[mythtv-users] Integrated Sound vs. Sound Card, suggestions ??

[Len Reed]

Kevin Kuphal wrote:
> The best sound card I've found for Myth is the Turtle Beach Riviera.  It 
> has optical SPDIF output and works out of the box with no convuluted 
> .asoundrc (I don't even use one at all).  Aopen makes a small form 
> factor card based on the same chipset in case you need a half-height 
> card.  Both available at newegg for less than $30

I agree, if all you need is output.  In my home office (I work from 
home) I put one of these into my desktop and ran an 8m optical cable to 
my amp.  Prior to that I was running a 8m line-level output from the 
onboard sound in my 2-Xeon Dell.  This elminated the hum from the 
inevitable ground loop and isolated the digital noise in my SMP box from 
my amp.  (This is for playing oggs from xmms, but the principles would 
apply to myth.)  Using optical between a computer and a HiFi amp is the 
way to go, and $30 at Fry's was well worth it.