Sound Card vs. Layla or equiv.

M

Michael S

New member
I am new to computer recording, but want to start off on a good foot. By the way, this website IS AWESOME!! It's helped from day one. My question is, I have a SB Live card and want to know what benefit, besides more simultaneous recording channels, I would get from a product like AARK, Layla or others? I'm using it with Cakewalk 8, if that matters much.

Thanks in advance
Michael S
 
What he says...the better cards are quieter too, less electrical noise, see https://homerecording.com/digital_results.html
but for many people the extra cost is not worth it. If you can hear the difference, that's another story. To me, even though my Yamaha card does a good job, the sound quality difference is quite obvious on most program material that doesn't consist of distorted guitar :)
 
aside from the obvious better converters less noise ect. there is also a DSP advantage the event cards and the midiman 2044 and some others have dedicated DSP hardware too...which offloads some of the audio processing from the host CPU, letting you record more trax and use more plug ins than you could with a cheaper sound card
 
Well, I went ahead and shelled out for the DMAN 2044. Talk about opening doors! I also bought the Line 6 POD (thanks to the rave revue on this site). I do notice a difference in the recording quality, not to mention the convenience of 4 tracks at once. Thanks for all of your input.

P.S. The Line 6 POD is by FAR the best piece of music equipment I have EVER bought. Those of you who are thinking about it or are having trouble getting a great guitar sound recorded on your computer...try it, you'll buy it!

[This message has been edited by Michael S (edited 08-17-1999).]
 
Well- I got bit by the POD bug this weekend
and I'm pretty happy with it as well, BUT:
Don't let yourself get all fuzzy about this
guitar toy. It's a great amp simulator but if you've got access to the real thing, there is NO comparison. Where it shines is its ability to produce usable tones without razzing your neighbors. Beyond that, the effects are less than stellar, the tuner is so-so and it's a little on the noisy side overall. I'll just conclude by saying that I'm not bringing mine back to Guitar Satan for credit. It's just too much fun.
 
I must totally agree with that last post. the POD is absolutely fun, and convenient as far as volume levels are concerned -- but it /is/ noisy, and the effects pretty much suck.

Overall though, the ability to practice with others purely through headphones... :) that's too much of a blast to give up :)
 
friends...

a ha !!! dedicated DSP hardware...i was totally unaware of that... ive been running the cakewalk demo on my bone stock 300 amd k6 computer and using the soundcard built in to the motherboard , and playback keeps stuttering and stopping no matter how many buffers i use and how big they are.. its a shame too because i like the software..im making due with n track for now , which is GREAT for the price !!... but i need more power and editing features.. looks like ill shell out for a good soundcard and a faster hardrive , then fire up the demo again... wow... i really rambled..sorry .. thanks for the unintentional help !!! much appreciated !! :D

- eddie -
 
OK, OK. Maybe I overstated the POD. I DO think it's the best value for the dollar on comparable equipment. We've been recording with it using the DMAN 2044 into CW 8.0 and the results have been better than I expected...and mostly because of the clarity of the guitar recording and drums (our drummer has v-drums, how he got that bill past is wife is beyond me). Compare that to our old way of miking up cabinets and you can see why I am so jazzed about the POD. I agree there is noise at high drive levels, but nothing compared to what we were getting. Thanks for everyone's input!

Michael S
 
I didn't mean noisy like a cheap squash box- just noisy compared to a clean guitar pre-amp. And yes, the noise gate does help.
 
if line six puts out a new version of pod, i hope they put a digital out on it. maybe that would help if you're getting unwanted noise...i don't know anything about the converters on pod.
 
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