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Topic: M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question (Read 23747 times) previous topic - next topic
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M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Hi!

I am thinking of buying this card. But since it has 2 x 2 analog I/O I think I'm gonna need an adapter like this:
http://www.avxperten.dk/adaptere/audio-ada...nijack-hun).asp
(I'm danish thats why it may look strange )

I have two questions.
First of all is it the right adapter? I just wanna plug my headphones (Sennheiser HD 595) into the card and enjoy the music

Second will it decrease audio quality dramatic or will it not be noticeable?
By the way are this soundcard overkill to listening on my sennheisers?

Cheers!

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #1 –
Quote
I have two questions.
First of all is it the right adapter? I just wanna plug my headphones (Sennheiser HD 595) into the card and enjoy the music

Second will it decrease audio quality dramatic or will it not be noticeable?
By the way are this soundcard overkill to listening on my sennheisers?


I am not an expert and I doubt it will decrease the audio quality dramatically seeing that it's a hi-end card, but if that is the case you may want to consider what's called a "preamp". Some of the hardware guru's around here can tell you more about that. I wouldn't say the Audiophile 24/96 is "overkill". It's a hi-end soundcard designed for listening and music production. It has a 1 x 1 MIDI I/O on it and I am pretty sure it supports ASIO. If my memory serves me correctly it uses a 24-bit Burr-Brown DAC and the SNR Is around 110 dB, which is pretty much top notch even though the card is almost nine years old! I have an M-Audio Revo 5.1 card. It's a stripped down version of the Audiophile 24/96 that's designed for listening and playback not recording. It was an investment well worth it at the time. I don't see why the Audiophile wouldn't be worth it either. If you are just getting the card for listening and playback you may want to consider some other cards the first one that comes to mind also is the ASUS Xonar D2. I don't know how the price compares to the Audiophile unfortunatly though.
budding I.T professional

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #2 –
Quote from: HotshotGG on
and I am pretty sure it supports ASIO.

Yes it does.

@ Schlunzen
Yes, that's the right adapter (see pic), but like HotshotGG said, you'd need to pre-amp.



By the way, there's a pretty detailed (old) review here.

ps. Not sure if this makes sense, but this card was around £47 in the UK and the pound has dropped sharply against the Krone - would it be worth buying online from the UK? Just a thought.

C.
PC = TAK + LossyWAV  ::  Portable = Opus (130)

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #3 –
The audio quality of the card is very good. However, it is a professional record/playback (or at least semi-pro) card with only line in and line out. The output produces a line level voltage signal with very little power, just like the output from the jacks of a CD player, a tuner, a tape deck, a phono preamp, etc. It is designed to drive an amplifier, not any power consuming device.

It might create some sound from your headphones, but it not too likely to be very satisfactory. The card’s signal needs to be sent to a headphone amplifier, or some device with a headphone output, such as a receiver or hi-fi preamp. These have the circuitry necessary to produce power to drive the headphones, which are simply miniatures speakers. Speakers (except active speakers with their built in amplifier) can not be run directly from any line level output source.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Schlunzen on
Hi!

I am thinking of buying this card. But since it has 2 x 2 analog I/O I think I'm gonna need an adapter like this:
http://www.avxperten.dk/adaptere/audio-ada...nijack-hun).asp
(I'm danish thats why it may look strange )

I have two questions.
First of all is it the right adapter? I just wanna plug my headphones (Sennheiser HD 595) into the card and enjoy the music

Second will it decrease audio quality dramatic or will it not be noticeable?
By the way are this soundcard overkill to listening on my sennheisers?

Cheers!

I just installed a new M-Audio Audiophile 192 sound card in my (older) AMD chipped ASUS machine.  Considering that the other option was a Lynx L22 ($500 to $675) and that I was told the Lynx’s up sampling could not be bypassed I am excited about the M-Audio card.

I use the cards coaxial S/PDIF out to feed a Lite DAC AH via Kimber cable Illuminations D60 coaxial digital interconnect (in my low/mid resolution office playback system).  The DAC feeds a Sonic Impact T-amp (uses Tripath TA2024 chip) via AudioQuest Jade interconnect (entry level cabling available for about $25 pre owned).  I’ll either modify the T-amp (better power supply, new caps, shielding, take cheap pot out of path, copper RCA jacks and copper speaker binding posts) or rotate an Acurus A250 amp back into T-amps place (strict power amp will require a volume attenuator in front of it as the M-Audio sound card does not allow one to attenuate volume through its digital output as the company claims that it does).  The amp drives B&W DM601 monitors via Synergistic Research Signature No2 speaker cables.

