from the speakers but would like to get a sound card that would do them justice. After reading forums and some reviews I've narrowed the candidates to: 1. LynxTwo - B; or 2. HDSPe AIO with AO4S-192 AIO expansion port I was wondering if any readers would be able to assist with choosing between the two. I have heard they are both great sounding cards but am not sure which to go for, in particular: a. Is the analog output from either cards of equal quality? I read some post that the there might be issues with analog output from the breakout cable for the LynxTwo b. I'm not a sound engineer or a programmer, whilst I am handy with pcs I would like to try to avoid complex hacks or programming c. I would like to avoid using external DAC - there's already too many power packs in my HT setup and space is very limited d. Quality of analog input on the sound card is not important to me as I don't do any recording I would greatly appreciate feedback from anyone on this especially anyone who has used either card for analog output Kind regards William

Thanks for the feedback, I'll have a word with my local RME dealer and see what they can do.

Dear all, I am a long time computer user but am new to the audiophile music server scene and would appreciate some advice from everyone on the best way to get audiophile multi-channel output from a computer. Aim:To build a audiophile multi-channel music/movie server - i.e. an audiophile multi-channel version of the Kaleidescape Cinema One Background:I intend to store all my high bitrate/lossless music files alongside my purchased digital movies into a computer that is attached to some high quality active speakers. Available gear: Computer: 2009 Mac Pro - its not silent but sufficiently quiet OS: I primarily use Windows 7 on the Mac Pro Speakers: 2 pairs of high quality active speakers (Bang & Olufsen Beolab 3) Subwoofer: Velodyne SPL-800R subwoofer Preference/constraints: 1. Would prefer the solution to utilise the high quality active speakers I currently use 2. Due to space limitation, my preference is to limit the number of powered devices - hopefully the multi-channel audio output is from a sound card or DAC inside/attached to the computer. 3. To avoid AVR or other AV processors - the video decoders/software and video card in my PC is sufficient for my needs Current candidates for the multi-channel audio output: a. Onkyo Wavio 300PCIE SE PCI-Express sound card b. Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe with multi-channel output c. Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD d. M-Audio Delta Audiophile 192 Many thanks for your assistance and suggestions.