# Choosing a sound card???

## Stratofall

I have done lots of research lately on sound cards. I really do not want to use my onboard chip as the sound is a bit fuzzy or scratchy sounding at times.

From what I can gather the C-Media 8788 chips on the Xonar cards have been working since alsa version 1.0.15 and the x-fi have been working since alsa version 1.0.21

Has anyone used either of these cards with success?

x-fi - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019

xonar d2x - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132005

If so was the audio output better than the onboard sound in Linux?

How are your personal feelings in terms of setup and using the card?

Can multiple channels be used at once? (example, using a microphone with teamspeak while playing a game and having music play from say amarok in the background).

I am going through a system upgrade at the moment and the sound is the one area I am not sure of. I have used an audigy2zs but find the onboard intel HD audio sounds better when it is not crackling and such. I also have the problem of only being able to play one sound with the onboard chip wich frustrates me. I could play as many things as I wanted with the audigy2zs at the same time and use the mic without issue. I really want to find a middle ground of quality sound and ease of use if at all possible.

If there are other cards that anyone feels I should also be looking at please let me know and give any advice you think may help.

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## keenblade

 *Stratofall wrote:*   

> I have done lots of research lately on sound cards. I really do not want to use my onboard chip as the sound is a bit fuzzy or scratchy sounding at times.
> 
> From what I can gather the C-Media 8788 chips on the Xonar cards have been working since alsa version 1.0.15 and the x-fi have been working since alsa version 1.0.21

 

I suggest to stay away from creative x-fi cards. Take a look at Creative X-FI Soundblaster Drivers thread.

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> Can multiple channels be used at once? (example, using a microphone with teamspeak while playing a game and having music play from say amarok in the background).
> 
> 

 

I can record and play at the same time with my onboard intel HDA. I did not used teamspeak but it seems your audio setup is wrong.

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> I also have the problem of only being able to play one sound with the onboard chip wich frustrates me. I could play as many things as I wanted with the audigy2zs at the same time and use the mic without issue...

 

Again there is no issue here with intel HDA. I can play lots of sounds at the same time.

Did you try to remove all .asound .alsoftrc and the files like that from your home dir? try to move them and it must work.

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## PaulBredbury

Buy a hardware-mixing soundcard, if you want a life free from pain. Because ALSA is still crap, and dmix is a farce.

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## ticho

 *keenblade wrote:*   

> Again there is no issue here with intel HDA. I can play lots of sounds at the same time.
> 
> Did you try to remove all .asound .alsoftrc and the files like that from your home dir? try to move them and it must work.

 

Care to post your ALSA config, and output of `lshw -C mutimedia` please?

I too have an onboard Intel HDA, but I get "Device or resource busy" when trying to play a second sound (for example running mplayer while MPD is playing music.

Luckily I have my trusty old SB Live.

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## PaulBredbury

 *ticho wrote:*   

> mplayer, MPD

 

Those programs are written by complete imbeciles, defaulting to OSS rather than ALSA, and therefore *deliberately* screwing up dmix.

Here's the evidence:  mpd and mplayer.

Like I said, total imbeciles  :Sad: 

Anyway, back on topic, choose a hardware-mixing soundcard.

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## keenblade

 *ticho wrote:*   

>  *keenblade wrote:*   Again there is no issue here with intel HDA. I can play lots of sounds at the same time.
> 
> Did you try to remove all .asound .alsoftrc and the files like that from your home dir? try to move them and it must work. 
> 
> Care to post your ALSA config, and output of `lshw -C mutimedia` please?
> ...

 

lshw does not exist here but:

```

lspci -k | grep -i audio

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)

        Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Toshiba Satellite A100-796 audio (Realtek ALC861)

```

/etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf (comments are removed)

```

alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss

alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss

alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss

options snd cards_limit=2

alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel

alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel

alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio

alias sound-slot-1 snd-usb-audio

```

snd-card-1 is korg pandora px5d guitar fx processor. I only connect it, if I play or record my guitar.

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> I too have an onboard Intel HDA, but I get "Device or resource busy" when trying to play a second sound (for example running mplayer while MPD is playing music....

 

I use mpd, too. And mpd, mplayer, vlc all of them playing at the same time.

Also I use media-sound/alsa-driver package, not in kernel alsa driver. media-libs/alsa-oss is installed, too.

