Sound Blaster Live -Live Drive

T

thegloriaseason

New member
What do you all think of these sound cards? right now im running a line into my standard sound card and its pretty bad quality.

also can i use a dry(non-powered) mixer to record into my computer??
 
1) Sound card choice depends on your objectives and what you are doing with the card. More info in this area might get you some better answers. Are you transferring your cassette tapes to PC so that you can make CD's, or trying to record a 200 piece orchestra?

2) You can use an unpowered mixer to record into your pc. The "powered" part refers to the built in amp to run speakers. Even if you have a powered mixer, you will not be using the amplifier portion when you mix into your pc.

Hope this helps and welcome to the BBS.:D
 
thanks alot. That gave me all the info I needed on the mixer for right now.

as for recording. I just do small recordings of bands and myself. I would be mixing drums, guitar, bass, etc... nothing real special or fancy. I would like to get good enough qaulity to open a smaller studio aside from my day job for just recording demos for local bands
 
i have all soundblaster live stuff , live x-gamer card and live audigy 5.1 card both are excellent sound quality also have a live drive midi interface also great sound quality....
 
It depends on the quality you're looking for. If you're doing demos for bands, you should look at spending a little more $ on a pro quality soundcard. It makes a HUGE difference in the sound of your recordings.

By the way, where's Whitesburg? I'm currently in Somerset, KY... my off-tour home :)

H2H
 
well, i cant spend more than 200$ could i get pro-qaulity for that?

whitesburg is about 30 minutes below hazard, about an hour or more from manchester. you should visit www.appalcore.org its a ky/va/tn/oh music site. a guy from hazard/richmond runs it.
 
$200 range:

Terratec EWX24/96 - $170
M-Audio Audioplile 24/96 - $180
Echo Mia - $200

Sound quality on all three are very close (they all use the same AKM converters) with a slight edge going to the Mia because it uses 1/4" balanced ins and outs. Each of these boards have 2 analog ins and outs plus 2 digital ins and outs. The Terratec has an odd jumper configuration setup concerning the digital outs. The Audiophile and Terratec are compared in a article in the March (or April) issue of Sound on Sound which can be viewed online. The sound quality of all three of these cards is very good and considerably better than any Soundblaster card. If you are serious about recording, I would recommend going with a non-gamer (Soundblaster type) card.
 
thanks a ton. I'll prob order someting from musicians friend just because IM really comfortable with them. Will all these cards have my standard inputs and outputs as my original soundcard (ie: for my speakers) because I also use this as a home pc as well as recording.
 
It is actually cheaper to buy the Audiophile 2496 at a Guitar Center if you have one in your area. I bought one last month at GC for $150.
 
Hard2Hear said:
If I myself only had $200 and needed a new card, I would get a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Audio Card. It's basically a Delta66 minus the breakout box....H2H
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not to be picky....but the Delta 66 has 4 analog ins while the audiophile only has 2 analog ins....big difference if you ask me (someone who needs 4 analog ins).
 
ya id agree with them

sorry i guess i miss understood you...they have great sound quality for what they are meant for...listening great sound for recording though i dont use it too much....although with my live drive it has the 1/4 inch input so sometimes when im in a strange mood ill write songs by recording myself playing through my live drive then ill jam with myself add some drums then ill sing the lyrics and put it on the site for my band members to hear and practice for next practice and the quality actually isnt too bad but if your going for professional recording sound or recording demos or such i would go with something designed for recording....later
*NOTE: im also using a sound blaster live x gamer as my sound card on the computer i do that with
 
I would agree with getting at least a semipro card like the Audiophile and avoiding Soundblaster for recording purposes.I have the Audiophile and I love it.It was a replacement for my Soundblaster MP3 Live card and optional digital I/o daughterboard.I paid a total of about $150 for the Soundblaster and daughterboard which is very near the $160 I paid for the Audiophile and the difference in sound quality between the two cards is very obvious.A good portion of the improvement might be because I now record at 24bit but at least some of the improvement is because the Audiophile was designed for the application of recording audio while the Soundblaster was designed as an all purpose soundcard for things like playing games,watching movies and listening to music with recording music being almost an afterthought.

For roughly the same amount of money it is no contest.Can you record decent quality recordings with a Soundblaster?Well it will blow away cassette fourtrackers in sound quality.But will it sound as good as an Audiophile or another quality recording card?NO!It's about using the right tool for the right job,while it is possible to put in a screw using a hammer,it is much more efficent just to reach for the screwdriver in the first place!:D

BTW my Soundblaster and daughterboard are sitting in a box unused.I think I will probably end up giving them away but I don't regret buying the Audiophile,my mistake was buying the Soundblaster.
 
I'll chime in and say that the reason to put in an SBLive is if you're going to be doing MIDI or using Soundfonts.

Personally, I have both an Echo Mia and an SBLive in my PC. The Mia does all audio I/O and the SBLive is used for MIDI/soundfonts as an "internal instrument/sampler". Great combination.
 
TimOBrien said:
I'll chime in and say that the reason to put in an SBLive is if you're going to be doing MIDI or using Soundfonts.

Personally, I have both an Echo Mia and an SBLive in my PC. The Mia does all audio I/O and the SBLive is used for MIDI/soundfonts as an "internal instrument/sampler". Great combination.
Click to expand...

With LiveSynth Pro you can load SoundFonts on any soundcard (as long as your using Sonar or HS2002)...

www.livesynth.com
 
Retro said:
$200 range:

Sound quality on all three are very close (they all use the same AKM converters) with a slight edge going to the Mia because it uses 1/4" balanced ins and outs. Each of these boards have 2 analog ins and outs plus 2 digital ins and outs.
Click to expand...

Just to chime in...
If my mixer has the option of balanced or unbalanced outs, AND if I used a Mia (with balanced ins), and the mixers balanced outs, I would get slightly better sound quality?

You know, and I was just about sold on the Audiophile 2496!! :) I have to stop reading and just buy something...

Later,
Bill
 
Billabong said:


Just to chime in...
If my mixer has the option of balanced or unbalanced outs, AND if I used a Mia (with balanced ins), and the mixers balanced outs, I would get slightly better sound quality?
Click to expand...


theoretically I guess ya would get better sound quality....but, unless you have long cable runs, I don't think that the difference would be that noticeable.....
 
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