'Sounding' off for a world that leaves many behind.

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Allan74

Member
May 15, 2019
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First, the long winded commentary....
While I understand that this question may have been better suited to a 'specialty' forum rather than here....considering it's subject matter, I can honestly say that this forum is full of a bunch of intelligent posters rather than fanbois and my previous amateur questions have been well replied to without leaving me feeling like I was just given a 'dressing down' for not knowing better to ask the obvious in the first place....So here I will come first....LOL

Now, while I understand that this sort of thing happens and is part of progress, I also understand that thanks to affordable bridging solutions made in The East, we are sometimes left with a choice, rather than being forced to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The problem faced....
I am now at a point where I am faced with parting with my last PCI equipped motherboard and those that suffer the most will be my collection of 32bit PCI SoundCards and specifically THOSE with interchangeable OPPAMPS that I have made both a financial investment in/to but as well, am satisfied with the overall sound that I have accomplished to tailor (for my ear).

While I am a far cry from the SoundBlaster32 ISA fans, I can't help but feel a kinship never felt before.

Now finally the question:
Are PCIe to 32bit PCI internal adapters worth the potential hassle ? and are they effective to save my 32bit PCI Sound Hardware that I have become more than attached to ?
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
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While I would recommend going with a USB DAC since plenty have replaceable op-amps (quick search said a Topping D10 DAC can be had under $100), PCI is still readily available on industrial motherboards. You can get them with modern chipsets and generally the only thing different about them is all extra serial ports, no overclocking, and a slightly higher price tag.

Here's an example that's not terribly expensive: JNAF791 Series – Jetway IPC

If you really want ISA, that's available too so long as you don't mind something a few generations old. Newer is possible, but then you get into industrial form factors (still using ATX carrier boards though) and the price goes through the roof. Industrial ATX Motherboard supports LGA1150 Intel® Core CPU and ISA
 

pricklypunter

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2015
1,708
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Canada
Ahh...fond memories of my AWE32...complete with it's quirks and it's abysmal pnp implementation. Still, the sound from that card coupled with my first set of "powered" speakers, at the time, really was awe inspiring. I still have a SB Gold kicking about somewhere, that I just couldn't part with :)

You just can't beat real analog front ends and amps for a true to life sound. All these DAC's be damned :D
 
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Allan74

Member
May 15, 2019
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While this request isn't really for an Industrial application, I appreciate the heads up on availability.

No, sadly this is more to re-integrate back into newer hardware (1151 Intel, AM4 AMD).

With the number of PC Cases out now that seem to come standard with cut-outs and removable panels for vertical mount video cards, the use of the PCIe X1-to-cable-extended-PCI32bit slot setup as shown in the pic I attached may work well physically..... if the hardware will play nicely.

Does anyone have experience using these type of adapters with Audio Cards specifically ?
(audio card supplied peripheral ports functionality not important, only audio output)

thanks again.
Allan
 

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saivert

Member
Nov 2, 2015
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I don't have any experience with those PCIe to PCI adapter brackets but they use a common PCI to PCIe bridge chip.

In fact most consumer/gaming motherboards that features PCI slots not that long ago use a similar bridge chip for the PCI slots as the chipset and CPU has no native classic 32 bit PCI support any longer.
 
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T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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While I would recommend going with a USB DAC since plenty have replaceable op-amps (quick search said a Topping D10 DAC can be had under $100), PCI is still readily available on industrial motherboards. You can get them with modern chipsets and generally the only thing different about them is all extra serial ports, no overclocking, and a slightly higher price tag.

Here's an example that's not terribly expensive: JNAF791 Series – Jetway IPC

If you really want ISA, that's available too so long as you don't mind something a few generations old. Newer is possible, but then you get into industrial form factors (still using ATX carrier boards though) and the price goes through the roof. Industrial ATX Motherboard supports LGA1150 Intel® Core CPU and ISA
2nd the USB DAC + AMP \ Etc.

I tried the new $$ sound cards and other misc setup for that and was into it for 200-300... sold it all, and started with a USB DAC to see if I could tell and was BLOWN AWAY how much better I could hear things and also pick up sounds I'd never heard in games and music before... needless to say I got an AMP, accessories, isolated power, and am into it ~500-600$ now and it's awesome! Claps of thunder\rain in games is real as it gets!
 
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Stefan2k4

New Member
May 17, 2018
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PCIe to PCI adapters should, in theory, work fine and not cause any hassle. The reason is from a software point of view, PCIe is backward compatible with PCI. That means you shouldn't need any special drivers or anything to make them work. In effect, if you use an adapter like that, your system should see the PCI card just the same it would a PCIe card.

As for ISA. That's a whole other story. Remember, ISA is old. It's really really old and it was very much designed around the bus of the old 8088 and 80286 processors. Any kind of ISA bus adapter to a modern system, is probably going to require more than just a physical adapter. Anyway, a PCIe to PCI adapter is much easier to accomplish and should be transparent to the system it's connected to from a software, bios, and driver point of view.

Now, having said all that, how well a particular piece of cheap hardware made in china is going to perform, who knows? But, if it's cheap enough and you already have a PCI soundcard you really want to use, why not give it a try?

The true death nail for the soundcard, is onboard motherboard sound that most people find good enough and the fact that modern video cards have HDMI audio out as well.
 
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