[hpsdr] Dumb question - HPSDR sound card

[Terry Fox]

This may sound like a divergent path, but...

There is a consistent problem with sound cards used with SoftRocks and other
simple SDR hardware.  Especially laptops.  I realize the work here on Janus
& Ozy will create a high-quality converter (I have one set on order), but
there may be room for a simpler project as well.

How difficult would it be to take the A/D & D/A and interface them to an
FPGA or other USB/firewire interface, all on a single, low-cost board?  For
those not interested in spending over $350 for Atlas, Janus, Ozy (or
expensive commercial USB/firewire solutions), this one-board solution would
be attractive.  I think it would need to cost less than $100.

This is an ongoing issue that will not go away for a while.  I realize it
may "undercut" the Janus/Ozy/Atlas somewhat.  I also realize that there are
many, many sound cards out there, but all are less than optimum or
expensive, again especially for laptop use.

The cheap PCM2900 boards got me thinking about this potential project.
Interfacing a better A/D and D/A to USB in such a way that Windows and Linux
will find them is all that is required.

Horton comes the closest to this, but it has the QSD and no D/A, I believe.

Spending $400 for a firewire audio card to use a $13 SoftRock Lite with a
laptop doesn't make sense.  Spending $75 to $100 might.  I believe that a
project like this would do a lot to simplify and therefore further SDR
acceptance in the amateur community.

Just a thought.
Terry