Sound Card?

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liquadia

liquadia

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I used to own a soundcard the Soundblaster Elite Pro! Pretty damn good however i kinda got upset about the fact it harnessed 3 modes, gaming, musician, and entertainment mode. Problem i was having was changing modes. Every now and then when changing from any mode to Music production mode i would get a massive hissing noise on my my when monitoring through cubase sx 5. anyhow i decided after a while to get rid of it. It was good because i could record vocals live with effects and play about 5-8 channels of VST's all at the same time and around 5-7ms latency.

Question i have is what now? i see so many sexy cards such as the profire 610, or the M-audio fast track ultra, m-audio delta 1010LT.

Question i have is are these actual soundcards? and can they play VST's back without a problem as most of my production is VST based with maybe 4 chanels of mono vocals with harmonies such as 4-6 part harmony

also i am looking for at least 4 ins and 4 outs. I dont use a mixer so standard 3.5 jack out to a sound device is great. Or even headphones

hope someone can assist! Cheers
 
liquadia said:
Question i have is are these actual soundcards?
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Yes. They are sound cards. The interfaces that connect via USB or Firewire are the equivalent of external soundcards.

liquadia said:
and can they play VST's back without a problem as most of my production is VST based with maybe 4 chanels of mono vocals with harmonies such as 4-6 part harmony
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Yes . . . they can playback VSTs without a problem, just the same as an internal soundcard.

liquadia said:
also i am looking for at least 4 ins and 4 outs. I dont use a mixer so standard 3.5 jack out to a sound device is great. Or even headphones
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You should be able to find an interface that has that capacity. However, you should keep in mind that the interfaces are designed with recording in mind (as opposed to, say, gaming, or watching movies). As a consequence they will feature fittings, connectors and so on that are common to that activity. They will usually feature XLR or 6.5mm TRS ssockets to connect to active speakers or an amplifier. Most have headphone outputs.
 
ok thanks for the reply! I suppose i could wear headphones for a short while to listen to the sound until i get a amp etc
 
liquadia said:
ok thanks for the reply! I suppose i could wear headphones for a short while to listen to the sound until i get a amp etc
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Yes, you can do that. You may find it difficult to get mixes that work on other systems. But it will be okay until you sort out speakers.
 
ok thanks for the reply, I think im only going for the fasttrack due to it having octan preamps or i would just buy the delta 1010lt howevre i dont think i need preamps do i? if im using just a sure sm58
 
The Delta has two preamps for the two XLR inputs. It always seems funny to me that people wish to use a soundcard with 'pigtails'. For the same money, maybe a bit more, you can get an external soundcard (interface) with so much more versatility for the money. Maybe at some point the term 'soundcard' will be obliterated, as it seems to infer putting a card into your computer. Though there are good ones that are actually 'cards'. Just my take on it after some time of confusion myself.:p

I guess others needs are different from mine so........
 
Its a pretty daunting world! regarding home studio equipment knowing which to buy. What would you suggest?
 
My opinion is biased because the interface I use works perfect for my needs.

For me, the Tascam 1641 was the answer for my price range. For $209 (I lucked out on a internet/Guitar Center deal) I have 16 inputs with 10 built in preamps and 4 line outputs. This is a USB 2.0 interface that needs an exclusive port. If you only have firewire setup you may want to look elsewhere. Also, USB 2.0 devices are not expandable for more inputs later as far as I know.

This is just my opinion and others will have theirs as well.
 
I have firewire facilities, usb 2 pci and pci-express I am still clueless as to what to get. Heard some nasty things about the profire 609, and the fasttrack not working well with windows! I just want a soundcard with mic ins and some audio ins for other sources if i should desire to record extras later on then great! and obviously for me having some extras if i decide to get others in for recording later on!, I am mostly using VSTS as i cant play instruments very well and spending out on a card knowingly im gong to have issues is going to be a pain.
 
Well, without sounding like a rep for Tascam, I say get one. Very low complaints from users as long as you install the newest drivers and firmware update from Tascam. Has worked flawless for me from day one. You can hear stuff I have recorded with it from link in my sig. What DAW are you using currently? Just curious. Giving that info in your signature can help you in the future with compatibility issues as well as giving clarity to your specific needs.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Jimmy
 
was looking at the Tascam 1800 and 800 both appear to be mainly used again for audio inputs guitars etc. My ideal situation is to have at least 4 ins, and it needs to control my vst's such as virtual guitarist electric and bass, hypersonic 2, atmosphere and tones more
 
1800 would be my vote. The software (DAW) you decide on, will control your vst's. 1800 comes with Cubase LE5 which is great if you are planning to use a MIDI keyboard to play vsti's. Hypersonic will be right at home in it's Steinberg host. Reaper would be a good option as well (and inexpensive). I've heard of some problems with the 800 and that no further driver updates will be made for it.

Make sure that when looking at other interfaces, that if you want more than 2 inputs to be recorded at once, it will have to be USB2.0 or firewire.

Happy hunting!
 
jimmys69 said:
1800 would be my vote. The software (DAW) you decide on, will control your vst's. 1800 comes with Cubase LE5 which is great if you are planning to use a MIDI keyboard to play vsti's. Hypersonic will be right at home in it's Steinberg host. Reaper would be a good option as well (and inexpensive). I've heard of some problems with the 800 and that no further driver updates will be made for it.

Make sure that when looking at other interfaces, that if you want more than 2 inputs to be recorded at once, it will have to be USB2.0 or firewire.

Happy hunting!
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what about the fastTrack ultra? for the same

forgot to mention also the tascam 800 does indeed come with cubase le
 
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It's a good unit. Has less useable inputs but more outputs. Outputs are for using outboard gear which it doesn't seem like you will be using. With this you only have 4 preamps. You will need to buy external preamps in order to use more than 4 ($150 per stereo pair on the cheap side). Even then you are limited to 8 simultaneous tracks. Those can get eaten up quick if you are micing something in stereo. You can have two headphone mixes with its own monitoring program that could be nice. I use Cubase 6 so all of my headphone mix stuff is done in the DAW.

I went with the 1641 (same as 1800) because I record live drums and needed to record 16 simultaneous tracks. The 1800 has 10 built in preamps and 4 outs for headphone mixes or two stereo pieces of outboard gear.

Both units have MIDI so you can always play a keyboard in addition to the inputs.

Both are good units. I would just keep in mind what you may want in the future.:D
 
thanks for the patience and information! I will be getting the 1800. Just wondering if its now worth getting a mixing desk as everything is software driven anyway.
 
I really don't see any reason for a mixing desk myself. It can make using outboard gear much easier tho.

Look out for a 1641. They are discontinued but can be found for around $250. Exactly the same as 1800 except for internal power supply and silver knobs. :)
 
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