|
internal vs external soundcard
|
View this Thread in Original format
| rubez |
are external USB soundcards better quality because they are outside the case where all the electrical 'noise' is? away from the PSU and fans etc.
what do you use? |
|
|
| tehlord |
No.
Generally speaking an internal card will have superior latency because of the PCI/e bandwidth but in reality for ITB users it'll have very little impact on performance.
Right now I'm using a UR22 having just sold a Saffire Liquid 56, but soon I'll be buying another MR816x. |
|
|
| Storyteller |
Just get a great device that is suits your preference. Audio fidelity in the box versus out the box is a non-issue for pretty much any setup here used by people on TA anyway :), especially when comparing the same card in ITB/OTB versions.
These days external ones are more common. Easier too as you can plug em in anywhere. I have the Echo AudioFire12 (12in/out firewire card). |
|
|
| JPaulizle |
| Uh yeah no cables, means lower signal path better quality mkayy?:rolleyes::toothless |
|
|
| djnitride |
| quote: | Originally posted by JPaulizle
Uh yeah no cables, means lower signal path better quality mkayy?:rolleyes::toothless |
Paulino made a funny.
If you want the lowest latency you wan't PCI/PCIe. Its not a huge difference though.
As for electrical noise external is no better than internal unless it is on a separate ground. |
|
|
| JPaulizle |
| Damn, :toothless |
|
|
| djnitride |
| quote: | Originally posted by Robotrance
everything in this quote is bull.
you want an external soundcard because
A) they have better DACs!!!!!
B) they have better drivers!
C) they have better PSU and balanced outputs means less noise and hiss.
yes PCI is faster/better than USB as interface but that comes second, sound quality comes first. latency secondly. also the asio drivers for external cards usually gives you better latencty anyway. |
Fact 1: Both USB and PCI/e sound cards can have the same DACs.
Fact 2: External interfaces almost always have higher latency because USB has higher transport latency.
Fact 3: You made 3 big generalizations which are not true in many cases. Not all sound cards are ty sound blasters. Many have proper extremely low latency ASIO drivers and have great DACs as well. |
|
|
| djnitride |
I will have to measure my ASIO latency when I can free it up for a second.
My card:
http://www.htomega.com/claro2.html
As far as I know those components are not "consumer grade" Realtek/TI stuff. |
|
|
| JPaulizle |
| quote: | Originally posted by djnitride
I will have to measure my ASIO latency when I can free it up for a second.
My card:
http://www.htomega.com/claro2.html
As far as I know those components are not "consumer grade" Realtek/TI stuff. |
Oh crap, that looks crazy, me likey. |
|
|
| djnitride |
Keep in mind that the OP asked about internal vs external, likely meaning he is looking for lower-medium budget type stuff since he included internal. I am guessing he is not looking for something to use with an external amplifier because of that.
Yes, the best of the best and most expensive is external no doubt. But there are decent mid range internal options out there as well. |
|
|
| DJ RANN |
For s sake guys, get it right.
First, the OP's assumption stems from problems associated with soundcards from the 90's, where things like EMI and RFI were issues in PC cases and because Audio Electronics in terms of DAC's were somewhat in their infancy and they hadn't learnt to properly engineer against these factors.
I remember even with things like midiman (m-audio to you noobs) and Turtlebeach cards were even affected by placement of PCI slots or how close they were to PSU's or video cards etc.
These days it's simply not a concern with internal cards.
Secondly the argument of external being slower is a mute point (excuse the pun); Bandwidth of USB 3 or TB (even FW800) is so fast that there's not a real work advantage to PCI based cards. The only thing that does count against external cards is the round trip transport time but this is often compensated for by drivers, and there's many USB or TB interfaces that achieve latencies comparable to internal cards.
To be honest, unless your a concert grade pianist where sub 5ms latency actually matters, anything lower than 10ms is enough and my Echo Audiofire4 was able to achieve this back in 2005 while being rock solid.
It really comes down to the drivers and these days, all the drivers, even on entry level kit is solid and super low latency.
Unless you need 40+ physical inputs at sub 5ms latency then any prosumer external interface will do. Otherwise buy an Ensemble and be done with it.
That Claro soundcard is really a smi pro hifi card. It will be fine for in the box and actually uses that same chips (at least for the primary I/O as some of the Echo interfaces did a few years ago. The rest of the outputs use chips that you would find in M-audio products and they're still fine. It's not bad value especailly for a 24/192 card but personally I like balanced outs. |
|
|
|
|
