[linux-audio-user] Need help - hardware recommendations

[Rick Taylor]

On Sat, 2003-02-15 at 13:16, Hartmut Noack wrote:
> Am 15.02.03, 18:56:47, schrieb Rick Taylor <ricktaylor at speakeasy.net> zum 
> > On Sat, 2003-02-15 at 09:21, Hartmut Noack wrote:

> > > 1) try Soundblaster 1024 Live! Player ( NOT SB Live 501 !!)
> 
> > But, if you want a pro card... get a pro card. ...Something that won't
> > lose half of its functionality without windows. ...Something made for
> > music... not made for gamers.
> 
> OK- i use Terratecs EWX 24/96 with SUSE 8.1, but i spend more time trying 
> to make it work stable enough to work with audacity than i spend time to 
> record some music with it...
} (Witch was not so with SB 1024 on my old Box and SUSE 7.3

 That's strange... my experience with Soundblaster cards {I've
installed, probably 25 or 30 on various machines {windows} I own two and
I have a motherboard with one built in} is that they're no more stable
than most consumer cards and don't really sound any better than the bulk
of them. They're comparable to my $15 Muse or my 10 year old PAS16 in
terms of sound quality and don't quite measure up to my Santa Cruz in
either regard. The fact that they support sound fonts and have a digital
out is something of a plus.

 On the other hand, my limited experience with pro cards {that being my
Delta and my MOTU cards} is that they're much more stable and the sound
quality isn't even in the same ballpark. I intend only to upgrade in the
future.

 What I find to be truly disturbing about soundblasters is the fact that
they're not only the default but frequently the high end available from
most manufacturers and in most computer stores. ...That most consumers
will spend $200 on a graphics card and really think nothing of it while
with sound they're frequently not even aware of their options. {In other
words... ask any consultant what the best is and you'll hear
"soundblaster" {Which is patently untrue.}

 ...Given the benefits that competition has brought us in almost every
other facet of the computer industry, this strikes me as very limiting.
Personally, I'd like to see the envy24 replace soundblaster as the
default so that things could start moving past the point we're at now.

 {:} Semi proprietary technologies like Direct-x strike me as similarly
limiting.}
-- 
Rick Taylor <ricktaylor at speakeasy.net>
The Dispossessed