[mdlug] sound card recommendation?

[Ingles, Raymond]

> From: Michael Rudas

> --- Dean wrote:
> > Hello, I'm looking for a sound card that above all, will be easy to
> install.
> 
> Good soundcards that are easy to install include Creative Labs'
> "SoundBlaster Live!" and the Ensoniq-based "SoundBlaster PCI" series
> -- they are well-supported under Linux -- you can find good ones used
> for as little as $5-10.  They have an advantage over other cheap sound
> cards in that they actually have sound processing chips

 The SB Live boards have another nice feature - they support 'hardware
mixing' (or 'multi-open'). That is to say, they have hardware support
for taking multiple sound signals at the same time, and playing them all
at once. This allows multiple programs to play sounds at the same time.

 That's really the only area I can think of where Windows is better off
than Linux, for now. Windows has a sound API that handles mixing sounds
from multiple apps 'behind the scenes'. If the card does it in hardware,
Windows uses that; if not, Windows does it in software.

 Linux *can* do that... but unfortunately, there are multiple sound APIs
which deal with this in slightly different ways. :-/ ALSA and PulseAudio
mostly work together, but each has their own way of emulating OSS,
and...

 If the card can do hardware mixing, though, all the different sound
APIs can think they have the card all to themselves, and not fight over
who's writing to the card at any given moment. Linux sound will settle
down eventually, but it's taking longer than I'd hoped.

Sincerely,

 Ray Ingles                                          (313) 227-2317

 "If one is going to use standard units, one should do it right and
               use Kelvins. That way nobody is happy."
           - Linux Weekly News, on Fahrenheit vs. Celsius
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