Subject: Re: USB Audio From: "Freed, Dan" <DFreed@xxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 11:09:37 -0800 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>I have experience with the Edirol UA-1X, now discontinued, and a little experience with its replacement product, the UA-1EX. I found a few problems with the UA-1X. Most notable was that when simultaneously playing and recording, the playback signal strongly leaks into the recording path. Other problems include a moderate amount of left/right channel crosstalk and a higher noise floor than I would like during playback. Also, the line output has limited power and is only capable of driving high-impedance loads. Despite these problems, the UA-1X was acceptable for my application, but it might not be for yours. Note that I didn't test the UA-1EX as extensively, so it might perform better. I also tested the "USB SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit External". I measured a high noise floor, significantly non-flat response, and bad distortion at high frequencies on the line output. I quickly abandoned it. Dan Freed Senior Engineer, Hearing Aid Research Lab House Ear Institute 2100 W. Third St. Los Angeles, CA 90057 USA Phone: +1-213-353-7084 Fax: +1-213-413-0950 Email: dfreed@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: AUDITORY - Research in Auditory Perception [mailto:AUDITORY@xxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Pawel Kusmierek Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2007 7:41 AM To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: USB Audio Dear Ward, M-Audio and Edirol make some USB audio interfaces, some starting at $70. I am not sure about RCA connectors, but if other connectors are used, it's only a matter of an adapter. I also have had no direct experience with these USB cards, but both companies are pretty respectable. I am using M-Audio's PCI cards and I am very happy with them, except the dB ccale in their mixer application is wrong (they used 10 instead of 20 in the dB formula, or something like that). If the reason why you want USB is that you're going to use a laptop, a PCMCIA card may be a solution. Of these, Echo Indigo IO has a very good reputation. Good luck Pawel Ward R. Drennan wrote: > Dear List, > > I'm looking for an Audio USB device with 1/4" headphone jack and stereo > RCA connections to produce high fidelity sound from a PC, and for less > than $200. My office-mate (Dasika) found one with really high quality > sound; the noise floor was actually lower than TDT. It's the TASCAM > US-122. However, many owners of this device have reported it unreliable > with flaky software and a suspect power supply. > > Does anyone have a suggestion for a USB audio device that is a little more > reliable? Cause we can't have equipment that doesn't work when we need it. > > Ward R. Drennan, Ph. D. > VM Bloedel Hearing Research Center > Department of Otolaryngology > University of Washington Box 357923 > Seattle, WA 98195 > Office: (206) 897-1848 > Fax: (206) 616-1828 > -- Pawel Kusmierek PhD Department of Physiology and Biophysics Georgetown University Medical Center The Research Building WP23 3970 Reservoir Road NW Washington, DC 20007 phone: +1 202 687-8851