Second System and Sound Card Advice Sought

Hi Guys,

Haven't been in this neck of the woods for a while. Been on holiday and otherwise turning my life upside down. I've posted this over at Pink Fish as well, but I know some of the guys here are up on the computer audio side of things and I need some advice on sound cards, so I hope you can help.

I'm now working from home I've finally got my office system set up and that's been distracting me. Also means I can listen to music and "work" (ie. prat about on forums) at the same time.

On the vinyl front we've got my old Michell Focus One/RB250 combo currently with a NAS Tracer 1 (probably get a DL-110 for it though).

On the CD front my Dad's old Marantz CD-63

On the Amp front we have a Marantz PM-66SE KI Sig (was also my Dad's)

and for speakers a pair of Tannoy DC200s (biggish 80s stand mounters with 10" Tannoy DC drivers)

plus er ... my old PC with the cheapest, naffest soundcard ever (connected to the net via broadband and a 54G wifi adapter).

It all sounds rather good actually - even the PC is listenable but I know I need a much better soundcard (I know, those new speakers'll never happen at this rate, but hey, the soundcard I can justify as a business expense ).

So - I know not a lot about soundcard but from I think what I want is something which:

a) makes the stuff coming out of the PC into the amp sound as good as possible

b) either has a good enough internal DAC that I needn't concern myself with an external one or has a digi out to plug into the old DACMagic 2 I've also got lying about.

c) has RCA ins so I can copy vinyl down to the PC to stick in my iTunes library and an ADC which is up to the job

d) is preferably USB or Firewire rather than internal cos then the card can sit with the stereo and I only need one single long USB/Firewire lead from PC to stereo.

2 channels is all I need. Is this a tall order? Does such a beast exist? I'm not looking for top end audiophile here, just something that isn't the cheapest toot.
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Turntable: NAS Spacedeck/Spacearm/Denon DL-160; Amp: Densen Beat B-100; CDP: Rotel RCD991; Speakers: Kef Q55.2

 

Check out the Edirol UA-1X, it should be about £55. It's output should match any sub £250 CD player I expect. Try www.studiospares.com

If you can afford more, try the FA-66. It seems to have the same 192KHz converters as the FA-101. I have an FA-101 which I have to say sounds really good. Very smooth and detailed. The DA-2496 I had before was good but didn't quite have that audiophile sparkle. The FA-101 seems to have that. The UA-1X will be on par with the DA-2496 I expect.

 

Hi Tenson,

The FA-66 looks properly built, but its a bit outside my price range ... and maybe I'm being dumb but looking at it on the Edirol site, it seems to have RCA analogue ins, but no outs - what are those weird looking inputs on the back? Is that some pro audio thing? Can I plug the tape outs from my amp into those? - presumably some special cable required. Same question about the even stranger looking inputs on the front

Apologies if I'm being a bit thick but this really is quite new to me.

 

Uncle Ants there are not that many sound cards that will allow you to plug in a turntable directly. Contact Digital Village at www.dv247.com and they will be able to help.

 

I was going to use the tape outs of the amp, so so long as the card can take line level, should be okay. Or am I missing something?

 

So you will plug your T/T into your amp that has a phono input and then take the RCA tape out of your amp to feed your PC? If this is correct then you should get the Edirol unit that was recommended. Soundcards nearly always have features that you do not need such as multiple inputs, microphone inputs etc etc. Edirol are part of Roland who have been around since the early 70s and produce some good reliable gear. At £70 you cannot go wrong. www.dv247.com and www.turnkey.co.uk do the cheapest stuff in the uk and bioth price match as long as it is on stock.

No that I have sold my Pink Triangle I am thinking of getting my Focus S (had it from new) upgraded. You previously put me in the direction of how to fit a Rega arm (Michel say that it cant be done) and would be grateful to see how you did yours. Cheers

 

Sure, no problem. Basically the problem is one of the rega being to high for the rather low platter of the Focus. Resulting in a rather too arse up VTA by about 3 or 4mm. You can't lower the arm any more, so you have to raise the platter with spacers.

Gotta go to Sainsbury's now, but I'll post some pics later. Might help. You will have to get someone to machine you a mounting plate for the rega, but shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Ants, The UA-1X should so all you need but if you like the FA-66 for being better build and having higher sample rate compatibility then I'd say go for it as it's probably the best sounding external on the market at the moment for the price.

Inputs 1&2 on the front are XLR/TRS so you can plug either a XLR or a large size jack into them. RCA to jack wires are all over the place. Inputs 3&4 are on the back and are RCA so you could plug directly into those. You should be able to select which inputs to use in the recording software. The outputs are large jacks on the back so again jack to RCA wires are easy to get hold of.

Where abouts are you? You are welcome to have a listen to my FA-101 if you are near by.

 

Cheers for the info Tenson. Unfortunately I'm in Nottingham (no palm trees anymore). Now I know what the funny looking doohickies are, I think I may actually go for the UA25 - looks to have the same build quality as the FA66, a high enough sample rate for my purposes (24/96) ... and its in budget Seems like a sensible compromise.

Dominic, I'll PM you in a mo the details and some pics of the Focus One/Rega mod - no point boring people with it here.

 

Besides the digital, it looks like the UA-25 only has one set of inputs and outputs but if you are happy with that then go for it dude! You may want more inputs and outputs later on, though I'm not sure why.