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Author Topic: Still looking for a sound card, must work with Windows 7 and be AES/EBU friendly  (Read 6670 times)

Thomas W. Bethel

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We are slowly upgrading our whole facility to Windows 7 and none of our three sound cards will work with Windows 7 and no driver updates are available for them. We have two RME Digi96/Pad8 cards and one Lynx One card. Any suggestions would be most welcome. All our studios are AES/EBU interfaces and I so I want a card that supports this format. I am not interested in going with more than a stereo card.

I looked at these but I know nothing about them.http://www.digigram.com/products/product_infos.php?prod_key=13950

Again any suggestions or recommendations would be most welcome. We are all on PCs for mastering.
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Thomas W. Bethel
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Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.

Celebrating 29 years in business in 2024

When only the best will do...

adamdowling

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Hi Thomas,

I have been using the RME 9632 for over a year now on PC with Windows 7. Rock solid drivers. No issues whatsoever. It would seem an excellent option for you if you are already familiar and happy with RME. I am only using optical and RCA SPIDIF BUT, there is an optional breakout cable for AES/EBU - model # BO9632CMKH

See card here: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdsp_9632.php

Breakout cable here: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_cables.php

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

Cheers! ...

Adam
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Jim Williams

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I also have the 9632 RME card, works fine but very expensive. It's also multi-channel so you may not need that for basic stereo work.

I bought a off-brand $19 soundcard for my Core 7 PC on WIN 7. It has S/PDIF I/O so it's all I need for stereo work. No need to pay more.
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adamdowling

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I also have the 9632 RME card, works fine but very expensive. It's also multi-channel so you may not need that for basic stereo work.

I bought a off-brand $19 soundcard for my Core 7 PC on WIN 7. It has S/PDIF I/O so it's all I need for stereo work. No need to pay more.

As Jim points out, the RME 9632, or most any AES/EBU capable card of any reputation, will be multi-channel and also on the bright side of $1000 when all is said and done. There are certainly other excellent cards which can deliver unbalanced coaxial SPIDIF at 75 ohms. 

The M-Audio Audiophile 192 is one such card (PCI, maybe not PCI Express). It is inexpensive, yet has an excellent history and solid drivers, including 64 bit Win 7.  I own and have used this card as well and it's digital I/O is beyond reproach (actually, the D/A conversion is better than one might expect too, considering the price). 

But Thomas wants to keep his AES/EBU connectivity.

In order to get 110 ohm AES/EBU functionality from there, you would need to use an impedance converter which can range from a simple passive unit like the Neutrik NADITBNC-FX (~$40) to the transformer isolated FP-DFC2 from RDL (~$500 plus power supply).   Never having used a converter this way, I can't speak to the quality or logistics of this approach.

Again, best, of luck!  ;)

Cheers! ...

Adam
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Jim Williams

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In theory, it's easy to convert S/PDIF RCA coax outputs to AES. This is how you do it:

Expose the card and examine the RCA jack. There will be a 91 ohm load resistor from the hot to ground. Most likely it will be a small surface mount resistor. If you are able, de-solder that resistor  and replace it with a 110 ohm resistor. That converts the output impedance to AES/EBU specs.

Next, wire up a custom cable for it. Use an XLR on one end and wire an RCA jack on the other. Do not connect the pin 1 wire to the RCA jack. Connect pin 3 to the case and pin 2 to the hot. That floats the I/O so it will act like a balanced 110 ohm feed.
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adamdowling

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In theory, it's easy to convert S/PDIF RCA coax outputs to AES. This is how you do it:

Expose the card and examine the RCA jack. There will be a 91 ohm load resistor from the hot to ground. Most likely it will be a small surface mount resistor. If you are able, de-solder that resistor  and replace it with a 110 ohm resistor. That coverts the output impedance to AES/EBU specs.

Next, wire up a custom cable for it. Use an XLR on one end and wire an RCA jack on the other. Do not connect the pin 1 wire to the RCA jack. Connect pin 3 to the case and pin 2 to the hot. That floats the I/O so it will act like a balanced 110 ohm feed.

Great info, Jim. Thank you!  I have an M-Audio 24/96 that I may sacrifice to try this.  :D
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Thomas W. Bethel

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I decided to get one of these http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/vSeries/v-link192/ for the time being, It works GREAT and is transparent as far as I can tell. It will not record but I really don't need that for most of my mastering. Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas.
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Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.

Celebrating 29 years in business in 2024

When only the best will do...

Thomas W. Bethel

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I finally decided to get the RME 9632. I ordered it from Sweetwater, got it the next day and installed it. A little fiddling and it is working GREAT. I had to order the AES/EBU Break out cable bit for the time being I am using the one from my old card. Cost for both the card and the breakout cable was just under $600.

I found this article to be very helpful in deciding to get this card. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov03/articles/rmehdsp9632.htm and I talked to the American Distributor to make sure this card is not going away anytime soon. Here is the website for them  http://www.synthax.com/

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions.

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Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.

Celebrating 29 years in business in 2024

When only the best will do...

Joe_caithness

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Always RME! which it seems you discovered by the time I clicked on the thread  :o
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Jim Williams

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What happened to the v-link 192?
My cheapo $19 card records just fine via S/PDIF.

Glad I saved several hundred dollars on that decision.
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Thomas W. Bethel

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What happened to the v-link 192?
My cheapo $19 card records just fine via S/PDIF.

Glad I saved several hundred dollars on that decision.

The V-Link cannot record and we just got in a ton of remastering work. I moved the V-Link 192 to another computer. It sounds GREAT!!! Too bad they stopped making it.
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Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.

Celebrating 29 years in business in 2024

When only the best will do...
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