[Gloucs] Sound Cards

[Simon Fryer]

Hey all,

On 10/12/06, Christian Trapp <Christian.Trapp at gmx.net> wrote:

> as far I have read about this subject, the onboard chips are mostly
> not the best ones. So I think to buy a separate card could improve the
> quality of the sound. For example I always thought a CD-Player is
> digital so there is no difference. But when I heard once a Player for
> 600 or 1000 pounds there was a real difference. So I think that is the
> same for soundcards.
>
> But I cannot tell you, which one is a good one. Try to search the
> internet, I am sure there are articles about this item.

The biggest thing for me is the amount of electrical interference that
gets transferred to the audio stages. Anecdotal evidence and to a
certain extent my experience indicates that the audio from cheap audio
sources (be it a soundcard or onboard sound) can have significant
interference. Similarly, external sound devices and higher quality /
brand name sound cards have better filtering and shielding so have a
lower level of interference.

External sound devices have an inherent advantage in that they are
outside the computer and hence subject to a lower level of EMI.

I have an external USB Sound Blaster widget that I purchased a few
years ago. Sounds great and just worked as a USB sound device. However
never managed to get OpenBSD to convince it that it wants to use a
different sampling rate. Noticeable that the music I was listening to
just didn't sound quite right!

Simon

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, an engineer is not concerned with the truth; that is left to
philosophers and theologians: the prime concern of an engineer is
the utility of the final product."
Lectures on the Electrical Properties of Materials, L.Solymar, D.Walsh