High Quality Soundcards? Advice from music lovers

[Scarath]

Hi
I have a soundcard (onboard) on my desktop that isnt supported by alsa and just dont work with linux, meh.

So far have had to use either my windows partition (bleh) or my thinkpad (running Ubuntu) to play music ... which is a bit anoying.

so please give me some advice!

i need a high quality sound card that will do my music justice AND work with linux (specificlly Debian/ubuntu).

Any recemendations?

thanks in advance

[tgalati4]

Just about anything from M-Audio. The Delta-66 series, although if you are interested in mostly playback then the audiophile PCI series soundcard will fit the bill. Stay away from Creative Sound Blaster.

For a cheaper solution, look for some USB sound cards. They plug into the USB port and have a minijack output. You will need to search the forums or a general google search to find some specific linux-capable recommendations.

Used M-audio cards show up on craigslist.org quite often.

[EXCiD3]

Creative X-Fi's are also extermely good and Creative seems to have fairly good linux support: http://opensource.creative.com/soundcard.html

[hanzomon4]

Stay away from the delta 66. I have one and it's just weird. Unless you are doing audio production go with an m-audio revolution. It's also from m-audio like the delta 66 but it's designed with regular users in mind imo.

[bufsabre666]

i dont get that, i have a creatice sound blast 24bit the normal 30$ at every store one and it works just fine, the only thing you need to do is choose it in the audio options

[tgalati4]

I think the resistance to Creative sound cards is the lack of cooperation with developers for writing drivers. I'm not sure if Creative has changed their policy or if they have been more open with their specifications.

I agree the Delta 66 can be quirky, but from a sound quality standpoint, it's better than most cards that I have tested, and I have tested a lot. Using the envy24control, you have all the capability that the Windows drivers have. M-audio has been open with their sound card specs for quite a while. As a result, M-audio has gained a lot of respect in the Linux and music communities.

Used M-audio cards are readily available as musicians upgrade their studios to higher-channel, rack-based capture cards.

[CCNA_student]

I have a the Creative Live! 24bit sound card that cost me 30$ at Wal-Mart and it works fine in Linux. Just make sure that you disable the
on-board sound card in the BIOS. For some reason Ubuntu kept wanting to use the crappy on-board sound card instead of the better one that I paid for.

Sin Cere,

CCNA

[Whiffle]

I have a Santa Cruz Turtle Beach that I paid $12 for. It sounds awesome. However, all of the linux drivers are reverse engineered and most of the fancy features are missing (like surround sound). But I only use if for music anyway...

[blueturtl]

I've already endorsed the M-Audio Revolution 5.1 in a previous thread. Instead of repeating myself I provide you with a link to my post. (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3859536#post3859536)

[Tom Mann]

You could always check out the Fast Track USB or Fast Track Podcast (M-Audio) - A simple USB sound card :)

[puppy]

You're seriously taking the mickey talking about the Creative X-Fi - there is NO support for this Creative card if you're running a 32 bit operating system - it will *not* work. They've just released 64 bit "beta" drivers that we've been waiting over 2 years for. Creative are terrible in terms of their support of our OS

As the second poster says M-Audio are your friend - very good quality cards aimed at music creators/listeners - reasonably priced too, certainly competitive with Creative etc in those terms

[tehet]

Does any of you have experience with PC -> optical out -> DAC -> integrated amp ? There must be quite a bit of noise inside each PC.

[mips]

Does any of you have experience with PC -> optical out -> DAC -> integrated amp ? There must be quite a bit of noise inside each PC.

The way I see it is the path to the DAC is digital all the way so noise should not be an issue. Noise will only be introduced after the DAC.

[gn2]

I have an Audiotrak Optoplay and it's surprisingly good.

http://www.audiotrak.net/products/optoplay/

[tehet]

The way I see it is the path to the DAC is digital all the way so noise should not be an issue. Noise will only be introduced after the DAC.
That makes sense. So it would probably be a good idea to have the DAC outside of the PC. Or perhaps most consumer sound cards just have a low-end DAC on them ... ?

[mips]

That makes sense. So it would probably be a good idea to have the DAC outside of the PC. Or perhaps most consumer sound cards just have a low-end DAC on them ... ?

I honestly don't know about the quality of the DACs used on PC sound cards. Transferring the signal to a external DAC does makes sense to me though.

[tehet]

Ok, thanks mips :)

[Arathorn]

You're seriously taking the mickey talking about the Creative X-Fi - there is NO support for this Creative card if you're running a 32 bit operating system - it will *not* work. They've just released 64 bit "beta" drivers that we've been waiting over 2 years for. Creative are terrible in terms of their support of our OS
Not just on our OS. Didn't Vista users have to pay for their Creative drivers? I'm not sure for which card that was, but the news about that made me very happy with my onboard audio chip.

[logos34]

The way I see it is the path to the DAC is digital all the way so noise should not be an issue. Noise will only be introduced after the DAC.

