ITLogic()

Ok, I'll start by telling you my current setup and then what I want to accomplish.

I'm setting up a home audio system using my wireless network. I have my old computer being used as a streaming server. I have an old 16bit SoundBlaster PCI and the on-board sound enabled. This gives me the ability to run two distinct streams throughout my house. One is for my playlist, the other for my wife. This way she can be in one room listening to her music and I can be somewhere elase listening to mine. Anyway, I have MusicMatch running with the output device set to the SoundBlaster for her music and WinAmp with the on-board set as the output device for my music. It works perfectly and I can switch between the two from anywhere in the house.

Now, here is what I want to do. The on-board sound sounds like crap and I would like to upgrade the SoundBlaster. To simplify things I would like to get two identical upgraded sound cards and run the same senerio as listed above. My concern is that I will have a driver conflict because they will both use one set of drivers. I could go with two different cards that use different drivers, similar to what I have now, but I would like to use identical cards if possible. Then, I would like to set the on-board audio as the default audio so that I will not hear and of the Windows sounds in my streams.

So, the bottom line, can I run two sound cards on one set of drivers and Windows will recognize two distinct sounds cards? Or, should I just save myself the headache and get different cards that each use their own set of drivers?

bamdrew

I have been stumped by a similar question (trying to set up an inexpensive array of multiple sound cards to deliver different audio at different times to different speaker systems, and controlling them via a simple Matlab program which automates the sound cards outputs based on a separate input).

I had read elsewhere that multiple sound cards of the same brand and type are indexed fine, and didn't compete for drivers. Search for something like 'multiple sound cards indexed' on google.

Here's a some-what unhelpful official reply from Creative Lab; when asked if I could purchase a handful of different internal PCI or externally housed USB-linked cards from them...

"Unfortunately, none of our Sound Blaster or X-FI line of sound cards
will accomplish what you are trying to do. Also we do not support having
more than one sound card in the system. The reason is there are to many
resource conflicts, lockups, and other problems that will occur.

Try checking out our Line of EMU line of sound cards. The following
link should take you to where you can get more information.

http://www.emu.com/products/welcome.asp?category=505& "

Following that link leads simply to more expensive equipment; will multiples of these expensive cards not lockup? Maybe I'll ask them this.

For your situation (and possibly mine), maybe you would like to explore using the Roku Soundbridge ( http://www.rokulabs.com/products/soundbridge/ ) which is basicly a stereo reciever for your computer that runs out of your ethernet port and a router (allowing it to be wireless or ethernet wired). They say that you can use up to 10 units at the same time with Windows Media Connect.

Via an email response from Roku Tech support, I was told that if I wanted to make a program to automate control of 8 different Soundbridge units...; "The control protocol for the SoundBridge should allow you to control each of the units by its IP address. This is usually done with telnet. So you can have eight telnet sessions open to connect to the eight different SoundBridges. You can then issue commands to the SoundBridge units via telnet to connect to your library and play certain song files."

Each of the cheapest Soundbridge units is $150. They make some with nice displays that are $500, and are easier to find for purchase.

However, there are many companies that make soundcards, so I'm assuming there has to be one that supports using however many of their product in unison.

I have been unable to find any advice from people who are using multiples of the same soundcard successfully. Its probably out there, and if you find it or if you solve your problem, please post an update.

ITLogic()

WOW! I'm going to follow that link to the Roku thing. That sounds pretty cool.

Here is a quick setup of my system. This may help you accomplish what you want to do. Just remember that this setup was just for testing to see if this was even possible. Now that I have determined that it is, I want to upgrade some hardware to get a better system.

I currently have an older HP computer with a Pentium 4 and 512Ram. I added a slave hard drive where several thousand mp3 files are. I use MusicMatch Pro to listen and make playlists and all that.

I just bought a house that is about 75 years old, plaster walls and all. So, needless to say I'm not real excited about running wire behind the walls. I started looking into the whole streaming media thing to see if I could use my already existing wireless network to carry the music around the house. Oh, and also, since I did just buy this house I needed to do it as inexpensivly as possible.

As I was looking at my options for setting up a media server, I came across Icecast. It is a free download that basically transmits your media across your network. It is the same thing alot of people use that set up internet radio stations. In fact, I tested it and was able to listen to my home audio over the internet at work.

Anyway, Icecast by its self does nothing. You then need a source client. The source client feeds the media from your source to the Icecast server which sends it out on your network. There was a free source client called oddcast. When I first read about it, it was a free plug-in for winamp, but when I went to their website they had a stand-alone version. Oddcast, had a drop down that listed all my audio cards, here is where I selected what source I wanted to stream to my network. At the time I only had the old SoundBlaster, so that was my only option.

I forgot to mention that Icecast also acts as a small web server. What you do is, type in the IP address and port of the server in the browser of any other computer on your network and a web page comes up with a link to connect to the stream.

It all worked great! Then I remembered that I had added that SoundBlaster and disabled the on-board audio. I got to thinking that maybe I could run two instances of the oddcast, one set with the SoundBlaster as the source and the other with the on-board after I re-enabled it.

The only problem with that was I had to change the output of MusicMatch to the SoundBlaster, then install WinAmp and set the output of that one to the on-board. So, in the end, I have to run MuisMatch and WinAmp and two instances of Oddcast. But, when I go to the that same web page, I now have two streams listed and I can switch back and forth by clicking on either link.

There was more to it, like I set up remote desktop so I can control any computer in any room from the main server, but I have already written way more than I intended and if you are interested in setting up something similar, just let me know and I'll give you some help.

Finally, as for cost, I just ordered a pair of some small Bose speaker on Ebay for $70 to try something out with. Other than that, I haven't spent a dime!

TheMatt

What are you trying to acomplish with two sound cards? Remember that you can't put sound cards in "SLi" like you can with video cards to increase performance. If you get a creative Xi-Fi card, you will get very good sound.

ITLogic()

Hey Matt. I am trying to stream two distinct playlist. I'm not trying to syncronize multiple cards or anything like video SLI. I just want seperate outputs. Now, if you know of a single card that has the circuitry to process different channels and Windows would recognize each channel as a seperate devices, that would be great too!

My main question was really, can I run two of the same cards eventhough they both use the same driver? Would there be a driver confilt?

I was doing some other research and it looks like, from a thing a read and if I understood it correctly,that Windows will actually create two instances of the driver so there should not be a conflict.