Soundcard with preamps or separate preamp?

L

LaXu

New member
I'm putting together a simple computer home recording setup, primarily for recording guitar but later on bass as well. I will be micing my cab with a Shure SM57 and recording just one track at a time. Not looking for anything fancy, I just want to get good recorded guitar tone on the 'puter.

I currently have a Soundblaster Live Value (with KX Project drivers) in my 'puter which is hardly that great for recording so I was thinking of getting a new soundcard and a preamp, primarily looking at M-Audio products (due to the their pricing). I have about 300 Euros to spend and I'm confused by all the options out there.

I was looking at the Delta 1010LT (233 euro) which comes with two built-in preamps, or alternatively a DMP3 (188 euro) and a Delta Audiophile 2496 (95 euro). The 1010LT seems like a compact package but I don't really need all the inputs and outputs and have no idea about the quality of the preamps, but the cheaper price is attractive and not having any additional boxes lying around appeals to me as well.

Are there any other soundcards with preamps in that price range that I should consider? Oh and since the soundcard will be used for music listening, movies and gaming as well it should work for that as well, I'd rather not use the SB Live for those.

So what would be the best (cost effective, easy to use and good sounding) way of getting my guitar tone captured on the computer?
 
Can't really go wrong with the 2496. I've been using it for a year now with no problems. The 1010lt is cool but if you don't need that much I/O save the money to buy other cool stuff.
 
The EMU 1212m is a bit out of my budget, goes for over 200€ around here.

Is there a difference between the DMP3 and 1010LT preamps? Is one significantly better than the other?
 
my personal preference is to keep the mic preamps seperate from the
sound card. search under my name. lots of tips posted over the last year.
peace.
 
LaXu said:
The EMU 1212m is a bit out of my budget, goes for over 200€ around here.

Is there a difference between the DMP3 and 1010LT preamps? Is one significantly better than the other?
Click to expand...
Now THAT is a damn good question. Don't know. The 1010LT preamps provide a lot of gain for my SM-7 dynamic, but keep in mind that the preamps DO NOT PROVIDE PHANTOM POWER, so, no condensor microphones.

If you must use a condensor, consider the Audiophile 2496 or Emu 1212m with a M-Audio AudioBuddy. You can always eBay the AudioBuddy if you wish when your fortunes improve.

I personally would hold tough for the Emu... the Audiophile is getting a little long in the tooth in my opinion.
 
I've been using this Terratec Sound Card System:

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--TERDMX6

The I/O module that goes into a slot in the front of your computer has:

Digital Coax and Optical Ins and Outs
Midi In and Out
Headphone 1/4"
Mic/Line 1/4" in
3 RCA phono ins and outs
Pot for Headphone
Pot for Mic/Line in

24-bit/96kHz AD and DA converters

It sounds great.
 
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