What about onboard 16-bit 5.1 (realtek) with optical out (Toslink cable) to a stereo receiver? Ok, it's not 24-bit but doesn't the fact that it's digital all the way make up for a lot in terms of quality? There shouldn't be any computer-environment 'noise' in this case since it's digital/optical up to the receiver right? Am I really going to notice a big difference if I spend money on a dedicated 24-bit sound card? (by the way I don't have a surround speaker setup, just two-channel stereo right now).

[Scarath]

Just about anything from M-Audio. The Delta-66 series, although if you are interested in mostly playback then the audiophile PCI series soundcard will fit the bill. Stay away from Creative Sound Blaster.

For a cheaper solution, look for some USB sound cards. They plug into the USB port and have a minijack output. You will need to search the forums or a general google search to find some specific linux-capable recommendations.

Used M-audio cards show up on craigslist.org quite often.

Thanksfor all the advice, i may go for the M-audio Revolution 5.1

USB soundcards seem interesting, i guess i'd have to disable my onboard sound card that doesnt work and hope for the best.

How good is the sound REALLY? USB sound cards always look so cheap and nasty its hard to believe they will give a good sound.

[gn2]

How good is the sound REALLY? USB sound cards always look so cheap and nasty its hard to believe they will give a good sound.

I have an old Dell P3 SFF PC which I use as a dedicated jukebox.
Soundcard is the Audiotrak Optoplay USB, connected to a Rotel RA930 and a pair of Mordaunt Short MS25i speakers.
At 192 bitrate the audio sounds just as good as the Technics SLPG 580A CD Player that I used before.

[BDNiner]

I would stay away from m-audio USB external sound cards. I have been able to get my mbox or my fast track pro to work in ubuntu. The system crashes as soon as you plug them in, and won't boot if you plug them in before turning the computer on. i haven't tried in a while and i will probably attempt this again over new years.

[gn2]

I would stay away from m-audio USB external sound cards.

Me too, I had an M-Audio Transit and it just would not work with anything apart from XP.

[mips]

What about onboard 16-bit 5.1 (realtek) with optical out (Toslink cable) to a stereo receiver? Ok, it's not 24-bit but doesn't the fact that it's digital all the way make up for a lot in terms of quality?

Being digital all the way should improve things. As to whether you will notice 15bit by ear I cannot say. Also depends on the source file, lossy mp3 etc.



There shouldn't be any computer-environment 'noise' in this case since it's digital/optical up to the receiver right?

No there should not on the condition the that the entire path is digital.


Am I really going to notice a big difference if I spend money on a dedicated 24-bit sound card? (by the way I don't have a surround speaker setup, just two-channel stereo right now).

Honestly can't say. Every piece of equipment in the path plays a role though, whether you will notice it would be up to your ears. And the best way to test that is to do a blind test where you don't actually know what is being used.

[stmiller]

Yes avoid creative. They are infamously known for cards that would resample your audio in software from 44.1 to 48kHz. Even the x-fi cards have to resample all over the place.

Check the Alsa page (http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main) for supported cards.

Cards with the VIA Envy24 chip are supported well in Linux.

[Pethegreat]

I have an M-Audio Audiophile 192. I have not been able to use it yet though. Once I get the internet to where my amp and speakers are then I will use it. It is too much hassle going from 2 1/4in mono outputs to one 1/8in stereo.

I will have it running into a Technics SE-A5 amp(120watts per channel), and then into a set of Advent Legacy II speakers. I don't know exactly how loud I can get them, but I will find out when no one is home one day.

[herbster]

M-Audio Revolution 7.1 here, works sweet as hell, everything is great. Crisp, clear music, 5.1, all stereo is upmixed to all 5 channels, it is an awesome card and really works great with linux.

The only thing with the current driver is that on boot, the front left channel is muted, so you lower and raise the volume in alsamixer and she's all set. I leave my PC on 24/7 so I forget when I reboot once every few weeks/month, but it's a silly little thing anyhow. Great card, amazing quality, highly recommended for linux.

[M7S]

Could someone recommend me a soundcard with balanced outputs? My new active monitors sounds way to noisy at the moment.

[Scarath]

In the end i got this one: http://sounden.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=230

It seems to be working jut find with debian and sounds great :D

[gn2]

In the end i got this one: http://sounden.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=230

It seems to be working jut find with debian and sounds great :D

Nice little device, now spill the beans, where did you get it and how much?

[NullHead]

Creative X-Fi's are also extermely good and Creative seems to have fairly good linux support: http://opensource.creative.com/soundcard.html

What ever you do DON'T BUY CREATIVE X-FI!!!!!! the drivers are the worst thing next to not having any. If you want x-fi (witch is a very nice the BTW) you should get a card from here (http://www.auzentech.com/site/index.php) I hear they have linux drivers on the way. Anyways if you do want a Creative X-Fi you should check out my guide first to know what you're getting you're self into. This is my guide. (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=571656)