Silent Warrior Posted June 16, 2007 Posted June 16, 2007 *Cough*Luxury-problem*cough* perhaps, but I foresee a bit of annoyance and then some, so to speak, in the future. The thing is that I have a SB X-Fi ExtremeMusic (not Audio), and I also dual-boot XP/Linux, (say what you want, I like the feel of data-security Linux gives - no more apocalypses at OS upgrades) where I also like to listen to music, or for other reasons appreciate having sound. Since Creative seems to hate Linux with a rare passion, I have to connect my speakers to the onboard sound (which works fairly well - nothing breaks, no crashes). Needless to say, I'd prefer not to have to do this. So, I just started glancing at other soundcards. So far, RME's stock looks mighty interesting - I like the idea of hooking up my PS2's sound to my PC-speakers by means of an optical cable [TOSLINK?] (20+-years-old TV with mono-sound will do that to a man) - but that would go against the nature of the free market. This is where YOU come in. What I want is recommendations on soundcards that can be expected to work in Linux in the reasonably near future. Creative is supposed to have Linux-drivers on the way this summer, I mean to wait and see what comes out of that before I do anything particularly rash. I'm especially interested in if you've had experience with those "interesting" cards. Regular usage, or gaming/LOMAC, whichever. Worship to be awarded if you have made a first-hand comparison. To keep in mind: Optical I/O - PS2->5.1-speakers r teh win!!1 :smartass: I also have an MD I might want to transfer stuff from along the way. Not a requirement, but it would be jolly nice to have. Windows and Linux-support - Windows is pretty much given, but Linux isn't. Most of the cards I've inspected seem to have Linux-support through ALSA, some don't. I DON'T do audio-editing or advanced somesuch. I just listen to music, play games, and prefer it to sound really rather nice. A soundcard that puts my speakers to shame would be nice. Cost isn't a concern RIGHT NOW - any purchase would be far off, prices may have dropped, or there might be fancier gear available, like that thing Auzentech is building around an X-Fi-chip. (7.1 Prelude?) The 'contestants': (I would list a fair few of Auzentech's stock, but judging by ALSA's listing, very few of them can be expected to work in Linux. They look waaay interesting otherwise.) RME Hammerfall DSP - There are a fair few cards in this family, all looking quite gorgeous. That the finer points of them involves filling up TWO panels to have room for everything makes me a bit jumpy... I THINK I have room for that, though. Maybe. Turtle Beach Montego DDL - Supposedly doesn't have Linux-drivers right now, but at least they're quite open to the idea. ASOUND/ASONIC - Seems to be a Chinese bunch, but they're using the C-media-chips Auzentech uses. Who knows... (CMI8768+ seems to be as high as I have reason to go today. And maybe beyond...) AudioTrak - They have some funky gear, but they make no mention of Linux-support. ALSA's listing claims it exists, though. Prodigy 7.1 doesn't have optical I/O, Pr. 192 does, and is marketed as a board for the pros. Over to you.
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