Hi I asked the same question about two weeks ago. I am pasting again for those who missed it. Hope this helps. All the credit goes to the author from Australia.
Named Robert Nelson You can use an external usb sound card with your laptop. Indeed, if you are using Jaws as your screen reader, it allows you to set up an ideal situation where Jaws, through its internal settings, can be made to use the laptop's internal sound card whilst the external sound card is set up as the default sound device to play your music, videos and the like. You would do it this way because the external sound device will have better sound quality than the internal sound device. As I have indicated, if you are using Windows, you will have to go into the Windows control panel and set the external sound device as the default sound device. When you plug the usb device in, depending on which one you buy, the driver will be downloaded from the internet or you will be prompted to insert the supplied CD. In most cases, unless you are determined to do something really tricky, you should be able to make any adjustments to the sound through the control panel. I am not sure how you would send the screen reader to one device and your music etc to the external sound device if you are using Window-eyes, System Access or NVDA but I do not doubt that it is possible to do it with those programs. The following is a list of some external usb sound cards. Of these, the Asus XONAR U7 and the Creative OMNI are probably the best. There are better units but they are also far more expensive. ASUS Xonar U7 Compact 7.1 Channel USB Soundcard - Headphone Amplifier With 192kHz/24-bit HD Sound, Dolby Technologies, Dolby Home Theater V4 - USB approx $100 Creative Sound Blaster Play! - USB Sound Card approx $30 (if you can find one, probably available on E-bay these days) Creative X-Fi Go Pro USB Sound Card - Black approx $70 (may be less on E-bay) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro - THX TruStudio Pro, Dolby Digital Live - USB2.0 approx $80 (or less on E-bay) Creative Sound Blaster Omni External Sound Card - 5.1 Channel, Built-In Dual Microphones With CrystalVoice Technology, Dolby Digital Live, Scout Mode - USB2.0 approx $90 Creative Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD - Black approx $130 Bob Nelson ----- Original Message ----- From: Sharonda Greenlaw To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2013 11:21 PM Subject: External USB Sound Card Recommendation Hello list, My name is Sharonda. though I've been on this list a while, I have only been lurking. I am now ready to do some hobby recording and need lots of help. I have a Windows 7 computer with JAWS 14. I have a Yamaha MM6 keyboard and want to record some songs that I have written. I want to get a fairly inexpensive USB sound card. What is the list's recommendation for this? I'm sure I will need a sound editor as well. Should I use Sound Forge or Goldwave? Are there any tutorials for either product? Thanks in advance for your assistance. This is truly a new area for me, so I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go. -- Sharonda Greenlaw President (Phoenix Chapter) National Federation of the Blind ------------- Skype: sharonda2004 Twitter: shari_rocks Facebook: facebook.com/TheSharondaWhiteGreenlaw To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org
