[WriteLog] Using the Sound Card

[Robert McGwier]

Some of you may know that I am doing lots of DSP programming
for ham radio but just in case you did not, I am doing maybe most
of the DSP software defined radio project http://www.flex-radio.com
and re-doing PSKCORE.dll thanks to Moe Wheatley trusting me with
the source as well as re-doing WSJT with Joe Taylor.  In addition,
Mako-san has given me a way to add MMTTY support across networks
so I can run my software defined radio remotely and return the
audio samples to the application in the shack.  This will be used
to deliver audio to the new PSKCORE, and other things as well
as MMSSTV.

For all of this work and for several important projects at work,
I have done testing of various sound cards.  Some of them are
truly awful and some of the really big name ones are right there
with the WORST of them on recording,  you know, the part where
we get our audio in from our radios?  We need to constantly
be reminded that sound cards were brought along by gamers and
audio/video OUTPUTS.  The gazinta has been neglected for the
gazouta on the consumer products.  I always believed you had
to pay a fortune to get decent performance in a sound card.

Fortunately, I have discovered one inexpensive but just absolutely
OUTSTANDING sound card.  Truly remarkable performance for a
16 bit sound card.  This is the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz which
you can find for between $50 and $60 on the internet all over
the place.  It has a high quality 18 bit A/D and uses 16 bits and
is very linear.  It has extremely good and flat response.

It also takes the audio from my HC-4 qnd HC-5 and does a good
job with it.

One great tool, the Rightmark Audio Analyzer, can be found at

http://audio.rightmark.org


It is done by a group of Russian audiophiles and is FREEWARE.
I have found that it tests soundcards almost as well as my
tens of thousands of dollars of fancy gear at work!

Hope this is of service to some of you.

Bob
N4HY