Preamps! Exlpain to me! :)

Beerce

Ok thanks all.

I think I've gotten enough information to decide that I will go with a PC sound card (Asus Xonar Essence ST) and use its stereo out to my preamp/amp and just get a preamp with phono input for my turntable. I'll see how that setup sounds and go from there.

I think I will be satisfied, especially because I have no other setups to compare to; this is my first one. If I ever hear a setup that uses an external DAC and it blows me away, maybe then I'll choose to upgrade.

sucks2beme

Beerce wrote: »

I realize the depth of the question, and I also know there are many different opinions regarding whether or not it makes a REAL LIFE noticeable difference between direct-sound/kmixer versus ASIO/kmapper, or whether it's just audiophiles being audiophiles.

Again, let's assume my source is not the limiting factor and then look at the original question of what you get when spending more on a preamp.

As an alternative to all of this, I could NOT buy a preamp at all, and just get a phono preamp and take that right into the input of my sound card. From here I would select the input through Windows or whichever program I'm using to play music. This would eliminate the need for a regular preamp altogether, the only pain in the arse is adjusting volume through software rather than having the convenience of a remote.

Since I'm on a budget, I will likely just pick up a lower-end preamp that already has built-in phono. I can always upgrade down the road IF I ever make enough money to afford that luxury

Sound card. Been there, done that. I had a pro level one used for
recording. Ok, but rolled off at the high and low end. In XP you'd better
bypass the kmixer. There is a difference. When did "audiophile"
become a bad term? The DAC chip is only part of the sound.
The power supply and analog section of the output has more effect than the
chipset. I'd rather have a older DAC chipset with a good analog output
than the latest chipset and a pie of poo following it.
There's a lot of older basic preamps that sound fine. See the B&K in the
flea market.

leftwinger57

Not being computer literate in both function and sound card wise ,it seems that it all depends on the amp your running. My Adcom gfa55 has no controls at all and just a heavy duty rocker to turn on. I get my fine tuneing from a pre-amp which could be active and powered or passive and not. So going w/o the computer you need a pre and then there's the question of tubes vs. ss. new vs vintage and so on. If this sound card does have the ability to tie into your system and then color the sound the way you want it then go for it ,but there I have no idea if that does work or not.

Beerce

sucks2beme wrote: »

When did "audiophile"
become a bad term?

Nah I didn't mean it was a bad term - it's not. After all, I'm an aspiring audiophile.
I Just meant that sometimes (in any field, not just audio), people will point out performance gains on paper that may not translate into real-world appreciable gains. Take dry ice and LN cpu overclocking for example, or synthetic benchmarks. That's all I meant. In this case you guys answered to say that there are noticeable real-world gains.

Anyways considering my budget and my speakers, I think I'll be fine with the sound card setup. If my budget was higher and my speakers and other components better, it might be worthwhile to make the jump to a pro setup.

Beerce

What are the people's thoughts on an Acurus ACT-3 preamp, which has a built-in DAC. I would then use the optical out from my sound card to the toslink input on the ACT-3.

I mention that preamp specifically because I have a potential deal on a used one lined up. Maybe it's DAC will be better than the sounds card's? Somewhere in between the sound card and a standalone DAC in terms of quality maybe?

Any other general opinions on that preamp? Any known issues with it?

Thanks

heiney9

Better by far

H9

amulford

Much better than your idea in Post #32.

Heiney is telling you some good stuff. IF you are looking to get a good sound, you won't quite do it by using an internal SC. Too much going against you to achieve it.

Whereas if you just use the hard drive as a storage medium and go outside with the conversion, you stand a better chance of accomplishing it.

As far as your question concerning the difference between a $100 and a $1000 preamp, it basically boils down to quality. Will a $100 jobber do the job? Sure it will. But the $1000 preamp will offer you an almost dead silent noise floor, much greater channel seperation, way less signal coloration, better power supply noise insulation, higher quality parts, etc. ...

YMMV, but I'm with Heiney on this one...

Beerce

What do you guys think is a reasonable price for the Acurus A200 and the Acurus ACT-3 (individually, please).

I don't have BlueBook access, but from what I've seen maybe:

$330 for A200
$230 for ACT-3

??

If there are no major complaints against either of these components, I think I'll rock that combo.
I have read about some awful noise on the ACT-3, but I've read mixed reviews so it's hard to tell.

Thanks

rchiwawa

What qualifies as a high end sound card? I almost kept an Auzentech X-fi but at the end of the day despite its paper specs it lost too much detail for me to justify it supplanting my now ten year old M-Audio 24/96. Which is a fine card but not even close to as pure as a solid source through a middling solid state preamp.

Just my 2 cents.