[opensuse] Sound card question
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one? Bob Rea -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
Personally if I was in that position I would consider either one of three things: * I do have a rather expensive DAC that I want to change for a more expensive one, because of its features (external volume control and all) and I haven't tried it in Linux but in general these devices have a USB connection. It needs a driver in Windows and I haven't tried it in Linux but if you want that for this specific model I have I would give it a try for you, but it depends on whether you want something like this in the first place of course (Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100). * There are cheaper USB soundcards that have optical out. I cannot find the one I want (wanted) currently but I have a friend in Eastern Europe that is crazy about amateur audio, and he recommends the: http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Computer-Audio/Audio-Interfa... Behringer UCA202. I am not sure if he has tested it with Linux but I am not in touch with him at this point. (He is the kind of guy that builds his own DACs to get higher end performance for cheaper prices -- and then gets bugged by the fact that importing parts from the USA is so incredibly expensive for him). It's not what I recommend, but he does. Personally I probably would take this opportunity to find a nice small USB device with optical out (small) and 3.5" jack (same output) so that you can use it to connect to either a digital receiver, or an analog one. Strangely I cannot find the one I was interested in after having seen dozens and dozens. The benefit of a device like that is that it is portable and you can use it to get better audio on laptops and similar devices. Anyway that's all I can say now, I haven't tested with Linux but in general I think they should be fairly general devices. Regards. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 15/04/16 15:13, Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
Personally if I was in that position I would consider either one of three things:
* I do have a rather expensive DAC that I want to change for a more expensive one, because of its features (external volume control and all) and I haven't tried it in Linux but in general these devices have a USB connection. It needs a driver in Windows and I haven't tried it in Linux but if you want that for this specific model I have I would give it a try for you, but it depends on whether you want something like this in the first place of course (Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100).
* There are cheaper USB soundcards that have optical out. I cannot find the one I want (wanted) currently but I have a friend in Eastern Europe that is crazy about amateur audio, and he recommends the:
http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Computer-Audio/Audio-Interfa...
Behringer UCA202. I am not sure if he has tested it with Linux but I am not in touch with him at this point.
(He is the kind of guy that builds his own DACs to get higher end performance for cheaper prices -- and then gets bugged by the fact that importing parts from the USA is so incredibly expensive for him).
It's not what I recommend, but he does.
Personally I probably would take this opportunity to find a nice small USB device with optical out (small) and 3.5" jack (same output) so that you can use it to connect to either a digital receiver, or an analog one.
Strangely I cannot find the one I was interested in after having seen dozens and dozens.
The benefit of a device like that is that it is portable and you can use it to get better audio on laptops and similar devices.
Anyway that's all I can say now, I haven't tested with Linux but in general I think they should be fairly general devices.
Regards.
I dunno what all that means, most of it seems irrelevant to your question but if you want a usb soundcard that works with Linux, ASUS make a few http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Vendor-Asus. If you have space in whatever box you have, again IME Asus internal ones work with Linux. There is no reason per se to get a usb device that only applies if you cannot fit an internal device. In audio terms you get what you pay for. If you have a laptop get a usb device. M -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work.
Personally I probably would take this opportunity to find a nice small USB device with optical out (small) and 3.5" jack (same output) so that you can use it to connect to either a digital receiver, or an analog one.
Pardon my ignorance; what is optical out? What is it for? If I have just two speakers and run the signal through a Marantz stereo tuner and amp with a regular jack out of the computer that goes through an adapter to RCA plugs into the Marantz, does it serve any purpose for me? Bob Rea -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On Fri, 15 Apr 2016 23:44, Bob Rea wrote:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work.
Personally I probably would take this opportunity to find a nice small USB device with optical out (small) and 3.5" jack (same output) so that you can use it to connect to either a digital receiver, or an analog one.
Pardon my ignorance; what is optical out? What is it for? If I have just two speakers and run the signal through a Marantz stereo tuner and amp with a regular jack out of the computer that goes through an adapter to RCA plugs into the Marantz, does it serve any purpose for me?
