[ale] somewhat off topic, not like any windows user would evenget it..

[Jeff Hubbs]

Tascam/Teac and Otari were making mighty fine deckage past 1980.  I have
a Teac from c. 1981 here and it works very nicely as far as audio
quality goes although its transport is a bit twitchy.  

Digital Audio Labs makes high-end sound cards - I have an older ISA-bus
version that, sadly, will probably never have a Linux driver.  

If you have a card with an S/PDIF i/o port, well, that's your ticket -
you buy a converter and that way, all the audio guts are out from inside
the computer where they don't belong in the first place.  

Sweetwater Sound can handle these issues but they're flatlined on Linux.

- Jeff

"Glenn C. Lasher Jr." wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 22 Aug 2001, Ned Williams wrote:
> 
> > Has anyone on the list had any expirience with methods of getting good
> > solid grounds on a pc case and specifially the sound card itself so as
> > it remove all of the tape like HISS interference associated with audio
> > playback? Last time I hooked up my sound card to my proton amp it
> > sounded worse and the 1980 reel to reel I keep around for laughs...
> 
> A 1980 reel-to-reel deck should sound nothing short of awesome as long as
> it is well-kept.  They didn't (AFAIK) make any reel-to-reel decks in that
> time frame except for the audiophile market.  Given that you have a Proton
> amp, I need to assume you are in that general category.
> 
> As for your sound card, what kind of sound card do you have?  This makes a
> pretty big difference.  A lot of the sound cards are made of junk hardware
> and simply don't live up to the potential of the digital medium.  You
> should be able to get a 96dB S/N ratio and dynamic range out of a 16-bit
> card, but, one finds, in many cases, even though the dynamic range is up
> to snuff, most of it is lost due to a S/N ratio of around 40dB.  This
> noise isn't caused by grounding problems, but rather is coming right out
> of the DAC's due to poor design.
> 
> I use a SoundBlaster Live! card, and it sounds very good.  Creative claims
> a 96dB S/N on this card, and I find it believable.  It also has an S/PDIF
> port in the event you might want to add an off-board DAC.  Finally, it has
> no built-in amplifier (just line-out's), which are probably adding to the
> noise problem you are having.
> 
> Interesting comparison, Creative does not publish the S/N figure for their
> SB16 card.... I think they are too embarassed.  Based on what I hear, I
> estimate it to be in the 40'ish range at best.
> 
> I have heard good things about the Turtle Beach cards, but have not tried
> them.  There are also some professional-grade cards, if you don't mind
> spending the extra bucks.  I couldn't name them for you off the top of my
> head, but I volunteer at a community radio station, and I know they are
> using such cards.  These cards have RCA plugs on the back rather than
> 3.5mm (no room for XLR's).
> 
> I hope this is helpful.
> 
> --
> glasher at nycap.rr.com
> After 163 days, Verizon still couln't deliver Telocity DSL.
> 
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