[mythtv-users] What should I look for in a soundcard?

[Brian Wood]

On Apr 7, 2006, at 5:50 PM, <cromworshipper-mythtvlist at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Thanks for bringing up this topic.  I too am interested in some  
> sound hardware, but some of my audiophile friends tell me I should  
> try to get the sound out of the computer.  They recommend those USB  
> sound thingies.  Word is, you can avoid all the noise and  
> interference inside a computer by moving the digitisation/ 
> conversion outside of the computer.  As you can tell, I don't  
> really understand this topic.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these devices?
>
> Fry's was selling the turtle beach model for like $80 last  
> weekend.  I didn't buy one because I don't know what level the  
> Linux support for those devices is.
>
> Looking forward to the discussion on this topic.
>

I don't know about $80 units, but I have a few $7.99 units that I use  
to get audio out of a couple of slugs that I have (Linksys NSLU2s).  
The audio coming out of them (at line level) sounds fine to my  
admittedly aging ears.

I also use one for an iBook that doesn't have an external audio input  
otherwise.

These are just very basic units (obviously, hence the price) with a  
stereo input and output jack, but they work great for what I use them  
for. They were automatically recognized and handled by both Linux and  
OS/X, never tried them with Windows though they came with Windows  
drivers.

Interesting idea that you would avoid the high-noise environment by  
putting them outside, makes sense I guess.

Anything fancy like S/PDIF, Surround Sound or the like would probably  
be out of the question though.