For a relatively low cost system (aprox $605 [including sound card] pre owned – excluding the PC which was another $400 in 2004) the results are favorable/enjoyable (with WAV files).

I have also used the M-Audio cards analog output.  While being significantly better than the horrible sound card that was in my PC the M-Audio is still of quite limited analog output ability.  Even a low cost Lite DAC AH ($180 retail or aprox $110 pre owned if you can find one) is a huge improvement over M-Audio’s analog output.  But this should be expected of what is still a cheap card.  Reportedly even the Lynx card is quite lacking.

To its benefit the M-Audio card bypasses Windows Kmixer (sonic benefit in doing so). The cards digital output does not upsample - leaving the upsampling for a far more capable outboard DAC (like Wadia 521i etc. http://wadia.com/brochures/Wadia_521.pdf ) is also of Sonic benefit.  Reportedly Wadia is to test M-Audio’s card in coming months.  It will be interesting to hear what they think of it (as they recommended it to me based on preliminary research of all cards currently available).

As for post starter’s questions:

I second Andy’s comments on M-Audio cards outputs not being suitable (not designed for) driving headphones.  I briefly drove a pair of Grado SR 80’s via the cards outputs.  While the card sent enough current to yield sound (up to 90+db in volume even) and did not self destruct in attempting to drive the SR 80’s the results were non ideal.  Headphones (especially Grado’s) benefit from an output stage that can swing a lot more voltage.  To summarize the sound was strained, lacking in dynamics, sloppy bass, etc.

Your link shows correct adapters for 24/96 card but you would need different for 192 card.  Every mechanical connection degrades signal quality (especially cheap brass or less).  If you can source quality parts it is best to build ones own connectors/adapters.

The soundcard is definitely not “overkill” of a source for you Sennheiser HD 595.  Your HD 595’s are capable enough for one to easily hear the differences between a $6500 and $13,275 (former sources of mine) source.

Other notes:

I bought my Audiophile 192 sound card from Powermax http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/dv-9900-50768-00  for $113 (including shipping) call and talk to Michelle.

M-Audio support leaves much to be desired.  It takes weeks for response from technical support thru their web portal and I experienced telephone hold time greater than 30 minutes before call was answered.  But given, that perhaps no other product does what theirs does it is very much worth acquiring.

On a side note:  Has anyone tried one of these head amps? http://www.pmillett.com/starving.htm

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #5 –
Quote from: forum neophyte on
I have also used the M-Audio cards analog output.  While being significantly better than the horrible sound card that was in my PC the M-Audio is still of quite limited analog output ability.  Even a low cost Lite DAC AH ($180 retail or aprox $110 pre owned if you can find one) is a huge improvement over M-Audio’s analog output.


Is there any support for your claims?

The 2496 has been used in the cable/sound card ABX challenge where no one could distinguish the original file vs one looped 3 times over the analog output/input.

Also, RMAA results have been very good.

At least if you use the line-out for connecting to an amp. Driving headphones might be a different story. Although at least with my HD 580s I didn't notice any striking difference compared to the headphone out of my amp.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #6 –
The Audiophile 2496 is very good. You will be hard pressed to find any condition at all under which a more expensive DAC is noticeably better, although it is not hard to obtain more impressive hardware specifications with more modern circuits.

Headphones require very little power, but that isn't the same as none. I've never tried headphones directly on the output, they definitely isn't intended for such use, but possibly it could be acceptable.

I rather doubt that the Audiophile 192 cannot control the output level via its mixer, but I haven't used one, so I can say for certain. The Audiophile 2496 most certainly can, however. S/PDIF is simply a digital transfer, so the level settings will not effect the output. The direct hardware analogue out is not through the mixer, so it also is not effected by the level control. You have to route through the card’s mixer in order to control the output level. That is the mixer's primary purpose.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #7 –
Thanks for the answers everyone.

If I understand this right I need a DAC and connect it digital to the m-audio card?
Then I can plug my sennheisers in the DAC and enjoy music?

Or I could buy a soundcard where I just plug my headphones in and listen.

Is there a card that would give me the same audio quality with just a minijack plugged in?
Or would I get much more quality by buying a DAC for the m-audio soundcard?

