SOUND CARDS

ok, let's talk soundcards!

Never buy a M-audio! i bought the firewire version and it kept on disconnecting so I can't use it for a liveset! Rubbish...

My first card was an audigy 2 zs. i was actually quite pleased with that card. THE big advantage is the 'record what you hear' ability! Downsides were the crappy mini-jack outputs (3 stereo), minijack and pa systems don't like each other so it seems.

Now I got the Terratec phase 28 card. Bought it for 160€ so it's still a cheap card but I'm actually very pleased with it! 8 outs (jack) 2 ins, midi, asio 2 (though it's not as good as the audigy asio), 24/96... You can only buy it online but the delivery went great! Aphone, I played live in beursschouwburg with it, dunno if you saw my setup: 8 outs to 8 channels on a mixer and you git a live p.a. setup :))

yeah i seen it and loved it :)) dont you remember i came to talk to ya after yer set?? :))

nice tip, thanks !! i think we dont really need super expensive sound cards to have a good sound , and something i forgot about the M-audio : the drivers are a BIG SHIT thats why its disconnecting.. i got the same problem... M-AUDIO is better for a mac

i though audigy was not guud at all????

it all depends on what you want

i only need a line-in (to record audio from my midi equipment, my guitar, voice and blues harp) all softsynths (vst's, reason, etc...) can render their output straight to disk (or audio track in your preferred sequencer software)

and i need a line-out to hear what it sounds like trough an ordinary hifi setup

i also use a headphone alot (so i don't disturb any neighbours, or even my litlle son when he's asleep)

these three things (line-in, line-out, headphone jack) are on every freaking pc, on board or as a cheap pci card (or even isa... where's the time)

my setup is:

audio to pc:

• guitar + amp (epiphone les paul standard ebony + fender princeton chorus)
• blues harp + mike + amp (hohner special 20 + hohner bullet microphone + marble blues harp amp)
• roland e-28 keyboard (cheapo thingy but it has a nice 5 octave midi keyboard)
• roland mc-505 groovebox
• standard microphone (voice) all connected to a second hand analog mixing panel (technics or something) to the line-in of my pc

midi to pc and back to gear: i use a separate usb midi-hub (emagic mt04) that has 4 midi out, and 2 midi in ports

• roland e-28 keyboard
• roland mc-505 groovebox

ohw... and i suppose you're wondering how the hell you can get the latency reasonably low on this kind of setup

well, i use asio4all (it's free and mentioned in the ebel library) and haven't had any problems with that

depending on what cpu usage all active modules are taking up (fx, synths) i can get as low as 2 ms (max 8 ms) which is pretty good i'd say ;-)

so, my advice is: don't buy a mediocre audio card when you can do fine with a standard one... if you do need something better (multiple line-ins, duplex, mixing, optical or digital connections, a built in dsp, etc...) be prepared to pay the money because the really good ones don't come cheap

Originally posted by : aphone

yeah i seen it and loved it :)) dont you remember i came to talk to ya after yer set?? :))

nice tip, thanks !! i think we dont really need super expensive sound cards to have a good sound , and something i forgot about the M-audio : the drivers are a BIG SHIT thats why its disconnecting.. i got the same problem... M-AUDIO is better for a mac

i though audigy was not guud at all????

offcourse I remember!! I was just wondering if you saw my setup there... And indeed M-audio is made for mac's, that's probably why it disconnected (not only on my card btw). When you install it, it also says 'driver not supported (or something) by windows'. And yeah, the audigy isn't a pro card, wouldn't wanna play live with it no more, but for recording the output from your pc (like avi's, dvd's and all) it is by far the best and easiest card. Would like one as a second soundcard. Maybe I'll check out that possibility this summer. but the terratec: really, I advice you to buy that one. It is a very good deal when you're low on cash but have outgrown the beginnerstadium.

