difference between 8bit,16bit,32bit, and 64bit soundcards

[QCTECH1]

How can you tell the difference by looking at a sound card whether it is an 8 bit,16 bit, 32 bit, or a 64 bit soundcard. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you

[OuTpaTienT]

8-bit soundcards are a thing of the past. Poor sound quality.

16-bit soundcards are the standard and really all the average user needs. 16-bit sound is 44khz (22khz stereo) which is CD quality.

20/24/32-bit soundcards are also availble. Even though 16-bit sound is all you need when listening, these higher bit soundcards are designed for people who record/mix/edit their own material where that extra headroom can keep the sound from deteriorating by being processed over and over again.

64-bit soundcards. No such thing that I know of. No need. Would be WAY overkill.

[QCTECH1]

I work in for a company that sells everything from soundcards to printers. One of my fellow techs was wondering how to determine the bit size by looking at the actual sound card. Does the size of the card matter?

[OuTpaTienT]

Size of the card will tell you nothing. In fact, depending on the age of the card often the bigger it is the crappier it is.

Only way to tell might be to look at the main processing chip on the card, write down any markings on it then search the web to see if that's a good chip.

I'm not even gonna ask why you want to know how to do this.

[QCTECH1]

Thanks I will have to check that out. As to why I even want to do this, it because everyday I have about 50 people asking me questions like this. So the next time some asks I can say this is how you check. I work as a Quality Control Enginner, so it is my job to know things this mundane.

[OuTpaTienT]

Ok, well that's good to know. I thought maybe you guys were planning a midnight raid or something. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gifuT