"Jimmy The Clam" wrote in message
...
From what I can tell you have TWO options with the RIAA equalization with
the TerraTec card.
The onboard hardware solution that is inside the breakout box is not
really
a consideration as I do think that would be inferior to a very good phono
preamp.
But I don't find anywhere on the internet any information comparing a
software RIAA equalization with an equalization done by a good phono
preamp.

I think you will find the software approach fine above a couple of hundred
hertz, but seriously inferior below 100 Hz.
The real problem is that you still need some gain somewhere, because no
cartridge will give you the 1V you need to drive the soundcard. So you may
as well use an RIAA pre-amp as a flat one.

I don't really think (from reading the reviews) that the DMX
6Fire tries to be that much to too many people. True the Mia is pretty
much
a sound only device, but the DMX 6Fire dumps a lot of traditional "gaming"
functions and seems to concentrate on just music but is also a much newer
card.

I think the Mia has better performance, and the software eq approach can be
used with either card anyway.
The performance of the card is *far* more critical with the software EQ
approach though.

You are right, this is a contest between a good traditional hardware
solution as represented by a decent phono-preamp (typically in the $600 to
$1,200 range) and what is now possible in software.

Either card and a $200 RIAA pre-amp will probably give you better quality
than any of your vinyl records are capable of.
Anybody who thinks you need less than 1dB RIAA EQ error doesn't know how
much Freq Resp error is on the disks they are playing!
(Or just how much they could pick in a blind test anyway.)

TonyP.