Suitable soundcards

NOTE - This article applies to Solo version 1.

Most consumer quality sound cards are too slow to be used acceptably with Solo - it is not recommended that you attempt to use a SoundBlaster or similar, or any onboard soundcard as these tend to be far too slow to be deemed acceptable for use - the latency of the card is extremely important when talking 'live' to a caller!

WDM Driver

Any soundcard intended for use with Solo must have a 'Windows Driver Model' (WDM) driver installed (also sometimes referred to as DirectSound compatible). If this is not the case, then the soundcard will appear installed in Windows, but will NOT appear as an available input or output for Solo.

Performance

To obtain optimal performance within Solo, PCI soundcards should be able to operate as a 'Bus Master'. All PCI Express (PCIe) cards should be able to perform optimally although this of course depends on the soundcard.

Granularity

The granularity (measured in samples) can be adjusted to obtain the best performance without loading a card too heavily. If the granularity is set too low, clicks are often heard in the audio of the callers. Set too high, and the audio will be noticeably latent. 192 is the minimum granularity and represents a latency of 20ms. Increasing the granularity results in a proportional increase in the latency, so a granularity of 576 represents a latency of 60ms. It is important to remember that there may be other latency in the phone call such as the normal delay experienced on the telephone network, especially to mobiles.

Cards with good performance


Cards not tested but expected to have good performance


Cards which work but dont perform acceptably for onair use (note - these are suitable for use as a music on hold feed where the latency is not relevant)