[mythtv-users] Sound and video card suggestions

[Carlo Nyto]

I realized this question is frequently asked, but part of that is that
the hard keeps changing faster than the drivers. I don't know of a
venue more likely to find knowledegable people, I apologize if I have
chosen the wrong one.

I have two related (and perhaps redundant) questions:

1) What sound card is best? I just need to send sound out of the
computer and have it converted to SPDIF or Toslink. It would also be a
great benefit to receive sound input at the same time via similar
interfaces (full duplex). By "card" I don't limit myself to PCI/PCI-E
cards, a USB device is completely acceptable. I am limited on slots
and a device that only does something so low-bandwidth as sound seems
silly.

For my purposes (due to cabling issues as well as slot issues), a
network device would be preferable in fact, but I do not know of one
that lends itself to full control by the host and with proper latency
control. I would appreciate any advice around these lines.

If only Firewire works, I will buy a card, but I am running out of slots.

2) What video card is best? In my case,I have an 8x/16x PCI-E slot. I
can not accept a binary-only kernel module. No one will support a
kernel on a system running one, and I can't blame them for this. Even
though I do not care about 3D performance, I do care about video
performance, as it impacts the usability of the system. I require VGA
and Component Video currently, but as I am in the progress of
upgrading the display components, recommendations towards future
upgrades would be appreciated.

I expect to run the latest kernel.org kernel, as I will have enough
recent hardware as to require it. (part of why I can not accept
binary-only modules)

Thanks!