Can anyone recommend a high-end sound card to use with Media Center 12?
It depends on what you want to use it for: games, multi-channel for use with videos or just high quality two channel sound.
I am only interested in two channel sound so I'll comment on that.
- PCI soundcards are more mature than USB audio.
- Good drivers matter. look for good and bad reports on forums.
- Microsoft changed the entire driver model for Vista and soundcard makers have been slow to get stable, fully functional drivers to market. Look for reports on successful use for XP or Vista - whichever you use.
- If you use XP, look for a soundcard that comes with an ASIO driver that bypasses the normal Windows audio path. (ASIO4all works with soundcards that don't have ASIO drivers. It isn't the same thing.)
- If you don't want the soundcard for games or home theater, you don't want huge drivers with every possible sound effect provided. You want small, reliable drivers that just pass the audio unmolested.
I use XP. I chose an ESI Juli@ card 2 years ago and have been completely satisfied. Installation was simple and without problems. No problems since then. Playback and recording sound fine to me. (~ $ 150.)
Recently I bought an Audiotrak Prodigy HD2 card for a second zone. No problems there either ands great sound ($ 75.) (Audiotrak is the consumer side of ESI.
Both drivers came with ASIO support that just works. Chose it from the menu in MC 12 and it works.
Almost all recent desktop PCs have onboard HD audio. This is a big improvement over the AC 97 spec that was common a few years ago. So try out the onboard sound on your PC. It may be good enough for a second room or a home office situation.
Bill