The mentioned "optical out" is also called "TOSLink" or "AES3" and is the optical variant of the S/PDIF digital audio transport protocol. S/PDIF is used for the audio transport in the HDMI and DisplayPort connections. Optical connection solves many problems, e.g. Ground-loops[1] EMI [2], Quality loss over distance, or simply more than stereo. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_%28electricity%29 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_interference For S/PDIF, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF TOSLink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK AES3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES3 For more generic info on working devices with Alsa, see http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main esp, the snd-usb-audio page http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Module-usb-audio I'm using a DMX 6Fire USB from Terratec (via snd-usb-6fire), neither cheap, nor all the best, but I got it used for a song and it works. Also Terratec: "TerraTec AureonDualUSB" The "Behringer U-Control UCA222" works even with Raspi. Just USB to TOSLink, also not cheap, but good (at least in Apple MacOS X, have not had the chance to test with linux) InLine® USB HD Audio Adapter 24 Bit 192kHz to Digital Coax / Toslink / I2S Converter http://en.intos.de/product-overview/adapter-converter/converter/audio-conver... - Yamaban
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 23:44:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work.
Personally I probably would take this opportunity to find a nice small USB device with optical out (small) and 3.5" jack (same output) so that you can use it to connect to either a digital receiver, or an analog one.
Pardon my ignorance; what is optical out? What is it for? If I have just two speakers and run the signal through a Marantz stereo tuner and amp with a regular jack out of the computer that goes through an adapter to RCA plugs into the Marantz, does it serve any purpose for me?
It is a digital audio signal that is refered to as Toslink, but the digital format itself is called S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface). S/PDIF has two transmission modes: over optical cable (the plugs are called Toslink) or regular coaxial cable (that you can also use for composite video). S/PDIF comes in various modes and it was used for DVD to give 5.1 channel music/audio using what was known as "Dolby Surround" and "DTS". Those were codecs that flew over the S/PDIF link. But in general when people use it for a computer it is just 2 channel stereo "PCM" (unencoded, or at least uncompressed) audio that you can feed to a digital receive/amplifier. The things I mentioned often have a single 3.5 mm plug that you can use to insert a combined stereo to 2x RCA cable or otherwise a "mini-toslink" plug that would receive digital audio. So the plug/connection that I mentioned is hybrid, it accepts both. But if that is not relevant to you then there is no advantage to optical out; I just have a digital receiver and I always buy motherboards that have a toslink output. The difference is with toslink (or coax) digital audio, your digital receiver does the DAC-conversion while if you output something analog, it will be your soundcard that does it. Onboard audio is generally rather poor, so personally I would always use either a real sound card or something that can output a digital signal so I can at least let my receiver do the DAC. If you have a Marantz stereo receiver that has no DAC onboard, you will not have a use for it. That's the same thing as saying that it has no digital inputs. SPDIF was never "upgraded" to allow for more channels so SPDIF is still SPDIF and they used HDMI as a replacement that can carry at least 7.1 channel audio. Which was then used for Bluray. So when DVD had "DTS" now Bluray has "DTS-HD Master Audio" and when DVD had "Dolby Surround" (or Dolby Digital) now Bluray has "Dolby TrueHD" but it's really a bit of the same, just upgraded to HDMI. An external DAC (sound card) you can typically connect through USB and if it is really a DAC, you can also connect your optical cable to it. This is the backside of the one I have (mine is in silver): https://www.westcoasthifi.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/WestCoastHiFi_Ca... It has 4 digital inputs (USB, Toslink, Coax, Coax) and 2 outputs, doesn't get more complex or more simple than that. If you have room for a soundcard, sure, why not, I just feel that today getting a soundcard might not be it. Personally I often use µATX motherboards which have little expansion space. A graphics card takes up 2-3 slots, leaving only one slot available. For this reason personally if I needed something, I would get either a standalone USB dac (soundcard) with a cable to it, or something small that plugs into the USB port almost directly. When you get an USB soundcard, there is no reason really not to get a digital output on it. On the other hand if you know you will never need one, you can also look for "cards" that just have 2x RCA, or minijack. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound card versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before. What do you think? -- Bob Rea www.petard.us www.petard.us/blog America, it was a wonderful country Til they took it private and made it a theme park of itself -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Bob Rea schreef op 18-04-16 02:18:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound card versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before.
