USB--Firewire--Ethernet--WiFi ?
About two years ago I bought a Stereo-Link 1200 USB sound card, which I've used since then on my desktop. I remain totally satisfied.
No problem except they don't make them anymore.
My requirement is real simple. I want the best stereo signal I can get from the MP3, OGG, APE and WAV files on my new laptop's HDD. I want the best onboard DAC I can get and I want to output the analog to a little tube amp.
The beautiful part of the Stereo-Link was that it was designed to do exactly what I wanted it to do--get the best analog output possible from the digital source on the computer. Nothing more--nothing less. It was a breeze to install--totally transparent to MC--plays anything/everything that MC plays.
There mustn't be much of a market for this sort of thing. Every device I've looked at seems to do all sorts of other things (like record/mix MIDI music--whatever the hell that is) etc.
I am not planning to learn the piano any time soon nor do I want to record anything. I just want to play my friggn' music.
I had settled on an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile. However the new laptop came with XP Pro SP2 installed. There seems to be a fatal conflict between SP2 and the M-Audio driver. So that is going back.
Now I've stumbled across these newfangled Ethernet media hubs. More confusion.
Can anybody out there stear me to a great +/- $300 solution to get the digital sounds to my analog amp--preferably something that doesn't have any driver "issues?"
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Topic: External Sound Card Redux (Read 837 times)