sound card recommendations please

[jpangelo]

I need some input, and suggestions, on which sound card to get, to replace the onboard audio.
Computer is an old Compaq I'm using as a sound generator (to keep away annoying bluejays!) The tones I'm using range from 16Khz to 21khz. The onboard audio on that old computer won't reach that high.

I need the card to:

*reach to 20khz
*work in windows 7 and/or Linux - I have Mint dual-booted on it
*needs to be PCI (not PCI-E)
*can't cost a lot (keep it under $40? $30?)


PC is an old Compaq, 2.66ghz Intel single-core, 1.5 gb ram, new PSU and HD, only slots in it are old-school PCI.

Thanks for your help. I haven't kept up with PC hardware in recent years and so don't know what's out there, compatibility, etc.

 

[KILLER_K]

Either something like this perhaps. $30 dollar range.
Creative
or
Asus

 

[atarione]

hmmm the sound card suggestions sound (pun not intended) good to me.


I wonder if a raspberry pi board would work for something like this? would sure be using less power than some old compaq?

full disclosure I have no idea if the on-board audio on the pi is up to this or no... their is a distro that allows for the use of external dacs and whatnot but would probably start getting a bit silly cost wise if that was needed.

 

[jpangelo]

Either something like this perhaps. $30 dollar range.
Creative
or
Asus

Thanks. I checked ASUS' website and they had drivers for both Win7 32 bit and 64 bit, so I nabbed one from Amazon.

Thanks again!

 

[KILLER_K]

You're welcome. Sorry for not putting both links to make it easier for you. I'm slipping a bit in my old age. Suffering from "CRS" is a bad thing.

 

[jpangelo]

OK, need help again.... the soundcards are dying after about 20 days or so....

I have had 2 ASUS Xonar DG cards die on me, one new from Amazon (they accepted the return) and 1 I had in another box, around a year old.

I'm using them in an old 939 system as a sound generator, playing a 16Khz tone, 10 sec on 20 sec off, to keep screaming bluejays away. It's been working great- the birds are silent, I can smoke my cigars in peace.

But the cards die after about 20 days or so.

I'm using the 1/8" green jack line-out to an old Yamaha stereo amplifier, and nothing else is showing errors. This morning I noticed bird noise again, checked my super tweeters, no sound from them. Sound card verified dead.

Is the frequency (16Khz) too high for this cheap card to continuously reproduce?
Can anyone help with what is killing these cards? The system is otherwise fine, all PCI slots check out fine, other expansion cards work with no problem in there, etc.
Can anyone suggest a sound card that might be better able to cope with what I'm doing here? I didn't know playing a simple tone would stress the card so much... no other part of the PC shows stress- no high CPU temp, no high PSU load, etc.

Thanks for any help!