upgrade for an Realtek AC97 soundcard

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sniixer

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Hi

Im planning on buying an Audiophile 192 soundcard. Will this be a significant improvent over my current soundcard: Realtek AC97? The soundcard will only be used for monitoring, for recording I use an alesis hd24 recorder.
Thanks in advance
 
I just ordered the soundcard!!! Your advice made me less hesistant to spend my money.
 
The difference is night and day, especially if you're used to the converters in the HD24.
 
really?

Is the converters in Audiophile really that much better than HD24? Thats a surprise to me, since the soundcard is not that expensive.
BTW, I do mostly live-recordings and for preamps/converters I mostly use focusrite octopre, presonus digimax lt and m-audio octane.
 
It may not be that expensive for a couple of reasons:
- The technology has been around for a while (24/96 isn't THAT new anymore).
- It doesn't really do all that much.

Seems fair enough for me :)
 
sniixer said:
Is the converters in Audiophile really that much better than HD24? Thats a surprise to me, since the soundcard is not that expensive.
BTW, I do mostly live-recordings and for preamps/converters I mostly use focusrite octopre, presonus digimax lt and m-audio octane.
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No no!!! :o

I mean, if you're used to quality converters such as those in the HD24, you'll really appreciate the step up from AC97 to Audiophile. Sorry for the confusion! :p

Nik
 
to tell you the truth, theres not a whole lot of difference as people make it sound. especially between the AC97 and the 24/96. I was recording into an AC97 and switched up to a MOTU 828 mki. It sounded like a big difference at first because I expected it but when I mixed the stuff down to CD and put copies of the same songs I recorded on both, the difference is really nothing substantial. And the MOTU converters are way better than the 24/96, so...I'd say take all that shit with a grain of salt, people here are bent on getting you to spend more money than you have to
 
Yes, that's right, there's no big difference ............

So why can't I go into any of the local studios in my area and find them tracking and mixing with onboard sound cards?

Just because you can't hear a difference, doesn't mean there is not one. It is night and day, even between the worst consumer 'cards' (AC97 onboard) and the first of the 'prosumer' cards (Audiophile 2496). :)

I'm intrigued to know why you would think that someone like me would want some stranger to spend money needlessly. :confused:
 
Truth is, the AC97 audio quality is (technically) vastly superior to a cassette tape or vinyl record medium, but now were all in digital land with CD and better quality abounding, you can do better.

That said, the basic quality audio of these newer soundcards like the AP192, is leaps and bounds ahead of any mixer, amp or speaker most of us own. You need to improve ALL of your audio gear to fully appeciate what an a improvement a better soundcard is actually like.

There is also the pesky problem of the acoustics in your working room - these greatly affect what you hear to a degree that makes the difference between a Soundblaster16 and a Lynx2 moot.
 
noisedude said:
Yes, that's right, there's no big difference ............

So why can't I go into any of the local studios in my area and find them tracking and mixing with onboard sound cards?

Just because you can't hear a difference, doesn't mean there is not one. It is night and day, even between the worst consumer 'cards' (AC97 onboard) and the first of the 'prosumer' cards (Audiophile 2496). :)

I'm intrigued to know why you would think that someone like me would want some stranger to spend money needlessly. :confused:
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Im not pointing you out in particular, but I see that all the time, people are tryin to tell somebody, you can do better, just spend a little more...it really doesnt matter, just make good music and people will buy it!

Im just giving my opinion on it, I would jump back and forth between the tracks in my car, on my home system and on my CD player, and there was a little difference in sound quality, very slight, if I wasnt listening to them back to back I wouldnt even notice. But as far as did my songs bore you to death on one and make you fall out the window through the other, no. Pretty much same shit. In fact one of the ones recorded on the AC97 sounded better cuz it was a little grimier. That may have just been the gain I had on it though.

I hear you, technically, the 2496 is better. I dont know that that matters to anybody whos not listening to your album through HK896s
 
I agree that the monitors and room-acustics will probably be more significant than the soundcard. I mix in my small and cheap student apartment(maybe 10 or 12 square meter) rheree is noise from outside cars and the computer, my alesis mk2 are probably not set up properly, and the neighbors will complain if i mix for more than 2 hours, especially in the afternoon. But stilll I am too curious to hear the difference between consumer and higher quality soundcard, so I dont regret my recent soundcards purchase.
 
Altaire - I hear what you're saying. But the noise floor is dramatically different to work with ... the luxury of 24-bit conversion is you can afford to be a touch under perfect with your gain staging and still have usable results. Great for those of us who have bursts of inspiration and want to get a take down ASAP! :)
 
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