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two sound cards in Windows 7?

post #1 of 6
10/16/10 at 9:49pm
Thread Starter 

Is it possible to have two sound cards installed on the computer? one would be used for stereo listening and the other, mainly for multimedia and MIDI applications. Is it possible to switch between them, depending on the needs? (I do not need to use both at once, just one at a time).

Thanks.


Edited by lotriwer - 10/16/10 at 9:50pm
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post #2 of 6
10/16/10 at 10:43pm

Short answer is yes.

 

For example, you already have two soundcards when you have the onboard audio chip and a separate soundcard, no reason why 3 can't be done.

Personally I have 2, the onboard chip of my laptop and an external USB soundcard, I use one for all the Windows sounds and the other for music.


Edited by khaos974 - 10/16/10 at 10:46pm
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post #3 of 6
10/16/10 at 11:30pm

Yes, very possible.  You can have multiple sound cards (or more generically, audio interfaces) active and working and making sound at the same time. 

 

Windows can only have one sound card active as the default audio device.  The default audio device will get system sounds and be the default choice for audio applications that are only able to play to the default device.  So that means apps like iTunes, Windows Media Player, Flash (YouTube, your browser), many games, etc. will all play over the default audio device and won't be able to be played over whatever is set as a secondary (non-default) audio device.

 

Smart applications like Foobar, J River, professional level audio editing apps, etc. will have an option that will allow you to select that the app play to a particular audio device.  So an app like Foobar can play to any audio device that is connected to the computer.

 

Use the "Sound" applet in Control Panel to select what audio device is the default.

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post #4 of 6
10/17/10 at 12:21am
Thread Starter 

Thank you very much!

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post #5 of 6
12/16/10 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich View Post

Yes, very possible.  You can have multiple sound cards (or more generically, audio interfaces) active and working and making sound at the same time. 

 

Windows can only have one sound card active as the default audio device.  The default audio device will get system sounds and be the default choice for audio applications that are only able to play to the default device.  So that means apps like iTunes, Windows Media Player, Flash (YouTube, your browser), many games, etc. will all play over the default audio device and won't be able to be played over whatever is set as a secondary (non-default) audio device.

 

Smart applications like Foobar, J River, professional level audio editing apps, etc. will have an option that will allow you to select that the app play to a particular audio device.  So an app like Foobar can play to any audio device that is connected to the computer.

 

Use the "Sound" applet in Control Panel to select what audio device is the default.




It's comprehensive, It's helpful to me, I understand this part, Thanks for your sharing!
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post #6 of 6
12/18/10 at 1:00pm

I've used 2 sound cards in my machine also.. Pretty much common sense..You can always just disable the one your not gonna use for a while..So if you want to use an xfi for gaming disable the card you use for music and vise versa..Normally have to reboot tho,but works like a charm..

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