I only need a card for listening not recording.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #8 –
The DACs on the Audiophile 2496 are of very good quality. You will not get any noticeable improvement by using an external DAC. An external DAC would not put you one bit ahead unless it also contained a headphone amplifier, otherwise trying to use it would be exactly the same as trying to connect the headphones directly to the card.

There are USB soundcards that contain headphone outs for monitoring. I haven’t paid any attention, so I can’t make a specific recommendation, I don’t know what might be available in your price range. PCI gaming cards usually contain some kind of headphone amplifier, allowing one to plug the headphones directly into the card, but that is very rare to non-existent with higher quality audio cards. That just isn’t their purpose. Only some external audio cards also have headphone facilities included.

If you want the better audio quality, you need the soundcard, whether PCI, USB, or firewire, to do the Digital To Analogue conversion (DAC) and you need something to drive speakers or headphones. They just are not one and the same.
 

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Schlunzen on
Thanks for the answers everyone.

If I understand this right I need a DAC and connect it digital to the m-audio card?
Then I can plug my sennheisers in the DAC and enjoy music?

Or I could buy a soundcard where I just plug my headphones in and listen.

Is there a card that would give me the same audio quality with just a minijack plugged in?
Or would I get much more quality by buying a DAC for the m-audio soundcard?

I only need a card for listening not recording.


You do not need a DAC with the M-Audio card.  The M-Audio card has an onboard DAC (digital to analog converter) and ADC (analog to digital converter- useful for recording).  If budget is an issue you will be much better served by implementing a quality headphone amplifier downstream of M-Audio card's analog outputs and not acquiring an outboard DAC.  M-Audio's Audiophile 192 card has variable analog outputs (but no variable on digital output).  Some (and even some lower cost < $500) stand alone DAC's will yield significant performance gains over DAC on M-Audio card but most have no built in function for attenuation of their analog output (which you will definitely need unless you only desire to listen through your headphones at one very high volume level.  Additionally you are back to the same issue of trying to drive headphones off of line level outputs [not ideal] if you connect them directly to a DAC without a built in headphone amplifier).

Another option to consider would be an outboard USB DAC with a (semi) quality onboard headphone amplifier.  I have not personally experienced it but I have read (and heard) many positive comments of DIYEDEN - SVDAC06 available from http://www.pacificvalve.us/DIYEDENSV06.html  for $169 + shipping or eBay listing http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=110216965709  for $143 including shipping (over seas).  Reportedly the Diyeden SVDAC06 exhibits a smoother/less gritty, more detailed top end then the Lite DAC AH I am using.  It is however also reported (to me) that the Lite DAC AH is much more dynamic (principal? of Pacific Valve & Electric company told me "nothing is as dynamic as the Lite DAC..."  I suspect that what he meant is nothing at its price point is more dynamic.  The $13k+ (retail value) Wadia 860 SE and statement modified by GNSC http://www.greatnorthernsound.com/wadia.html  that I previously used was much more dynamic.  I’d like to add that I, spoiled and jaded as I have become, think I could potentially live/listen happily through the Lite DAC AH - hi praise coming from me (I am presently using a Matt Anker modified Dennon 3910 player http://www.sacdmods.com/DVD3910.htm in my current best system.  The modified Dennon is far more capable than the Lite DAC AH yet vastly inferior to the hyper modified Wadia). The NOS (non over sampling) Lite DAC is a wonderful low cost converter. Reportedly there are also other wonderful low cost converters.

Read some forums, but more importantly plug in and listen for yourself (you obviously already posses an interest in being better connected with music or you would not own Sennheisers).

Here I diverge.  Digital audio, in its leading edge of technology focused on better connecting people with music, has progressed a long ways since 1980.  Unfortunate that our best consumer medium: SACD is on the verge of extinction and red book cd prevails 29 years later.  Also unfortunate was the advent and proliferation of MP3 and other lossy transform codecs.  Every bit as devastating is the downward spiral of lesser recording quality coming out of music studios. There are some very high quality recordings being engineered but the vast majority of “popular” music is carelessly actualized.  See http://philoctetes.org/Past_Programs/Deep_...Quality_Matters for a vague discussion partially relating to this.