What do you think?
Well if you are content with that headphone port. I'm sorry, I may not have read your original mail very accurately. The headphone port seems to be your main line-out, right? I may have thought you didn't have sound anymore. I would say the only reason to get USB sound card is if it is has better sound quality. If you are content with just usinga headphone port (and I probably would be) then there is no reason to change anything, unless you get higher quality. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 18/04/16 01:18, Bob Rea wrote:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound card versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before.
What do you think?
Depends what you want, if the headphone jack works and gives you the quality you want stay with that. If you want something a bit better there are any number of usb devices that will probably give you better sound, and rather more flexibilty than the onboard sound chip Amazon has a few http://www.amazon.co.uk/External-Sound-Cards/b?ie=UTF8&node=430548031 All of which assumes you are in UK. Your standards are yours, but If I wanted such a device I'd get one of these http://www.richersounds.com/product/dacs/cambridge-audio/dacmagic-xs/camb-da.... Whether that's cheap enough for you only you can say Whether this or anything else works on Linux you need to consult the ALSA website. FWIW from what you say I don't think you need optical either, It all depends on what you want to do. M -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On Monday, April 18, 2016 09:11:46 AM michael norman wrote:
On 18/04/16 01:18, Bob Rea wrote:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound card versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before.
What do you think?
Depends what you want, if the headphone jack works and gives you the quality you want stay with that.
http://www.richersounds.com/product/dacs/cambridge-audio/dacmagic-xs/camb-da cmagic-xs. Whether that's cheap enough for you only you can say
Whether this or anything else works on Linux you need to consult the ALSA website.
FWIW from what you say I don't think you need optical either, It all depends on what you want to do.
Thanks, that's the answer I needed. -- Bob Rea www.petard.us www.petard.us/blog America, it was a wonderful country Til they took it private and made it a theme park of itself -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 04/17/2016 05:18 PM, Bob Rea wrote:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound card versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before.
What do you think?
I think your sound card did not fail. If headphone jack works, the sound card is working. Your connection the speakers may have failed, but I susepect software is to blame. The chance of left and right speaker connections failing at the same time without some physical abuse seems remote. -- After all is said and done, more is said than done. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On Monday, April 18, 2016 10:12:17 AM John Andersen wrote:
On 04/17/2016 05:18 PM, Bob Rea wrote:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound card versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before.
What do you think?
I think your sound card did not fail.
If headphone jack works, the sound card is working.
Your connection the speakers may have failed, but I susepect software is to blame. The chance of left and right speaker connections failing at the same time without some physical abuse seems remote.
I get sound from the headphone port. I do not get sound from the output port on the built-in wound in the back of the computer. I think it is this port that has failed. I may find ways to test the others. -- Bob Rea www.petard.us www.petard.us/blog America, it was a wonderful country Til they took it private and made it a theme park of itself -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Op maandag 18 april 2016 13:32:25 CEST schreef Bob Rea:
On Monday, April 18, 2016 10:12:17 AM John Andersen wrote:
On 04/17/2016 05:18 PM, Bob Rea wrote:
On Friday, April 15, 2016 04:13:31 PM Xen wrote:
Bob Rea schreef op 15-04-16 03:11:
My built in sound card has failed. The headphone jack does work. Is there any audio reason to get a usb sound card? If so, do you have recommendations for one?
My question is whether there is any advantage to a cheap USB sound
card
versus jsut using the headphone port. I don't think I need optical. I wasn't using it before.
What do you think?
I think your sound card did not fail.
If headphone jack works, the sound card is working.
Your connection the speakers may have failed, but I susepect software is to blame. The chance of left and right speaker connections failing at the same time without some physical abuse seems remote.
I get sound from the headphone port. I do not get sound from the output port on the built-in wound in the back of the computer. I think it is this port that has failed. I may find ways to test the others. Install pavucontrol, and run it from a terminal window. Play around with the output settings.
-- Gertjan Lettink, a.k.a. Knurpht openSUSE Board Member openSUSE Forums Team -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
participants (6)
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Bob Rea -
John Andersen -
Knurpht - Gertjan Lettink -
michael norman -
Xen -
Yamaban