On Wed, 2005-02-02 at 01:21 +0300, Andrew Gaydenko wrote:
Will be glad to get your opinions about choosing an audio
card below $250. The main (and, probably, the only) planned
using is a playing back of stereo files. Probably, a DAC
quality is the main feature here.
Nowadays, pretty much any card will have a decent performance for simple
playback, so quality should not be a big concern.
Now, if you truly want the best there is, you'll probably be better off
hanging around on audiophile forums, asking questions and picking
people's brains, then corroborate the info gathered there with Linux-
specific details (i.e. which cards are well supported on Linux, etc.)
I've heard non-Linux audiophiles praising the M-Audio cards:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=pciinterfaces
It is said that the RME cards have even better DACs, but whether that's
truth or rumour, i don't know. They're certainly more expensive.
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/hdsp/index.htm
If i were to place a bet, i'd probably do it on the M-Audio Audiophile
192, as it's their newest product, so presumably has newer-generation
circuits.
--
Florin Andrei
http://florin.myip.org/