Sound "cards"

[highkoo]

Hello.

What kind of soundcards are popular these days?
Are people still using internal PCI cards?
Are these Asus cards any good?
Im just looking to replace a simple ol' M-Audio 2496 PCI card in order to avoid PC upgrade mobo nightmares. What are my best options?
Thanks!

[VariKusBrainZ]

So you're actually after a PCIe card going by the link to the Asus stuff, not PCI card.

You don't mention your budget, 'best' option could be pricey

http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/ ... und-cards/

[highkoo]

Thanks,
Yeah it seems like PCIe is the way to go now, both with the cards and the mobo.
Is there any real difference between PCIe and USB2 interfaces?
If feels like a card would be better in all ways, but I dont really know.

Budget is flexible, but I just want the best replacement for the basic card I have. I dont need top of the line in either features or "quality", if there is such thing.
And upgrade just makes mobo shopping easier, so here I am!

[incubus]

OK, have to admit getting tired of explaining this :

Older M audio 610 (discoed) great sound, only 10ms in/out latency, .... crap driverers though,

Forcusrtite FW (ti chipset) 9 ms in/out, but not the best sounding unit........good divers though,.

Babyface pro with 7ms and incredible stability (plus the eq/setup) and it's baciacally insane. Beautiies............run with it.


terrible option deopending................

[e@rs]

As incubus said, if you have the budget to get a RME USB card, do it! It's QUALITY in every aspect. And the drivers are rock solid. Mine only crashed 2 times in 8 years. Cause: 2 VST plugins, one insanely CPU intensive and one really badly coded.

[BertKoor]

PCIe is paramount for a desktop system. But if you ever want to use a laptop: usb, usb, usb...

[Kaine]

Are these Asus cards any good?

For use as a media center card, the quality of the Asus range is superb.

As a production card, it has some of the worst (if not the absolute worst) ASIO driver implementation that I've ever seen.

[Musical Gym]

I would steer clear of Roland Quad-Capture. It has good sound, but tends to lose connectivity with DAW quite frequently and I have to unplug usb and plug back in to computer quite often using Studio One 3 Pro in Win 8.1 64 bit.
It also has only one output knob for both speakers and headphones, no individual control.

[highkoo]

Thanks folks.
I am thinking that the "pro-sumer" market for PCI/e cards has just dried up?
Am I missing something? Is there anything current under $500+..? A MAYA44 XTe from five years ago? Im replacing a $100 card...

For use as a media center card, the quality of the Asus range is superb.
As a production card, it has some of the worst (if not the absolute worst) ASIO driver implementation that I've ever seen.

Well darn.
I ran into one nib for less than half price not long after this post, and couldnt help myself. I will find a use for it, but more annoying is that I barely found any other options between $100-$400 along the way.

So, I dont get it.
The only reason I am on this quest is because of new mobos, many of which do not support the ol' PCI 2496. It makes sense that mobo tech is moving on, but then I think; why are there no new soundcard options keeping pace with the new slots? The 2496 was hugely popular. Why are there not a million other people in my exact position right now? Half the million upgraded to a $500 option and the other half stopped making music?

Is this just a dumb idea?-
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Expr ... B0024CV3SA

If supposedly,
PCI = 1056 Mb/s
PCI Express x1 = 2,500 Mb/s
And the adapter can be at least 50% efficient...

[BertKoor]

The ESI Juli@ is PCIe, simple stereo I/O, good Asio drivers and not too expensive. Alas not sold everywhere.

Also if you look for it, there are still mobos with one PCI slot.

[sprnva]

The lack of cards is down to most people moving to external solutions. With the right drivers, USB, Firewire and Thunderbolt can give similar low latency performance. Plus you rule out interference from other internal components.

As for PCI in modern boards, it's not just about having the slot. You also need a board whose chipset has native PCI. Otherwise it uses a bridging chip which converts PCI to PCIe. This will have an adverse effect on realtime performance. Same goes for that Startech adapter.

[highkoo]

Hm. Yeah if the performance is there over usb then I guess its just a question of what is valued otherwise. I value space saving infinitely more than mobility, and I can see how that is opposite to many consumers. The way I see it, Ive got enough flashing boxes, and that slot is going to be in the pc either way...
Geez, I might get a mobile box and mount the guts in my pc case.

Yeah, I was initially looking at a couple of the PCI mobos that are out for newer chipsets. Its very limited though. The options are huuuge if you can go PCIe/USB. Also, I assume you get something out of upgrading ten year old soundcard tech too, although Im not looking for that.
I let the 2496 dictate the mobo choice on my last build because there really were still great options, but this time it feels more like a compromise. PCI exist for the newest chipsets, but forcing it limits long term options, just to hold onto tech that is on the way out. For an x99 build, it makes sense to future proof as much as possible.

I guess I can at least build the pc I need, assuming I do need to upgrade to something, and go from there. Thanks for the other ESI link. Im thinking one of their two available-but-hard-to-find models might be the next stop.
Although, I will be trying out that Asus card I spose.

[legendCNCD]

Still using M-Audio 2496 from 2001 with X79 PCI mobo
Prolly replacing it with RME something in the next 6 years when next computer change is due.