Looking for a simple soundcard
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Sander_Marechal Mar 20, 2007 1:48 AM EDT |
Hi all. I need a simple sound card for my Xen server so I can play music to my stereo. What I need: - Cheap. It seems that most stand alone cards are expensive gadgets targeted at high-end audio. I just want decent quality audio playback. I have no use for Dolby Digital 5.1, optical outputs, etcetera. - PCI or PCI-X. The latter would be better since by server has four 64-bit PCI-X slots and only one regular PCI. I doubt simple PCI-X soundcards exist though. - Preferably have tulip output. You know, the two red/yellow plugs that you use to hook your DVD to your amplifier in old-fashioned stereo. Any advice? |
| NoDough Mar 20, 2007 4:31 AM EDT |
Is tulip output the same as coaxial S/PDIF output? [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010360057 1102608534&Subcategory=57&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=...[/url] |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 20, 2007 4:44 AM EDT |
A bit of googling and wikipedia browsing tells me it's not S/PDIF but RCA connectors. We call them tupil plugs in Dutch. Don't ask me why. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_jack Edit: Looks like S/PDIF can be carried over RCA. Anyway I'm looking for the old-fashioned analogue red/white RCA connectors on the card. Either that, or suggestions for a suitable conversion strategy. My (rather old) sereo only has analogue RCA input. I know there are convertors that can convert from headphone jack to RCA, but the quality isn't that good. |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 20, 2007 5:05 AM EDT |
Hmm... only two cards with analogue RCA out. Both very expensive high-end monsters. Oh well. I'll guess I'll just use the headphone-to-RCA plug until I can afford either a new stereo that has S/PDIF or an internet radio device. |
| hkwint Mar 20, 2007 5:28 AM EDT |
You could buy a new one for about €6,- http://www.vergelijken.nl/item/20367/Sweex-4.1-PCI-Soundcard... http://www.alternate.nl/html/productDetails.html?artno=KK#V8... The PC-globe shop offers it (If I remember correctly, you're rather near Veldhoven?) http://www.pcglobe.nl/e-shop/popup_info.asp?cat=17&prodid=23... That way, you can save about €6,- shipping costs by fetching it yourself. Be sure to check the chip is from CMI or realtek (it probably is), they (the cheap ones) are supported well under Linux (experience with both). It looks like the one I have myself (in fact, it probably is the same), and it works good enough for my mp3's. I bought one of those (though I paid €13 for it) because Linux wouldn't support my back than brand new integrated mobo-sound. I just thought about selling my soundcard to you and using the mobo soundcard instead, but than I saw the Sweex has a game/MIDI connection. Since I still want to discover MIDI, I'll keep it (and mobo-sound seems to be bad). No Tulip-connectors (probably we named them tulip because they look like one?), but you could buy a 3,5mm jack - to tulip cable (that't the way I always do it) and connect it to your stereo. Beware: My FM-antenna (cable) always interfered with the computer-audio cable which made noise, even though my computer was grounded back then. Unplugging the FM antenna / cable might help if that's the case. |
| jdixon Mar 20, 2007 6:19 AM EDT |
> Oh well. I'll guess I'll just use the headphone-to-RCA plug... That's the simplest solution, yes. The headphone type plugs are the standard for stand alone sound cards. You probably want a low end Soundblaster, something on the order of this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102... or this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102... |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 20, 2007 6:45 AM EDT |
Thanks guys. Sweex stuff shipping with other manufacturers chips explains why I got so little useful results googling for sweex linux support. @hkwint: I'm in 's-Hertogenbosch. There's a couple of shops here that carry sweex as well. I'll have a look this week. |
| Sander_Marechal Apr 22, 2007 10:29 PM EDT |
Ah, I almost forgot about this. After shopping around I went with a Creative Audagy for around $40,- It turns out that I can use regular PCI gear in 64-bit PCI-X slots as long as the PCI card conforms to the PCI 2.1 spec. The Audagy card was the cheapest card I could find that supports PCI 2.1. Debian recognized the card out of the box. As a bonus it has 7.1 digital out which might be useful if I ever have enough money to buy a new amplifier. Sweet :-) |
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