Thinking of upgrading your sound card or taking the leap from an integrated card to a dedicated one? Our buyers guide will help you sort out all the variables so that you can make a smart and informed decision.

We will guide you step by step through important aspects of choosing the sound card most suitable for your needs.

Budget

• $0 to $30- Entry Level Sound Cards
• “Everyday” music listening
• Burning CDs
• Basic gaming and online video viewing
• $30 to $60- Mid Range Sound Cards
• Heavy gaming
• Audio editing
• VoIP applications
• $60 or more - High End Sound Cards
• Professional Audio Productions
• Home Theater Applications
• Heavy Editing.
• Audiophiles

Sampling Rate

A higher sampling rate means more clusters of sound are stored for each second of audio, thereby creating a smoother sound that is closer to the original analog signal. So for sake of reference, let’s look at a standard music CD. A CD is sampled at 44.1KHz which means that any sound card with a 44.1KHz sampling rate will give you CD quality sound.

• 44.1KHz to 48 KHz- Entry Level Sound Cards
• “Everyday” music listening
• Burning CDs
• Basic gaming and online video viewing
• 96KHz- Mid Range Sound Cards
• Heavy gaming
• Audio editing
• VoIP applications
• 192KHz and more - High End Sound Cards
• Professional Audio Productions
• Home Theater Applications
• Heavy Editing.
• Audiophiles

Bit Rate

The bit rate of a sound card refers to the amount of information stored in each individual cluster of sound. When sound is recorded digitally it is stored as 1 and 0s. Each of these digits is one byte. There are 8 bits in one byte. Therefore, when you use more bits to define a sound the better it will sound. Bit rate and sampling rate go hand-in-hand and the higher the bit rate, the more accurate the digital recording.

• 8bit to 16bit- Entry Level Sound Cards
• “Everyday” music listening
• Burning CDs
• Basic gaming and online video viewing
• 16bit to 24bit - Mid Range Sound Cards
• Heavy gaming
• Audio editing
• VoIP applications
• More than 24bit - High End Sound Cards
• Professional Audio Productions
• Home Theater Applications
• Heavy Editing.
• Audiophiles

Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)

The signal to noise ratio, measured in decibels (dB).is a measure of how much pure audio signal there is versus unwanted noise. The higher the value, the better the sound quality will be. Most sound cards will offer SNR ratings of 80 to 104 dB.

• 89dB to 96dB - Entry Level Sound Cards
• “Everyday” music listening
• Burning CDs
• Basic gaming and online video viewing
• 100dB to 108dB - Mid Range Sound Cards
• Heavy gaming
• Audio editing
• VoIP applications
• 109dB and Higher - High End Sound Cards
• Professional Audio Productions
• Home Theater Applications
• Heavy Editing.
• Audiophiles

Sound Channels

The number of sound channels refers to the number of individual speakers that are supported by the sound card. So a 5.1 channel card will cover 6 speakers (two rear speakers, two front speakers, one centre speaker, and one sub-woofer) Consider how many speakers you are ultimately going to use when determining how many channels you will need. If you are planning to only listen to audio though a head set, then the number of channels should not have an impact in your decision making process.

Please checkmark the number of Sound Channels you would like below then press the “search” button to see the updated list of products matching your criteria on the right.

Summary

With price points continually coming down and feature sets continually going up, it is a great time to purchase a Sound Card. With all of the above considerations in hand you should now be better equipped to make an more informed choice when choosing a Sound Card that best suits your needs.