Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2011 17:05:34 GMT
Hi guys, Sorry if this is another idiot question but I only know about 10% of what I should know about this subject, but I am learning, when I started I only knew 5% ;D  . I have Vaio 'living room' desk top MM PC. It came supplied with SigmaTel High Definition Audio Codec and I have since added a M-Audio 24/96 sound card. Both are working fine and show up in the 'Configure' options in foobar2000. As the name suggests, the M-Audio card will handle FLAC files up to 24bit/96KHz resolution but nowhere can I find to what the 'High Definition' referes to, resolution wise, in the SigmaTel facility. Can anyone throw any light on this for me please? One reason I ask is, do I have any benefit from having both available or could I remove the M-Audio card without reducing the resolution of files that my system will handle Sorry if this is taking my numptieness to a new level - if so I'll rejig my knowledge level down to 7%  . Cheers, Dave. |
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XTRProf
Fully Modded
Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
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Post by XTRProf on Oct 2, 2011 18:14:29 GMT
The SigmaTel and M-Audio 24/96 card is just a dac card that can decode up to 96/24. So if you input to it at 44/16 it will decode at that resolution unless it has an upsampler chip in it as well and in which case it will upsample to 96/24 if that's what the upsampler chip is programmed to. The Foobar, on the other hand, just output the native resolution the music files are in for PCM unless you have an upsampler plugin. For SACD files, the output will be converted to PCM and there is a SACD setup option to resample from 44 up to 352 khz for iso files. DFF files seemed to be locked in at only 88khz and cannot be changed. Hope this helps. Btw, the WMP 12 can upsample from 44 up to 192khz 24 bits for PCM. But your sound card at 96/24 will have a problem decoding anything above 96/24 and will give an error message. Javier, am I correct as you are the expert and not me.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2011 20:57:01 GMT
Dave, s*d the Sigma Tel, the M-Audio is way better. Even if the Sigma Tel was spec'ed for 24/192 its performance in SNR, THD, IMD etc.. is way lower, it is just a software CODEC. If it bothers you to have it showing up there is always the possibility of disabling it in the BIOS setup.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2011 22:09:25 GMT
Many thanks Javier, that's just the sort of authorative opinion I wanted, either for or against. I'll concern myself with SigmaTel no longer  . Thanks again, Dave. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2011 22:24:27 GMT
Still... you can do better than the M-Audio without breaking the bank. If you'll be using the line out, an Asus D2 (PCI) or D2X (PCIe) will be a nice step up. Some more cash will get you the ST (PCI) or STX (PCIe) which are fantastic sound cards. All of them are ASIO compliant and have nice Unixonar modded drivers.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2011 22:43:49 GMT
Thanks again Javier but ....
a couple of potential problems: -
1) the price - over £135 is as cheap as I can find (my M-Audio cost £30 second hand), and,
2) all the offers I've seen stop at Win Vista as compatible OS and I'm running Win7 Home Premium.
Do you know that it runs on Win7 OK?
TIA and cheers,
Dave.
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joethearachnid
Been here a while! 
Old head on young shoulders.
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Post by joethearachnid on Oct 2, 2011 23:11:02 GMT
On Sigmatel 'HD': People like putting 'HD' on any and everything these days, even when it doesn't really mean anything. Even current 'HD' video (1920x1080) will be outclassed a couple of years down the line as televisions get steadily bigger and resolutions increase again. Even in video, HD can mean 720p, 1080i or 1080p, each of which are different resolutions and will provide different quality.
Essentially, don't assume anything just because a product has 'HD' on it. It means essentially nothing.
On compatability: Vista was such a nightmare for compatability that working with Win7 is comparatively easy. Anything spec'd to work with Vista should work fine with W7, especially with something as elementary as soundcards. You may have to download specific drivers if you happen to be running in 64-bit, though.
Hope that doesn't add too much confusion
-JoetheArachnid
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2011 7:51:59 GMT
The D2 sales over for 125€ + 8€ shipping which should be a little under £115. If that is too steep you can aim for the DX (+/-70€). All Asus Xonar cards are available at much lower prices in ebay.co.uk both new and used.
W7 is much better than Vista and there are drivers available for it for all current devices, older sound cards might not have them but most times using the Vista (or even XP) ones won't be a problem.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2011 11:07:27 GMT
Hi Javier,
The SigmaTel is now history - many thanks for your advice.
However, having 'slept on' the thought of replacing my M-Audio 24/96 card with a £100 ish Asus 24/192 card, I don't think my aged ears or mid-fi set up will enable me to hear £100 worth of difference so I'm going to stay with the M-Audio card for the foreseeable future
Thanks again,
Dave.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2011 11:44:16 GMT
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