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## energyman76b

buy an audigy2 or 4. Old but good - and cheap.

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## ticho

 *PaulBredbury wrote:*   

> Those programs are written by complete imbeciles, defaulting to OSS rather than ALSA, and therefore *deliberately* screwing up dmix.
> 
> Here's the evidence:  mpd and mplayer.
> 
> Like I said, total imbeciles 
> ...

 

Wow, you must have lot of repressed anger blinding you. The "imbeciles" here are Linux distributions package maintainers, who should supply default configuration matching their distribution's defaults. That in fact includes me in the past, as I used to maintain mpd package in Gentoo, but I digress.

Now, I'm not mentioning dmix or OSS at all, and I asked for the guy's ALSA config. That probably implies that I'm not using dmix, and that I have both mplayer and MPD configured to use ALSA. Please, take a chill pill.

 *PaulBredbury wrote:*   

> Anyway, back on topic, choose a hardware-mixing soundcard.

 

That's what I'm using - an old cranky SB Live!, which unfortunately is not supported on newer Windows OS, so I have to use onboard Intel card there.

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## ticho

 *keenblade wrote:*   

> lshw does not exist here but:
> 
> ```
> 
> lspci -k | grep -i audio
> ...

 

Thanks. As my ALSA config is basically the same, I see two possible reasons why it doesn't work here. My Intel card is 82801JI (ICH10 Family) - a slightly different chipset, which may not have the same capabilities as yours.  Also, I'm using the in-kernel ALSA drivers.

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## Stratofall

At the moment I cannot get the information you ask of me.

I have replaced most everything in my system and am currently using XP on my machine. I was previously using Fedora 12 but the inclusion of pulseaudio has made me decide to go with a distro that allows me to tailor Linux to my needs and not someone else, hence why I am here on the Gentoo forums. I tried Gentoo back in 2005 or 2006 but opted for a package based distro only for the quick setup. I now realize that is something I cannot deal with because of the force fed way they operate. Once the rest of my hardware arrives on Tuesday it's Gentoo or bust. Only the sound is left to make a decision on.

As I mentioned in the first post, I do have an audigy2zs but compared to the onboard realtek chip the audio quality seems poor. I also don't want to use the onboard audio as in Linux or even windows, there is a static sound that happens every so often that annoys me. I cannot pinpoint when it happens but I think when the gpu fan kicks up or the cpu fans spin faster cause of increased heat that's when the distortions happen. I did not have the distortions with the audigy2zs however. And this is why I want a new solution. 

From what I gather the 8788 Xonar based card I would be forced to use software mixing. But, the X-fi card should use hardware mixing as well.

Here is the evidence for that to backup the x-fi card. http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2010-January/024554.html

I do understand there are a lot of issues that still plague the x-fi. But I honestly wonder if some people are using the true emu20k1 or emu20k2 version of the cards. As when I visit newegg and see the 13 x-fi cards they have, only 2-3 of them are really true emu20k1/2 based cards. If people are using the other variants of course they will have x-fi driver issues.

I ask what people recommend because I have only tried two cards on Linux and am not 100% sure what is the best route for me to take. Software mixing on the Xonar based cards with good quality audio, most likely to not have audio issues like crackling or distortions. Or take the chance on the x-fi fatality platinum that has hardware mixing but also may have a good chance of not working.

As much as I like the audigy2zs, it just does not have the high quality audio output that I currently desire from my apps.

I just feel a new card is in order to satisfy my taste in audio currently.

So please, keep the information coming, just don't expect to help troubleshoot my setup although the attempt was appreciated.

I just think out of these two cards they are my best options. I wanted more input though on what people think and even if there are other cards I should be looking at besides these. The more user input with various cards and opinions the better. The more information I can soak in the better.

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## PaulBredbury

 *Stratofall wrote:*   

> audigy2zs but compared to the onboard realtek chip the audio quality seems poor

 

That's suprising - my experience has been the opposite.

The X-fi, in my experience, has noticeably better audio than the Audigy 4, which in turn has noticeably better audio than the Audigy 2 ZS. And the several on-board soundcards I've tried, have all sounded worse than my old Audigy 2 ZS.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to my X-fi, so can't verify if the ALSA driver now supports more than surround20.

I still recommend hardware-mixing cards. Here's further evidence that Dmix is a joke.

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