How to determine the parameters of a sound card - bit depth, harmonics, noise?

Question

Audio

I want to record a sound for a podcast (there is such an idea to conduct a podcast). There are several usb sound, there is an express-card sound, there is a motherboard with a kind of cool gaming sound. How "on instruments" to determine the quality of the recording, the level of distortion, and the "quality" of the recorded sound?
PS. By ear, I can’t tell, unlike the listeners.
P.P.S. How do I know if a board supports ASIO in hardware?

Answer 1

How to build a frequency response? Take a generator and send a signal from 0 to 20000 Hz with a constant amplitude, while shooting a digital one - look for a constant amplitude and the presence of extraneous signals.

Answer 2

Podcasting is a rather "dirty" genre in general, IMHO. For a fairly high-quality recording, I would recommend that you buy a high-quality blue yeti type USB microphone and not bother with the selection of sound cards.