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Date:      Fri, 2 Feb 2018 05:07:39 -0800 (PST)
From:      Robroy Gregg <robroy@bigbuckingunicorn.com>
To:        C Gray <frankfenderbender@council124.org>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: followup to my previous sound-card/driver question
Message-ID:  <alpine.BSF.2.20.1802020457470.53310@beak.h.net>
In-Reply-To: <69060D2E-8ED1-4BDB-8801-2BA29F15C632@council124.org>
References:  <8F08E935-33A8-4B5F-9057-51FAD51DA97D@council124.org> <20180201121251.95e345cf.freebsd@edvax.de> <09DEB81A-3DC1-4147-9249-0497C89F429B@council124.org> <69060D2E-8ED1-4BDB-8801-2BA29F15C632@council124.org>

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'morning Chris,

On Thu, 1 Feb 2018, C Gray wrote:

> I just want some audio for my Python/PHP/Java/Javascript/Perl/C 
> development server.

For this use I'd recommend skipping the internal sound card all together, 
and buying an external, USB-connected sound card (DAC).  This one works 
fine for me with FreeBSD 11.1-RELEASE in a USB 2.0 port:

    http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/micro-dac-24-192

I bought one through eBay for $49.  You just plug this item in to any USB 
2.0 or 3.0 port (no penalty for 2.0), plug your headphones in, and you 
have sound--and the sound quality seems excellent.

A USB connected sound card may seem hokey, but I gather from the more 
audio-inclined that it's a nicer design since it's less subject to EMI 
than internal cards.

To respond to your other questions about PCI-e card mixing'n'matching, 
here are a few goofy things I did recently that completely worked (also 
with 11.1-RELEASE):

   a]  A QLE2562 (PCI-e 2.0 x8) card in a PCI-e 3.0 x4 slot

   b]  An nVidia PCI-e 3.0 x16 card in a PCI-e 2.0 x8 slot

Yet I think you'll be better off using the external DAC and saving your 
PCI-e slots for a card that can actually use the bandwidth.

Days of joy to you Chris



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