2 soundcards

[Sir Barton]

Currently, I have an X-Fi Xtreme Music. I love the card as far as games and music go, but one thing I dislike is the noise I get from the coaxial out on it. Ive been eyeballing a Chaintech AV-710 specifically for music, and with foobar, it lets you select which card you would use for output. From what I hear, the AV-710 barely generates any noise through its optical out, and this greatly appeals to me. Another thing I like about the AV-710 is the ability to flash it with an Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 BIOS giving it native ASIO support. The main question is...how good does an Envy24HT chip compare to the X-Fi as far as music goes? The X-Fi would be solely used for games, but I have a picky ear when it comes to music. Would it be worth it for me to spend the $25 on an AV-710?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

wait, you get sound on youe coax out? I dont...

Do you think it could just be some intereference? Try moving the card to a different slot?

 

[Sir Barton]

Ive tried it in different slots to no avail. The sound isnt very bad, mainly just notice it when nothing is playing and the volume is up a tad bit.

 

[MoreGooder]

Is the sound you hear from the coax a low pitch hum? It could be 60HZ noise from a ground loop somewhere. The reason that you won't hear that noise if you go with an optical solution is that the ground noise isn't converted by the laser diode and sent down the fiber, whereas with a coax the ground noise is sent along with the signal. Of course, this largely depends on where the ground loop is relative to the laser diode. If it's actually in your speakers, no change in signal type will matter.

Have you considered an Auzentech X-Plosion or Meridian yet? Their latest and greatest has some very impressive specs, and the digital output are unique in that, with an adaptor, you have a choice between digital coax or Toslink (optical). Personally, I prefer coax if there's no ground noise.

Another cause for grounding noise is improperly shielded coax cable. Is it a good quanlity? Has it been mistreated in it's past? If the shielding has been cracked this might cause noise to leak into the cable. Are your speakers near any power transformers? Have you tried disconnecting in power bricks to see if the noise disappears? Do some investigating and you might be able to eliminate that noise without spending any cash.

Hope I helped. Happy holidays.

 

[Sir Barton]

Well...Ive figured out the problem with my soundcard. Turns out it wasnt even the soundcard, but it was having my Xbox plugged into my receiver. I unplugged the Xbox and all is fine. Now time to figure out why Im getting the hissing with the Xbox plugged in. Boy it just never stops lol.

 

[Awake77]

Try getting something like the Hum-X, its works well to kill that 60 cycle hum:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HumX/

I believe many UPS power supplies have power conditioners that will do this as well...