Sound cards were first introduced in the mid 1980�s, and whilst their
feature list was limited and output was far from spectacular, they
paved the way for the plethora of technology available on sound cards
today. Although choice is always a good thing for the consumer, the
sheer volume of technical jargon and acronyms associated with sound
cards has made selecting an appropriate model much more difficult than
it needs to be.

The first thing to do is to think about what you will use your sound
card for. Are you a frequent gamer, watch movies or play music via your
PC? Do you have a home cinema set up? If this is the case, then you
should be considering a mid-high range card that will take advantage of
your speaker system and live up to your expectations. However, if you
do little more than listen to Windows sounds and play the odd CD
through your PC, a budget sound card would be more suited to your
requirements.

The majority of cards these days come with at least 5.1-channel
surround sound, though 7.1-channel is becoming more popular. If you
have a home cinema set up then it is crucial you get a sound card with
enough channels to make full use of your speaker system. If you�re just
using headphones or standard stereo speakers then the number of
channels isn�t an issue.

Connectivity is another concern, particularly if you are in to
recording. For the average user, the standard line-in, MIDI, and
microphone connections alongside the speaker outputs found on all
budget cards are more than enough. However, most high end cards come
with optical, firewire and digital connections, which may be essential
if you�re looking to record from instruments or edit sound and video.
Some cards even come with a breakout box or drive bay with additional
input and output ports, though these are more suited to serious sound
enthusiasts, which is reflected by their higher price.

Duplexing is another point to look out for if you intend to use your PC
for voice communication. Most cards come with full duplexing, meaning
that they can record and play back sound simultaneously. A few cards
still only offer half duplexing though, so again it is something worth
checking before making a purchase.

Sampling rates are another talking point and are usually mentioned on
the specification of a sound card. Almost all cards now handle 16-bit
sound with a 48kHz sampling rate, which is fine for music playback and
gaming. If you are looking for the full home cinema experience, though
may do better looking at a card with 24-bit support and a 96kHz
sampling rate. Top of the line cards now offer 192kHz sampling rates,
though these will set you back a considerable sum and are overkill for
all but serious music producers and audiophiles.

A final thing to note is the signal to noise ratio. Top of the line
models may have ratios as high as 110dB and above, though you will more
commonly come across figures of around the 85dB mark.

If you�re looking at a low end card and don�t require all the bells and
whistles, you can get a reasonable model for around the $50 mark with
more than enough features. If your budget extends to $150-200 you will
have a much greater choice, and the majority of cards in this price
bracket offer far superior sound quality as well as a feature list as
long as your arm. Serious audiophiles will be looking at anything up to
$500 for a top of the line card with breakout box, though as stated
previously, these models really are overkill for the majority of home
users.

Sound cards were first introduced in the mid 1980�s, and whilst their
feature list was limited and output was far from spectacular, they
paved the way for the plethora of technology available on sound cards
today. Although choice is always a good thing for the consumer, the
sheer volume of technical jargon and acronyms associated with sound
cards has made selecting an appropriate model much more difficult than
it needs to be.

The first thing to do is to think about what you will use your sound
card for. Are you a frequent gamer, watch movies or play music via your
PC? Do you have a home cinema set up? If this is the case, then you
should be considering a mid-high range card that will take advantage of
your speaker system and live up to your expectations. However, if you
do little more than listen to Windows sounds and play the odd CD
through your PC, a budget sound card would be more suited to your
requirements.

The majority of cards these days come with at least 5.1-channel
surround sound, though 7.1-channel is becoming more popular. If you
have a home cinema set up then it is crucial you get a sound card with
enough channels to make full use of your speaker system. If you�re just
using headphones or standard stereo speakers then the number of
channels isn�t an issue.

Connectivity is another concern, particularly if you are in to
recording. For the average user, the standard line-in, MIDI, and
microphone connections alongside the speaker outputs found on all
budget cards are more than enough. However, most high end cards come
with optical, firewire and digital connections, which may be essential
if you�re looking to record from instruments or edit sound and video.
Some cards even come with a breakout box or drive bay with additional
input and output ports, though these are more suited to serious sound
enthusiasts, which is reflected by their higher price.

Duplexing is another point to look out for if you intend to use your PC
for voice communication. Most cards come with full duplexing, meaning
that they can record and play back sound simultaneously. A few cards
still only offer half duplexing though, so again it is something worth
checking before making a purchase.

Sampling rates are another talking point and are usually mentioned on
the specification of a sound card. Almost all cards now handle 16-bit
sound with a 48kHz sampling rate, which is fine for music playback and
gaming. If you are looking for the full home cinema experience, though
may do better looking at a card with 24-bit support and a 96kHz
sampling rate. Top of the line cards now offer 192kHz sampling rates,
though these will set you back a considerable sum and are overkill for
all but serious music producers and audiophiles.

A final thing to note is the signal to noise ratio. Top of the line
models may have ratios as high as 110dB and above, though you will more
commonly come across figures of around the 85dB mark.

If you�re looking at a low end card and don�t require all the bells and
whistles, you can get a reasonable model for around the $50 mark with
more than enough features. If your budget extends to $150-200 you will
have a much greater choice, and the majority of cards in this price
bracket offer far superior sound quality as well as a feature list as
long as your arm. Serious audiophiles will be looking at anything up to
$500 for a top of the line card with breakout box, though as stated
previously, these models really are overkill for the majority of home
users.