[Elecraft] OT - sound cards

[Jim Dunstan]

At 01:29 PM 1/9/2012, you wrote:


Hi,

My observation of built in sound cards both desktop (also an HP) and 
laptop (Asus netbook) is that they are not very good from a noise 
point of view.  I have acquired an M-Audio D-44 which i use in my 
station desktop computer.  It is a PCI card with an external breakout 
box .... making it very convenient from a radio shack point of 
view.  The radio can be almost 5' away from the computer.

I have compared it to built in sound cards for recording and digital 
operations.  The D-44 is clearly superior.  When operating digital 
modes I have compared it to the built in sound cards as well as the 
external units such as the Signalink. The waterfall on the screen is 
best with the D-44 ... by a long shot ... even when compared to the 
external units like the Signalink.  The M-Audio was originally used 
by me for music recording ... then it was recruited for my early SDR 
experiments ... and now it is used for digital mode radio 
operations.  The only shortcoming is that it is far from portable 
hi.  The little Signalink works well with my laptop for portable work 
... but not quite as clean as my D-44.

M-audio still makes good sound cards (the D-44 is now obsolete).

Jim, VE3CI


>A lot of computers (especially HP) are notorious for that. It is a hardware
>design flaw as Joe W4TV has described.
>
>If you disconnect the power supply from your laptop (i.e. run on 
>battery power)
>and try it again you'll probably notice a significant improvement in 
>the noise
>level of your recorded audio. What does that tell you?
>
>I had to resort to using an external sound card to digitize audio 
>and then suck
>it into the computer via USB. Something like the M-Audio or similar 
>devices that
>you can find at Guitar Center for recording musical instruments. Using one of
>these the audio is clean. Good luck in your efforts.
>
>Regards,
>
>Al  W6LX