If it was me and budget was a serious issue (and budget is a serious issue for me these days) I'd go the route of the Diyeden USB DAC.  That said, note that USB is an inherently poor connection protocol for transfer of digital audio (high in jitter - according to Ben of HeadRoom http://www.headphone.com/  my home town Hi-Fi manufacture).  AES/EUB or AT&T ST glass optical (not TOSLINK) are reportedly best for transfer of digital audio signal.  S/PDIF via BNC is next followed by S/PDIF via coaxial, followed by TOSLINK followed by USB (though some can make a solid case for USB having potential/ability to outperform TOSLINK).  I have not heard how 1394 compares (I know designer/manufacture Lavry does not and will not use 1394 for compatibility issues).  Looking at specification for HDMI seems it will likely have vast potential (time will tell).

Perhaps I should have kept this brief, as this posts length runs risk of confusing you further.  Alternatively, to comply with forum guidelines of providing objective proof (missing entirely from this and previous posts) would necessitate much time (citing others well designed and implemented ABX studies and or authoring and conducting research) and many more words – I may go the distance another time.

In short.  M-Audio Audiophile sound card is a great product (especially for its digital thru put capability).  M-Audio DAC is ok (better than okay if you consider product price and that you also get an ADC, driver that bypasses windows Kmixer, etc. etc.) I have only listened through analog output of Audiophile 192 card for a few dozen hours (likely not even close to being burned in yet).  When I switched over to an outboard DAC I only AB’d and certainly did not ABX double blind (quite difficult to do) nor did I even ABABAB.  Repeated ABABAB with otherwise exact system usually allows one to develop some (subjective) understanding of differences.  AB without going back to A tells less.  I’m only in it for the music though and could care less of analyzing every detail of variation between the equipment that is asked to perform magic.  When I sent the digital out of the sound card and the outboard DAC performed obviously significantly better that was enough for me to just sit back and listen.

PS.  I have used the analog out of the M-Audi Audiophile directly into an amp and it performs (my subjective opinion) much better this way than direct to headphones.  I’ll speculate that the M-Audio card performs better than most sound cards direct into headphones because of it’s better than average sound card DAC (my subjective listening supports this on a limited basis – only AB of two)  Many options available, if you don’t like the one you have chosen and you have acquired it pre owned at market value than you can sell it off to someone else (without much fiscal loss) and try something else (personally I like to find something that works well and use if for ten years or so).

PSS.  Given Andy’s comment of “You will not get any noticeable improvement by using an external DAC.” It is obvious to me that Andy simply has little or no experience with listening to music through a higher capability DAC in a well matched top tier system (even several tiers down from the six figure $$$$$$ best differences are obvious).

PSSS.  Volume atenuation is possible in the digital domain via dithering.  Wadia and a couple/few others implement this.  M-Audio apparently does not, even though their Audiophiles 192 sound card controll panel (not fully operational) is suggestive that they do.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #10 –
Quote from: AndyH-ha on
The audio quality of the card is very good. However, it is a professional record/playback (or at least semi-pro) card with only line in and line out. The output produces a line level voltage signal with very little power, just like the output from the jacks of a CD player, a tuner, a tape deck, a phono preamp, etc. It is designed to drive an amplifier, not any power consuming device.

It might create some sound from your headphones, but it not too likely to be very satisfactory. The card’s signal needs to be sent to a headphone amplifier, or some device with a headphone output, such as a receiver or hi-fi preamp. These have the circuitry necessary to produce power to drive the headphones, which are simply miniatures speakers. Speakers (except active speakers with their built in amplifier) can not be run directly from any line level output source.



Actually I often listen to music files via a set of plain closed-ear headphones (an old set of Audio Technica's) plugged directly into the 2496's out jacks (using a 2->1 adapter) and it sounds fine -- no problems with level.  Playback software ranges from foobar2k to Audition to WMP.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #11 –
Quote from: forum neophyte on
Perhaps I should have kept this brief, as this posts length runs risk of confusing you further.  Alternatively, to comply with forum guidelines of providing objective proof (missing entirely from this and previous posts) would necessitate much time (citing others well designed and implemented ABX studies and or authoring and conducting research) and many more words – I may go the distance another time.

In short.  M-Audio Audiophile sound card is a great product (especially for its digital thru put capability).  M-Audio DAC is ok (better than okay if you consider product price and that you also get an ADC, driver that bypasses windows Kmixer, etc. etc.) I have only listened through analog output of Audiophile 192 card for a few dozen hours (likely not even close to being burned in yet).  When I switched over to an outboard DAC I only AB’d and certainly did not ABX (quite difficult to do) nor did I even ABABAB.  Repeated ABABAB with otherwise exact system usually allows one to develop some (subjective) understanding of differences.  AB without going back to A tells less.  I’m only in it for the music though and could care less of analyzing every detail of variation between the equipment that is asked to perform magic.  When I sent the digital out of the sound card and the outboard DAC performed obviously significantly better that was enough for me to just sit back and listen.


