Sound cards on pc's

[stuzzy]

I am experimenting with a home user using phone manager pro voip through and sg200 vpn box. Currently she is using the onboard sound card which is full duplex.

I have tested the systems from my house using my hotrod computer with an soundblaster audigy sound card and using the computer set up for the home user. There is a difference in quality. The only requirements for a sound card I have been able to find are for it to be full duplex and 16 bit.

My questions are:

How impportant is the sound card quality outside of the full duplex, 16 bit requirements and what specs should I be looking at in regards to sound cards?

How important is the ram in the machine in regards to voice quality?

Just curious if anyone here has been through this.

Both of the machines are running p4's. My hotrod has 1gb of ram compared to 256 on the other. My computer has an audigy and the other built in sound card. Both running XP pro.

 

[jonnyGURU]

I've always just used on board sound. Pretty "low end" but works with no issues at all. I think everything these days is full duplex capable. Sometimes full vs. half duplex is a matter of a check box. It's not something I've ever really concerned myself with.


Dispensing quality rants and mishaps since 1999:

http://www.jonnyguru.com

 

[Morrack]

I think it's like anything stuzzy, you get what you pay for. The minimum requirement for a voice conversation is a string and two empty soup cans, but you can get much better than that

Seriously - can your client tell? I can tell the difference between G.729 and G.711, for instance, but 90% of my clients say they can't. If it's just for business voice converstations as opposed to an audiophile listening to classical music...

Peter

 

[jonnyGURU]

Well put. Another good example: My entire CD collection is ripped to 128Kbps MP3's. I think it's CD quality. A friend who did the same thing believes in 160Kbps.

Dispensing quality rants and mishaps since 1999:

http://www.jonnyguru.com