Perfect card for the 2-channel audiophile

I purchased my M-Audio Audiophile from Newegg recently, as I was looking for a good 2-channel stereo card for vinyl to digital transfers (with an unusually good signal to noise ratio) and for high quality analog playback. My plan was to use it along with my Soundblaster PCI128 (retaining the consumer features of my older card while adding some high-end features).

Installing the card on Win98SE was a breeze, although I had an IRQ conflict with the Soundblaster at first (not uncommon, and wouldn't have happened with just one card installed). Eventually I resolved the IRQ conflict after tweaking some motherboard settings, and all was well.

The Audiophile 24/96 comes with a bare minimum of useful third-party software, although this shouldn't matter -- most people who buy this card will be using stuff like Cakewalk, Cool Edit, Sonic Foundry and other full blown audio applications. The drivers have been rock stable for me on Win98SE, and although I don't know for sure I'd assume the NT/2K/XP drivers are excellent as well.

The card has a lot of great features for the amateur/semi-pro musician and 2-channel audiophile. All jacks are gold plated RCA-type for easy connection to semi-pro and consumer equipment. The card features a single pair of analog-in jacks, a pair of analog-out jacks, and a "breakout cable" that includes S/PDIF in/outs and MIDI in/out connectors (there's no MIDI thru).

This card has been repeatedly recommended on Internet forums where people are interested in good sound quality (rather than gaming features), and it doesn't disappoint. It's a noticeable improvement over my Soundblaster PCI128 (ES1371) in terms of signal to noise ratio and overall sound quality. The card is capable of recording and playback at up to 24bit/96KHz (the same high bitrate and bit-depth of SACD's) and does so extremely well on a fast PC. Using an appropriate adapter, its analog output jacks will drive high efficiency headphones without the need for an external amplifier, although a quality headphone amplifier should improve overall sound.

I'd recommend this card to those interested in high-bitrate 2-channel analog and digital recording, MIDI stuff with keyboards etc. and high quality 2-channel analog and digital playback. If you're into gaming even moderately or have a need for surround sound features, please look elsewhere. The feature set is rather barebones and the card is lacking in some "consumer" features like a microphone input, internal MIDI synthesizer and internal connectors for CD-ROM drives. Also, the control panel app used to adjust the sound card's mixer is a bit of a pain to use, and there's a moderate learning curve involved -- the usual Windows volume control is non-functional with this card, as are the volume controls with certain programs like Windows Media Player and WinAMP.

The Audiophile 24/96 has been around longer than many semi-pro or high-end consumer soundcards currently on the market, and in my opinion deserves to be called a classic. At just under $150, this card provides semi-professional audio enthusiasts and aspiring musicians with an outstanding alternative to the usual Creative Labs stuff, at a price most people can swallow. If you need its particular feature set, you will not be disappointed.