Not good enough for HA.org, I'm afraid.


Quote
PSS.  Given Andy’s comment of “You will not get any noticeable improvement by using an external DAC.” It is obvious to me that Andy simply has little or no experience with listening to music through a higher capability DAC in a well matched top tier system (even several tiers down from the six figure $$$$$$ best differences are obvious).



And now, well into TOS violation. 

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #12 –
If you are just looking to drive those beautiful headphones, this may be a good option. It has gotten very good reviews.

http://www.terratec.net/en/products/Aureon...MK_II_2120.html

The only shame is the resolution limit:

# Audio resolution: 16 bit
# Sample rates o analogue: 32, 44,1 and 48 kHz o digital: 48 kHz


I love my Audiophile 24/96, but I am pretty certain the manual said it is not meant to drive headphones. I ran it into an amp first.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #13 –
Okay now i got a little confused

But I understand it has a DAC.
So what i need is an amp whatever that is?
If I got a receiver can I then just connect the soundcard to the receiver.Then plug the jackstick from my sennheisers in the receiver and listen to my music?

By the way thanks for all the answers

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #14 –
Quote from: Schlunzen on
So what i need is an amp whatever that is?
If I got a receiver can I then just connect the soundcard to the receiver.Then plug the jackstick from my sennheisers in the receiver and listen to my music?
Yes.
An amp = amplifier = integrated amplifier = receiver.

Most people will amplify the signal the between the Soundcard and the Headphones:

1) Audiophile 24/96 > Integrated Amplifier / Receiver > Headphones   
OR
2) Audiophile 24/96 > Pre-amp > Headphones

C.

EDIT: This routing pic shows both methods (the Mixer is acting as a pre-amp).
PC = TAK + LossyWAV  ::  Portable = Opus (130)

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #15 –
Quote from: carpman on
Quote from: Schlunzen on
So what i need is an amp whatever that is?
If I got a receiver can I then just connect the soundcard to the receiver.Then plug the jackstick from my sennheisers in the receiver and listen to my music?
Yes.
An amp = amplifier = integrated amplifier = receiver.

Most people will amplify the signal the between the Soundcard and the Headphones:

1) Audiophile 24/96 > Integrated Amplifier / Receiver > Headphones   
OR
2) Audiophile 24/96 > Pre-amp > Headphones

C.

EDIT: This routing pic shows both methods (the Mixer is acting as a pre-amp).

Okay sounds good
I have a receiver but it is a very old one. Or I think it is an amp actually. It is a Nikko TRM-750 stereo amplifier.
It is analog and i have a few problems with it since it is so old. So i think I need a new AMP/receiver. Does anyone know a good amp/receiver for the m-audio sound card and and my sennheisers? I mean around the same audio quality.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #16 –
Just get a headphone amp. Spend as much as you want - $20 to $20,000!

Google headphone amp

Cheers,
David.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #17 –
Quote from: 2Bdecided on
Just get a headphone amp. Spend as much as you want - $20 to $20,000!

Google headphone amp

Cheers,
David.


Thanks for the answer

But there must be a difference if I buy one to 20$ or 20000$
Do you have anything to recommend?
It would be nice if it is digital since the sound card is

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #18 –
I think you're quite confused about the meaning of the word "digital".

(Lots of packaging for things like headphones or SCART cables have the word "digital" on them - this is meaningless - pretend you never saw it).


The audio in your PC is digital. Your headphones are analogue (as is the sound entering your ears every day!).

The question is where the conversion from digital to analogue takes place....
1) On the sound card, and you use the analogue output of the card to feed an amp; or
2) Outside the sound card, meaning you use the digital output of the card to feed a DAC, which in turn feeds an amp

Take your pick. I agree with most other people here that the analogue output of the 2496 is good enough; people on other forums may insist that nothing less than an expensive DAC and amp are good enough. It's your choice.

I use a piece of stand-alone hi-fi equipment as a headphone amp - simply because I already have it.

I'm sure there are reviews of headphone amps - whether they are truthful or not is another matter. I'd buy the $20 first  Better still, buy well respected equipment which can be re-sold for nearly the same price as bought if it turns out you don't like it.

