Good USB sound card?

[Joerg]

Folks,

Just had a situation where a software toolkit could not properly handle
the sound chip in my Gammatech Durabook but it handled the one in the
Samsung NC-10 just fine. Anyhow, this is not cool if I ever have to
switch horses in the field because a laptop died or the battery ran low.

So ... what can you guys recommend as a good USB sound card?

It should:

a. not require a separate wall wart.

b. have a true stereo MIC input and if possible also LINE IN. But if no
LINE IN that can be ok. Main thing is I absolutely need two input channels.

c. be low in internal noise and not too suceptible to cell phones and
other common RF disturbances.

d. have an enclosure that's not too flimsy. Size doesn't matter.

e. preferably use a cable to connect to USB because the stick versions
break off easily.

f. ideally not cost more than $100 but cost is not too critical. So if
you know a really good one that is more I am still all ears.

g. allow easy driver loading, ideally right from that sound card.

 

[Joerg]

Had to solve similar problem recently.
Sound Blaster THX HD.

Aha, this one, looks quite impressive:

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Soun...65814547&sr=8-1&keywords=Sound+Blaster+THX+HD

It has all of that.

Thanks, Vladimir. I am planning to do noise sensitive phase measurements
with it, where one input channel is the reference and the other comes
from the device under test. Excitation is also from the sound card.

 

[Joerg]

Aha, this one, looks quite impressive:

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Soun...65814547&sr=8-1&keywords=Sound+Blaster+THX+HD

.... and it's ordered.

[...]

 

[miso]

My only complaint about Creative cards is they have a lot of bloatware.
You can avoid the bloat with a custom installation.

Depending on what you are doing, those cheap ass Chinese cards on ebay
with C-Media chips have the advantage that you can open the box and get
to the guts, i.e. pull the PCB. Useful if you want a more direct
connection to the data converters. Or if you want to incorporate it in a
box with other electronics.

There is no brand name, but they look like the photo in ebay item
190490619104. The PCB slides out of the case for easy hacking. It might
not be a bad idea to get one as Plan B.

The C-Media chips work great under linux usb sound.

 

[Joerg]

My only complaint about Creative cards is they have a lot of bloatware.
You can avoid the bloat with a custom installation.

Depending on what you are doing, those cheap ass Chinese cards on ebay
with C-Media chips have the advantage that you can open the box and get
to the guts, i.e. pull the PCB. Useful if you want a more direct
connection to the data converters. Or if you want to incorporate it in a
box with other electronics.

There is no brand name, but they look like the photo in ebay item
190490619104. The PCB slides out of the case for easy hacking. It might
not be a bad idea to get one as Plan B.

The C-Media chips work great under linux usb sound.

Right now the goal is to nuy the best quality that is reasonably
available. Since Vladimir said this the "the" sound interface for USB I
ordered it. Long term things may have to be integrated and then it'll
either be full custom where we actually buy the sound chips or buy
something as a module that has a high chance of being around for a few
years as a product.

 

[miso]

Right now the goal is to nuy the best quality that is reasonably
available. Since Vladimir said this the "the" sound interface for USB I
ordered it. Long term things may have to be integrated and then it'll
either be full custom where we actually buy the sound chips or buy
something as a module that has a high chance of being around for a few
years as a product.

These C-media chip based cards have been around about 8 years. Like all
manufacturers, they change the product as new chips come out. Of course,
I have no clue who makes the cards.

The advantage to the C-media board is you can easily clone the circuit.
That would be harder to do with Creative. C-Media sells chips while
Creative sells complete systems.

I've been burnt by Creative. They used to make video cards. I gave a
friend an old card, but it took me a while to find the driver because
freakin' Creative pulled the drivers from their website. They have a
habit of not supporting old gear. They must have been suing people who
hosted the old driver since it was not to be found on the internet
anywhere. Fortunately I found the CD.

Anyway, at this point, Asus is making the best soundcards, but only a
few dB better that Creative. But for what I consider basic
instrumentation, the cheap C-media cards can't be beat, simply due to
the linux support. Alsa has C-media down.

 

[Joerg]

These C-media chip based cards have been around about 8 years. Like all
manufacturers, they change the product as new chips come out. Of course,
I have no clue who makes the cards.

The advantage to the C-media board is you can easily clone the circuit.
That would be harder to do with Creative. C-Media sells chips while
Creative sells complete systems.

I've been burnt by Creative. They used to make video cards. I gave a
friend an old card, but it took me a while to find the driver because
freakin' Creative pulled the drivers from their website. They have a
habit of not supporting old gear. They must have been suing people who
hosted the old driver since it was not to be found on the internet
anywhere. Fortunately I found the CD.

Longer term we won't need it, we'll design our own system. This is to
get us over the first hurdles on the cheap, without shelling out a lot
for NRE.

Anyway, at this point, Asus is making the best soundcards, but only a
few dB better that Creative. But for what I consider basic
instrumentation, the cheap C-media cards can't be beat, simply due to
the linux support. Alsa has C-media down.

Linux support isn't important to me. This will all be Windows-based
since the underlying SW is. The main concern I have is noise, more so
than the dynamic range.

 

[whit3rd]

Right now the goal is to [buy] the best quality that is reasonably
available.

Trying to buy quality, with unseen goods, is a perilous enterprise. Spec sheets
for consumer items are ...unhelpful. Buy samples and test and/or dissect, works
better.

I'd recommend you try an iMic (product of Griffin Technology);
it has a good long history, 16-bit input/output audio digitization,
uses 24-bit converters, has a line/mic selector switch...
and it's small and inexpensive.
As for detailed specifications:
<http://www.griffintechnology.com/su...xact-technical-specifications-imic-mac-and-pc>

(hey, I told you not to expect much information!).

 

[Joerg]

Right now the goal is to [buy] the best quality that is reasonably
available.

Trying to buy quality, with unseen goods, is a perilous enterprise. Spec sheets
for consumer items are ...unhelpful. Buy samples and test and/or dissect, works
better.

I'd recommend you try an iMic (product of Griffin Technology);
it has a good long history, 16-bit input/output audio digitization,
uses 24-bit converters, has a line/mic selector switch...
and it's small and inexpensive.
As for detailed specifications:
<http://www.griffintechnology.com/su...xact-technical-specifications-imic-mac-and-pc>

(hey, I told you not to expect much information!).

Quote "So our engineers made the decision to keep the iMic within
certain basic parameters and not release a detailed spec sheet".

Hmm, yeah, well ...

It's probably quite good but I've already ordered the Sound Blaster THX
HD that Vladimir recommended. It arrived yesterday but I couldn't fire
it up because another emergency came up. As they usually do on Fridays.
The weekend is shot as well because SWMBO said it is time to paint the
house. So we'll start power-washing shortly and there's buckets of
Sherwin-Williams Duration waiting be transferred from bucket to wall.
Fred Bloggs from our midst had recommended that brand, plus they had a
40% off sale.

 

[Joerg]

Had to solve similar problem recently.
Sound Blaster THX HD.


It has all of that.

Hey, Vladimir, do you know if the MIC input is monaural? Has 5.1V
phantom supply on both pins but I get only one of the channels to work.
For Line both work.

The manual is in some CFM format, as in unreadable. Pretty stupid
decision on their part not to ship PDF. I've asked for one but not sure
if they'll respond. Their web site looks as if customer contact is not
very desired. Had to email their inverstor relations guy.