24 Bit Sound Cards

I seem to have gone to way of computer audio for may reasons, not least of which is my HiFi's integration onto my desk, hence now being able to have my entire CD collection on my PC while listening to it through my speakers which are at the side of my monitor – it suits me in every respect and sounds very tidy.

I'm currently only using the on board sound, which despite sounding like a bad idea is actually quite pleasing on the ear. As such I think there is potential for improvement with a nice 24 bit soundcard. I'm not looking to spend a huge amount <£50 really, I have no use for any outputs other than a 3.5mm stereo jack (I use a nice Ixos 3.5mm to phono lead which I'm happy with) but if the best card comes with Dolby 7.1 etc then whatever, but as I said I will only be using the stereo output.

I'm basically looking for sound card recommendations – if you would be so kind.

Cheers,
Rick


PS – I did end up with the Senn' MX400s for my iPod and they sound great – and they seem to stay in my ears

 

M-Audio Audiophile 2496
http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=ST00138
£55

 

Yeah I'd go for that too. Else the creatives but they put loads of junk on your machine. Their new cards are much better tho, I bought one for my notebook and the convertors do sound noticeably better (in both directions) compared to the SBlive thats in my desktop for soundfonts.

 

Looks pretty good if a little over budget Does it have a 3.5 jack socket though, cant see one? If it doesn't have one it would mean budgeting for another interconnect.

 

No don't think it does, the creatives do but I'd reckon the maudio is a better card.

 

If you can stretch to £70 (or maybe less) you can get the amazing EMU 0404

 

Yeah I've had a look at the 0404 Paul, looks seriously tidy but again I can't see a practical way of hooking it up to a HiFi, all seems to be a bit "studio" - mono 1.4" jacks/MIDI outputs and no phono etc, how have you got yours hooked up?

 

I just got some cables from a Pro Audio shop, cost me 3 quid. However, if you dont mind spending a bit more you can get this:-

http://www.cp3paintball.com/fidaudio/emu.html





Even with my crappy cable, its still way better than the old school cards like the Terratec EWX and M-Audio Audiophile.

 

Lovely cable, cheers for the link Paul. So all in it would come to around £90 – ouch But on the other hand considering the quality of sound output from it not to bad at all really....mmmm

 

Well put it like this, it'll easily give £500-£1k CD players a run for their money... so when you consider that, its good value for money.