Cheers,
David.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #19 –
I built my own version of the Chu Moy headphone amplifier that I found, I believe, on the HeadWize site, using a +/- 12V mains powered supply instead of batteries. It is very good. I’m pretty sure the cost was not more than $20, but you would probably have to pay more for one built for commerce. There are many other’s available.

Since you now have a testimonial that the soundcard by itself will drive headphones adequately, in spite of not being designed for that, you have little to lose by trying an adapter such as the one you pointed out in opening this thread. Be aware, however, that the card’s jacks are soldered directly to the circuit board and not affixed otherwise. You want to take care that the adapter doesn’t become a lever to pry them loose. Some tie down point between you and the cable’s entry to the adapter, to prevent a mis-move from jerking the adapter, might be prudent.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #20 –
Look at the Emu 0404 USB (requires a USB 2.0 port on your computer). You apparently have no need for all it facilities, but the box is small. Soundcard and headphone amplifier are in one package. Or see the Emu 0202 USB to save a little money.

USB does not have any audio quality problems with a good soundcard (interface) although there are a few computer powered USB cards that don't filter out computer power supply noise well.

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #21 –
Thanks I think i will try to look after an amp.
But it is a little difficult. But i will sure find some

I've found this. I don't anything about the brand Argon Audio. But I will go and listen to it in the store.

http://www.argonaudio.com/sound/amplifier/...e_amplifier.htm

Does anyone know something about this amp?

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #22 –
Schlunzen, you may find some posts useful. A while back I was looking for an integrated amplifier and I have never experienced so much audiophile bullshit (HA excluded) in my life.

This recent post by DVDdoug might be useful:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=612884

This post on the what an amplifier should and shouldn't do:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=570169

And my conclusion having been misinformed by pretty much everyone outside HA:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=571247

Hope that helps.

This is the kind of stuff you're up against (Head-fi on the Argon HA1):

Quote
- Very vivid high mids and the sort of subtle details you are likely to hear there. Imagine someone shaking a sand shaker. That sound area is very clear with this amp, and it does sound kinda "sandy".
- Little beef and punch. Flat low mid. Details in the low mid disappear. Makes exciting, rhythmic music sound boring.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/argon-ha1-377031/

Good luck.

C.

[EDIT - corrected link]
PC = TAK + LossyWAV  ::  Portable = Opus (130)

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #23 –
Quote from: carpman on
Schlunzen, you may find some posts useful. A while back I was looking for an integrated amplifier and I have never experienced so much audiophile bullshit (HA excluded) in my life.

This recent post by DVDdoug might be useful:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=612884

This post on the what an amplifier should and shouldn't do:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=570169

And my conclusion having been misinformed by pretty much everyone outside HA:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=571247

Hope that helps.

This is the kind of stuff you're up against (Head-fi on the Argon HA1):

Quote
- Very vivid high mids and the sort of subtle details you are likely to hear there. Imagine someone shaking a sand shaker. That sound area is very clear with this amp, and it does sound kinda "sandy".
- Little beef and punch. Flat low mid. Details in the low mid disappear. Makes exciting, rhythmic music sound boring.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/argon-ha1-377031/

Good luck.

C.

[EDIT - corrected link]



Thanks for the reply and the links
I think I'm gonna stick with the argon since I can't really find other or better amps to buy here
I have thought about maybe just upgrading to HD650 instead.
But I don't really know if I would get better sound quality by doing that or upgrading to the m-audio card.
I will think about that and go to my local store and listen to the argon amp.
Or maybe I should buy a real amp from Cambridge Audio or something?

Maybe you have a clue what would be best to do?

Cheers

Schlunzen

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 question

Reply #24 –
Quote from: 2Bdecided on
Just get a headphone amp. Spend as much as you want - $20 to $20,000!

Google headphone amp


At the low end, there is the Boostaroo or its Radio Shack part-numberd equivalent. Actually a very accurate little amp if run below clipping. I know someone who used it for a mic preamp with pretty fair success, that is how clean it is. Mine is powered by a scrapped 5 volt DC wall wart for an obsolete cable modem.

As usual, there are any number of headphone amps in the Pro Audio market.  What they can lack in terms of high price they make up in terms of working well in a wide variety of circumstances. I have a Rane HC-6. One thing to watch out for - they generally are capable of providing a very strong clean output, one so high that it can be damaging to ears and headphones if abused.