PCI soundcards

[Telstar]

Peter, I have listened to six or seven different DACs (and a few sound cards) between £150 and £1000 here whilst owning my Onkyo card, so I do have something to compare with.

I believe this. I also compared my Quartet to mid level dacs and cd players before making the switch. I know Audiodidakt did something similar.

Or course they are no match for high-end dacs that are in the 3k+ range. So, for me, they are a temporary solution, and i have the additional hard requirement of 8 channels to operate the software crossover of my (future) speakers.

[xp9433]

"Your card will be resampling ? Please keep in mind ... *if* Frank is right. I did not check it." Peter

Peter, Is there a relatively simple way to determine what sample frequencies a DAC/Soundcard will accept without resampling?

Frank

[PeterSt]

Hey Frank,

Unfortunately, I don't think so. If the drivers don't show the sample rate the card is working at, you're in the blind.
Also notice that there is a difference in SPDIF passthrough and analogue out, where both may operate at a different sample rate. The example is the SRC in there (Sample Rate Converter) which is not in order with SPDIF passthrough, but will with analogue out.
I mean, you could go to a shop and hook the PC up to a pro device, that taking the SPDIF from the soundcard and show its sample rate. But it still doesn't say everything.

In this case the chip is sigma-delta, so the analogue output rate will be at 64~512 times the input rate. This already never matches the specs in the first place.

Peter

[Fidelio]

Your card will be resampling ?

Well, in the VIA driver control panel, the current sample rate is specified when playing. If a play a song vanilla in XXHE, it shows 44.1. If I then tick double or quad, it shows 88.2 or 176.4.

If I set the card's sample rate to 96khz, for example, it will not play materal with another sample rate, only 96Khz. The same thing goes for foobar w/WASAPI, the card can only play the sample rate it is locked to (unless using auto, and then it specifies the sample rate its running at).

I don't think the card is resampling or upsampling anything; I don't think it can. The DAC should be running at whatever is sent to it.

[PeterSt]

Fidelio, Good !

Nothing more to say.

[hubsand]

Why are there no reviews of this yet?

See : http://ixbtlabs.com/sound.html#subsec108 under Sound Cards & ProAudio

I can't see anything relevant there: the Burson-modified Audiotrak HD2 is surely a whole different animal from the stock unit . . .

[Leo]

Hello Fidelio,

I just bought the Onkyo 200 ltd, running it in Windows 7. However the VIA control panel does not show the 'auto' option for the bitrate. On the Headfi forum screenshots of a previous version of VIA had that option on top of the limited range of selectable fixed bitrates but not the 5.4f release for windows 7.
It seems I can only use 44, 48, 96 and 192 as others are not shown as options. And when I try to force it by sending 88.2 data from XX I get the familiar warnings about end points that have failed in mysterious ways and DAC that is guilty of all kinds of digital crime. And definitely no music.
Is there a magic hidden button I should use ? Or is the Windows 7 version perhaps a step backwards which does not allow 88 and 176 (yet)?
My Japanese is pretty weak so I cannot find any solutions on the Onkyo site, and the Tsjech distributor and his staff are fighting the swine flu it seems.

With native 192 files and 44.1 I have no problems. But as a fan of the Holy Arc Prediction I want the 88 and 176 of course .....

Leo

[PeterSt]

What about trying the older driver ?

[Leo]

a. Try to do that on a site in Japanese, allthough good for a laugh after you try google translation  !
b. would those older drivers work with Windows 7 ?

[xp9433]

Leo
Are you sure 88.2 & 176.4 inputs were ever an option for this sound card!?
I didn't get a clear answer when I asked. And the specs don't show it?
Frank

[Leo]

Well it seems that Fidelio used the SP90 of Onkyo with 88.2 (see above in this thread) and if I read the specs (see the link below)  it definitely claims these bitrates

 http://www.onkyowavio.com/11-onkyo-wavio-se-200pci-ltd.html

Also on discussion on Headfi this was stated as one of the advantages of the Onkyo cards

Leo

[Fidelio]

Hi guys;

Yes, the card does 88.2 and 176.4, the pics posted on Head-Fi are mine. You can get the latest drivers from VIA, no need to use the drives from Onkyo.
On Win 7, I get an error when installing the drivers with the setup.exe. To install correctly to Win 7, in the Win device manager, just point Windows to the folder with your VIA driver, and it will install the driver properly. Then copy the VIA control panel app to your hard drive manually and run it from there.

Congrats on the card, let us know how you think it sounds after you have run it in for a while. Also, it would be interesting to hear your impressions of Arc Pred. and how it sounds with the card; I find that it makes everything worse with my Onkyo.

On the subject of PCI sound cards, there is a new contender. Dual BB PCM1794 dacs, nice opamps and claimed proper power filtering. Designed and made in the UK. Looks interesting.

[Leo]

Thanks Fidelio,

that did the trick ! I use the 540a driver, which a control panel which looks exactly as the panel  I got from the Onkyo download page but now with the 'auto' button in all its glory and might.

And now back for some serious listening !

Leo

[Per]

...On the subject of PCI sound cards, there is a new contender. Dual BB PCM1794 dacs, nice opamps and claimed proper power filtering. Designed and made in the UK. Looks interesting.

Thanks Fidelio for keeping this thread updated with interesting new PCI cards. That ouverture sure looks pretty serious. Would be nice, though, to see som highres pictures to check out more details. Or listen to one 

Per

[Fidelio]

Thanks Fidelio,

that did the trick ! I use the 540a driver, which a control panel which looks exactly as the panel  I got from the Onkyo download page but now with the 'auto' button in all its glory and might.

And now back for some serious listening !

Good to hear! You are using the cards analogue outs, right?

That ouverture sure looks pretty serious. Would be nice, though, to see som highres pictures to check out more details. Or listen to one 

I am seriously contemplating getting one, it looks as though it might be a winner. And I love that they actually have made it in the UK and not in China. It is, after all, very inexpensive in hi-fi terms, and Cantatis have a return policy so there is really not much to loose here.

The card is based on the VIA Envy chipset, which guarantees stable and well working drivers, auto sample rate selection and 64bit support (same chip as the Audiotrak and Onkyo cards use). Three expansion PCI cards are also coming, with digital inputs, analogue inputs and also an FM(!) card.