Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 23:17:31 +1000 From: Stephen McKay <mckay@thehub.com.au> To: freebsd-multimedia@freebsd.org Cc: mckay@thehub.com.au Subject: Re: Fortissimo II vs Santa Cruz for FreeBSD Message-ID: <200201231317.g0NDHVD42554@dungeon.home> In-Reply-To: <200201161447.g0GElBb18287@dungeon.home> from Stephen McKay at "Thu, 17 Jan 2002 00:47:11 %2B1000" References: <200201161447.g0GElBb18287@dungeon.home>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Thursday, 17th January 2002, Stephen McKay wrote: >So, has anybody tried either of these cards with FreeBSD? How do they >sound? Do they even work at all? Any problems with 44.1kHz (given that >both of them run at 48kHz internally, as far as I know)? Does recording >work? I thought I should update you all on my progress. I corresponded with a few people as a result of this thread. One responded with "The Fortissimo II works with 4.4, but I haven't tried recording". Another said "I have a Santa Cruz. It's been excellent. Haven't tried recording yet." So, that's part one: They both work (and maybe even record too). Someone suggested http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm as a source of useful data. Indeed it is. Another countered with "FreeBSD does not support a lot of features of these cards" so I would be wasting money, and "Most cheap cards are very good these days. My particular favorites are the ALS4000 and CS4281." This is mostly true. But I'm not happy with the hiss level on my current ALS4000. Cheap seems to mean you can be lucky, or not, with the "same" cards. My final correspondent suggested the "Hoontech DSP24 Value. Supposedly the Envy24 driver at http://www.opensound.com works for it under FreeBSD." This looks quite appealing: 24bit 96kHz stereo playback and record through RCA connectors, a 10 channel 36 bit hardware mixer, and coaxial and optical digital in/out on an optional bracket. No silly 3D modes. Straightforward and practical. And cheap too (compared to similar cards). http://www.alsa-project.org (the Linux sound driver project) supports the DSP24, and the chip manufacturer supplies the data sheet for free. Could be a winner, with a bit of work. Could also be sort of insurance against a likely near future when direct CD ripping becomes impossible, and you have to rip via your sound card's audio input. Well, it could happen! And do you want to run your CD collection through the dodgy input circuits of your cheap sound card when encoding? >And does anybody know where I can buy a Santa Cruz in Australia? As far as I can tell, nobody sells this card here. >PS I heard a rumour that the VideoLogic SonicFury is the Santa Cruz >board in a different box. Does anyone know if this is true? Apparently this is true. (My guess is it will turn out to be ever-so-subtly different, and ruin my day :-) But I can't find a vendor for this one either. And the punch line? What will I buy? Probably the Hoontech DSP24 (just because I can), and also the Fortissimo II (to actually use right now). I'm not convinced that any of the cheap cards will be turn out to sound any good, and I'm willing to waste the fancy 3D aspects to get the sound I want. Plus the DSP24 looks like a practical and useful tool. Well, OK, I want to fiddle with it! That's enough reason, isnt it? Stephen. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-multimedia" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200201231317.g0NDHVD42554>