Originally posted by : bigbenbullet

it all depends on what you want

i only need a line-in (to record audio from my midi equipment, my guitar, voice and blues harp) all softsynths (vst's, reason, etc...) can render their output straight to disk (or audio track in your preferred sequencer software)

and i need a line-out to hear what it sounds like trough an ordinary hifi setup

hmm... i got second thought about this one. First of all: the line in quality of onboard soundcards is crap. Second of all once you start playing live (like aphone does) a single mini jack won't do. third, asio for all can be ok but I can go much further with a decent asiodriver than with asio4all.

But I do agree with the fact that the best solution indeed is to save up like 800€ and then buy a motu or emu card. But (in my case) the advantages of 8 outs, asio2, and low latency (if I have to) outweigh an onbaord card. Have you ever noticed that music made on onboard cards usually sounds thin? Ok, has to do with the experience the producer has but still...

(Allthough one of the best albums ever imo 'Simplicity' by Cosma was produced on a sb 16...)

Originally posted by : bandarlog

offcourse I remember!! I was just wondering if you saw my setup there... And indeed M-audio is made for mac's, that's probably why it disconnected (not only on my card btw). When you install it, it also says 'driver not supported (or something) by windows'. And yeah, the audigy isn't a pro card, wouldn't wanna play live with it no more, but for recording the output from your pc (like avi's, dvd's and all) it is by far the best and easiest card. Would like one as a second soundcard. Maybe I'll check out that possibility this summer. but the terratec: really, I advice you to buy that one. It is a very good deal when you're low on cash but have outgrown the beginnerstadium.

my setup mentioned above is totally not suitable for live performances :D

and indeed... you could say i haven't outgrown 'the beginnersstatium' but i imagine i can go a long way with it (i have no 'live' ambitions)

well i got another technical question... 8o

i got a mixtable since a few days, i received it from a friend, its a Gemini 626 PlatiniumSeries. its nice because now i can use my mic again( still didnt find how to record :( )
its connected like this: Pc --> soundcard t--> mixtable --> monitors... and now the lill noise i always had is much higher (sschhhrrrrrrrrrr) and im askin myself if the sound pass thru the mixtable, will it be less good ?? ( sorry for my poor english i hope its understandable) i mean does this mixtable could change the quality my sound ( less frequ or i dont know something like this?) ?? i listened and for me its ok

the schrrrrrrrrr sound could come from the electricity???

The EMU 0404 card is quiet amazing too costs 99€, very good asio (better than my Novation Xstation) + all connections you need, check the site.( i bought mine with the ProteusX softsynth - sampler 149€). For laptop music i'm very happy with my XStation, costs a lot but you got a Full K Station synth inside. Sometimes i miss some more keys, but therefor you got the XStation49 or 61.

Now don't forget tha the motherboard is also important for a good working PCI soundcard. IMO Asus motherboards are the best.

:)

I'm pleased with my Terratec RME card with pci interface

Originally posted by : aphone

well i got another technical question... 8o

i got a mixtable since a few days, i received it from a friend, its a Gemini 626 PlatiniumSeries. its nice because now i can use my mic again( still didnt find how to record :( )
its connected like this: Pc --> soundcard t--> mixtable --> monitors... and now the lill noise i always had is much higher (sschhhrrrrrrrrrr) and im askin myself if the sound pass thru the mixtable, will it be less good ?? ( sorry for my poor english i hope its understandable) i mean does this mixtable could change the quality my sound ( less frequ or i dont know something like this?) ?? i listened and for me its ok

the schrrrrrrrrr sound could come from the electricity???

Yes, it is probably your mixtable. Could even be bad wires too. But I'm guessing on the mixing table. It's a dj-mixtable which is never a good idea for producing. Like Behringer, that's a bad plan too :)). If you can even hear the noise clearly at home, imagine what it does on a big PA... I have a soundcraft spirit folio and the difference between that and a behringer and especially myold 4 channel mixer is huge! Those big mixers cost a lot of money though (obviously for a reason), best to buy them ²nd hand. But if you just wanna hook up your mic, the problem will be solved with a new soundcard.

(damn I'm posting a lot in this thread :P I clearly need a bigger dose of geektalk...)