Is there a way to get REAL 24/96 out of a Laptop?

[barefoot]

I need to get high quality 24bit/96kHz stereo out of my laptop. It’s hard to imagine that a self powered USB interface running off 5 volts can do this.

Anyone have a suggestion that won’t break the bank?

barefoot

 

[maddrummer]

I've heard good and bad stuff about the USB cards, My buddy had an M-Audio Quatro for a little bit and it seemed to work fine. I think that ECHO has some laptop cards that arent USB. Don't know what your budget it though. Good luck

 

[barefoot]

Thanks maddrummer,

I checked out the Quattro and a couple of other USB interfaces (Mini Me $$$, ouch ). Turns out they need a wall-wart power supply, which makes me feel better about their potential performance. I thought if they’re just running off the USB, then the analog performance is going to completely suck.

Now the question is, do they really perform well? The Quattro claims 104 dB “Dynamic Range” on the outputs. Is that true signal to noise ratio?

The problem is, it’s almost impossible to evaluate this kind of performance in a retail store. The setup usually sucks, and there are just too many variables. But, it may turn out to be my only choice.

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Btw, in case anyone is interested, I came across this very cool solution for high quality audio I/O for a laptop.

Magma http://www.magma.com/pci/index_main.html sells CardBus to external PCI expansion interfaces. So, you can connect your Delta 1010, Layla 24 or other nice PCI sound card to your laptop. Almost $1000 for just 1 expansion slot though - out of my budget.
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barefoot

 

[c9-2001]

i don't know of any that are cheap.. but a frined of mine uses a Rme with a PCMCIA card..works prefect..the layla and mona work too.. but these choices aren't cheap

 

[barefoot]

Cool, I didn’t know Echo made Cardbus versions. Still, might be out of my budget right now.

Thanks c9!

barefoot