Many spaces refer to OHCI as 1394. Those kinds of 1394 cards are for proprietary use only. They cannot be used for anything except video capture. These manufacturers have written proprietary codecs that work with their cards, not controller interface software. As a video editor amonst other things, all systems in our studio that have Canopus, Matrox, or Pinnacle cards also have OHCI cards living right next to them.
OHCI cards are relatively inexpensive.
The only difference between the quality of one OHCI card from another, is the quality of the workmanship and number of connectors. Some have 2, some have 3, and some have 4. But not one card can capture video or audio 'better' than another card. I have my own opinions as to which cards might be made better with higher quality parts and QC, but that's for a side line e-mail, if you care enough to ask. If you have to install any software to make an OHCI card work in your Windows ME, 98SE or Win2K system, it's not a true OHCI card.