Sound Cards

Talk about your MIDI interfaces, microphones, keyboards...

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

Post Reply
samsonite2010
Established Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:04 am
Location: Italy & UK
Contact:

Sound Cards

Post by samsonite2010 »

As I am considering building a dedicated music machine, the only thing I am not to sure about for Linux is the sound card. Is this particularly important? Does a good sound make much difference in Linux and if so, which ones perform well in Linux?

Hopefully I won't be blasting with too many questions, but I really do know very little about the audio side of Linux!
User avatar
GarryO
Established Member
Posts: 167
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:30 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Sound Cards

Post by GarryO »

Hi, Samsonite. Yes, I think which sound card you use _is_ important, although it obviously depends on what you are wanting to achieve.
I use a M-audio delta44 which I am very happy with.
What requirements do you have? number of ins/outs, midi, digital in/out, etc?

You can check out what cards are supported (and to what extent) here: http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main

regards, G.
samsonite2010
Established Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:04 am
Location: Italy & UK
Contact:

Re: Sound Cards

Post by samsonite2010 »

Thanks Garry, I was thinking about an M-Audio. I am not 100% what I will need, but will probably want something flexible. I definitely need digital in/out (optical). Do they still do cards with RCA jacks? I used to have an AWE64 Gold with full-sized RCA jacks, but even my X-Fi card only has mini-jacks.

As I starting to do a lot more music work on my PC, I think I need to have a sound card that I can "grow into"!

I think one mini-question which you have answered really is whether it makes much difference going from onboard to soundblaster to high-end card.
User avatar
autostatic
Established Member
Posts: 1994
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Beverwijk, The Netherlands
Has thanked: 32 times
Been thanked: 104 times
Contact:

Re: Sound Cards

Post by autostatic »

samsonite2010 wrote:I think one mini-question which you have answered really is whether it makes much difference going from onboard to soundblaster to high-end card.
It sure does! Just the A/D - D/A conversion alone can make a huge difference already!
User avatar
GarryO
Established Member
Posts: 167
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:30 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Sound Cards

Post by GarryO »

@Samsonite: the M-audio delta66 has digital i/o, as do all the higher models in the delta range.
All of these cards use 1/4" jacks, with the exception of the delta1010LT, which appears to have a large number of rca connectors.
I can only second what Autostatic said: the signal/noise ratio and total harmonic distortion figures for a pro card are way superior to those found on your average consumer card. You would definitely hear the difference!

~G.
samsonite2010
Established Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:04 am
Location: Italy & UK
Contact:

Re: Sound Cards

Post by samsonite2010 »

Yes you're right about the large number of RCA connectors on the Delta 1010LT! Maybe too many - I will have to think about how much I want those RCAs!

Many thanks,
S
Post Reply