Well, I do notice that if people do Internet shows using on board sound
cards, you can really hear the hiss from the mic out jacks. The cheapest
solution to that problem is probably a USB headset mic, but then you get too
much breathing in. You probably would need a higher end card to get better
preamps for the mic, line out, etc. I would bet this tube card must be a USB
device, not sure though.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Seed" <bobs...@tbaytel.net>
To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:12 PM
Subject: Re: Hi-fi soundcard
Putting vacuum tubes in a PC might sound a little like adding a hand crank
to a Porsche, but at least one company thinks it might be the future of
computer audio.
Taiwanese components company AOpen, part of the Acer Group, is selling a PC
audio card based on a vacuum tube--the same century-old technology that
sends electric guitar players and hi-fi aficionados into paroxysms of
listening delight.
The idea, according to AOpen, is to replicate the "warm" sound of
traditional tube-driven audio equipment inside PCs, which are increasingly
being used as stereos by digital music lovers. The company quietly released
a first version of the product in the United States in August, and an
updated version, now available in Taiwan, will reach U.S. shores in January,
just missing the holiday shopping season.
Will AOpen's audio card revolutionize PC audio? Unlikely, analysts say. But
the company's focus is one of a number of increasingly clear signs that the
intermingling of PCs with other household entertainment devices is steadily
marching along and that PCs are beginning to hold their own in terms of
quality.
"I wouldn't call (the tube-driven board) a novelty, but it certainly falls
into the enthusiast segment," said Dean McCarron, principal analyst for
Mercury Research, a firm covering the PC component market. "On the hi-fi
side, there are some very strong tube proponents."
Even if it remains an evolutionary--or devolutionary--dead-end, the
tube-driven audio card does help highlight an ongoing renaissance in PC
audio technology, driven by the prevalence of downloadable music and
musicians' growing use of inexpensive, powerful computers for home
recording.
The standalone audio card market was considerably stronger in the mid-1990s,
when companies like Creative Labs, with its Sound Blaster audio card, first
helped PCs become multimedia machines. But in 1997, technology for
integrating audio directly into a computer's motherboard became widespread,
and the standalone audio market soon collapsed. The ability to do
signal-processing functions inside software programs--once the exclusive
purview of hardware--also helped undermine audio card sales.
Most PCs today are sold with integrated audio capabilities that let
listeners play music, if not with particularly high-quality sound, without
any specialized hardware. Creative's Audigy and Sound Blaster lines of audio
cards still sell fairly well among game players and music lovers looking for
a richer sound, but the company continues to have only a fraction of the
market it commanded half a decade ago, McCarron said.
AOpen's card falls into a slightly different category, however. There's
already a long list of existing high-tech add-on equipment designed for
musicians creating PC music. But there are fewer high-end cards targeted
more specifically at hi-fi connoisseurs.
The company itself says the idea was initially a "lark," dreamed up by an
audiophile engineer in the course of a brainstorming session. But a lab test
of the idea convinced enough people that sound quality was noticeably
different that the company decided to produce the product.
According to product manager Richard Jen, the company has sold about 5000 of
the tube boards in the United States since August. They aren't available in
retail stores--the company distributes mostly through resellers, who in turn
sell the product for between $180 and $220.
Jen said the customer base has been split evenly between gamers and hi-fi
enthusiasts.
The idea has won both raves and jeers online. Audiophiles and sound
engineers in message boards have differed, often bitterly, on whether the
tube would make a difference to the sound. Tube amplification gives a
"fuzzier" sound, many say, and while that might make it sound "warmer" to
some ears, it would lack the precise reproduction of digital signals that a
good-quality computer audio codec can provide, critics say.
----- Original Message -----
From: "djdoctorp" <djdoct...@att.net>
To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: Hi-fi soundcard
High once again,
I don't know how true this is, but I hear that Sound Blaster is coming out
with a card that uses a pare of 12AX7 tubes for the line out, and a pare of
12AU7 tubes for the line and mike ins.
Word has it that this card will be out some time next year.
If that happens, then I won't need a preamp that has tubes to get that warm
sound transferred from my old records and cassettes.
I am wondering 2 things.
For starters, how will the card with tubes and all fit in to any desktop
computer?
And how much will it cost?
My best regards!
John.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bue Vester-Andersen" <bva_li...@vester-andersen.dk>
To: "'PC Audio Discussion List'" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 5:18 PM
Subject: SV: Hi-fi soundcard
Hi John,
Thanks for the advice. I must admit that I discarded the Sound blaster
cards in advance. I suppose the digital connections will be ok, since a bit
is a bit. However, their d/a-converters don't have a very good reputation
with me. Maybe they have improved, or maybe I am just prejudiced, but I was
originally going for a more high-end solution. Do Sound blaster actually
make high-end cards, or is is it just gaming and surround stuff, like I
thought it was? Are there any good alternatives?
Best regards
Bue
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] På
vegne af djdoctorp
Sendt: 31. oktober 2009 20:17
Til: PC Audio Discussion List
Emne: Re: Hi-fi soundcard
Hello,
All of the sound cards made by sound blaster can and will do what you need
them to do.
Check them all out at:
http://www.soundblaster.com
my best regards to you!
John.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bue Vester-Andersen" <bva_li...@vester-andersen.dk>
To: <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 3:01 PM
Subject: Hi-fi soundcard
Hi.
Can anyone help me?
I need a high-end hi-fi soundcard with an accessible configuration
interface and that is compatible with Windows 7. It is going to sit in
my hi-fi pc, so I don't really need surround sound or 64 channels..
All i really need is stereo analogue and digital inputs and outputs
and a card that will do the job and do it really well.
Best regards
Bue
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