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Sound Cards

Well, in another thread, I got great advice on this topic, which I am now exploring further. I am looking to be able to record LPs and perhaps CDs.

I found this good link, which tests various sound cards along various technical criteria: http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm

The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is the highest-rated "consumer" card, rated "excellent" in all areas except signal-to-noise ("very good") and dynamic range ("very good"). This card lists for $80, and costs a mere $40 extra when buying a Dell.

I'm trying to decide if this is good enough.

1. A poster pointed out that the Turtle Beach card doesn't do A/D conversion at 24/96 (it does 18/44), and that even though CDs are only 16/44, the extra headroom allows for digital manipulation of the "image" without loss of quality prior to recording. What if I don't care to manipulate the sound files (I don't imagine having time)? Will there be an audible difference between 18/44 and 24/96 when doing "no-fiddle" copies from LP or CD?

2. The more expensive cards seemed aimed primarily at musicians, and allow mixing signals from various sources, and the like. None of this applies to me. Are these more expensive cards harder to use, or less appropriate for my purpose for any reason?

3. What is S/PDIF? It seems to allow attaching the CD source directly to the sound card (internal to the computer). Is this desirable? Or is it preferable to write the file to hard disk first, then burn it, to avoid timing issues?

4. Since the cost of the higher-end cards is about the same as the cost of a mass-market standalone CD burner stereo component, would I be better off just buying one of the latter?

5. Finally, what higher-end card do people prefer? I've found three internal cards that are listed in the above link as "excellent" across the board, cost $400 or less, have Windows XP support, and do 24/96 A/D conversion:
-- Digital Audio Card Deluxe. $400. Well-reviewed in this forum.
-- Midiman Audiophile 2496. $230. The only one of these three that doesn't support balanced inputs. Also reviewed positively in this forum.
- Echo Audio MIA. "Under $250". Not mentioned in this forum so far.

Thank you for any comments/advice!

- Eric
ehart
ehart OP
215 posts
 
Gboren,

1. You make this "de-popping" sound really simple. Is it a quick one-button type thing, or does it involve multiple steps and real effort?

2. If I still didn't care about "control" and editing, is the basic sound quality of the component-type CD burner (say, the HHB) going to be as good as the 16/44 CDs I would produce with a good sound card?

Thanks for your patience with these questions!

- Eric
gboren
143 posts
 
Eric,
1. Yes, depopping can be as simple as hitting a button. What I mean is that most software packages come with a depop utility. All you need to decide is how much depop you want to apply: Less removes less of the pops and clicks, but will have no effect on the music; more runs the risk of changing the music. So, all you do is select the depop tool, select your desired level and hit "go". The software is designed to recognize the unique sound pattern of pops and clicks. Of course, from there you can also manually apply various techniques to correct specific blemishes. You can also record a "sound print" of a blank spot on the record and the system can then remove similar sounding patterns which helps to reduce background noise. Of course, all this is extra "fiddling" and also runs the risk of affecting the music. But if done right, the results can be excellent.

2. I am very happy with my system. However, I can understand someone wanting a no fuss method. If all you want to do is copy directly to 16/44 cd, you will do sonically just as well as (or better than) if you use a computer based system to copy directly to 16/44 without depopping, denoising, etc.

If you are going to go the no fuss way, I strongly recommend one of the HHB's. They have an excellent a/d converter and they do not use copy protection. Their entry level (830 Burnit) goes for under $600.00 at B&H).

Let us know what you decide and how you like it.
rwwear
2,865 posts
 
For copying vinyl I usa a Marantz pro CD burner. It is a standalone unit and since it is a pro model it uses computer cdrs and has none of the copyguard issues that the consumer models have. J&R has a newer model than mine for 479.00 I believe. For CD copying, most of the time I use a TDK burner in my computer. But sometimes I use the Marantz because I'm using my computer for something else or just want to go to bed and let the CD record while I'm asleep.

Robert Wear
gumbydammit
186 posts
 
I hate to say this, but do you guys realize that you can get a used Philips CDR on ebay for about 250.00?
I have not found a sound card that does a to d as well.
I would like to hear if anyone else has.
rwwear
2,865 posts
 
Yes you can get a Philips cheap but it is not a pro model. And when making digital copies, you don't go through the A to D converters. I would not own a consumer model CD burner. Sorry, but consumer CD burners have too many limitations. And the Marantz standalone unit that I have has just as good or better A to D coverters as the Philips. The Marantz is a pro model Philips.

Robert
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