audigy LS pros and cons

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Rock Star 87

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i am problably purchase a soundblaster audigy LS sound card, and i have heard good and bad things. first off, it has digital jacks, and i'm not sure what they are. like digi in and out jacks. also, it doesn't support soundfonts. i don't know what they are and how they work, so how important is it. the good parts are that hopefully the synth won't have as much hiss on my playback as my SBPCI, please correct if i'm wrong b4 friday. thats why i wanted a new one. it should work with PA9, and flawlessly i hope. once again, correct me if i'm wrong. also, i wanted to get live, but i want to upgrade to 24 bit recording, so i wanted to go major, or as major as i can afford. trust me, i know it's not the nicest, but i am on a budget. just for amusement, i drive AND smoke, so my money really flys. let me know if any of this info is off base. thanks.
 
Might be best to ask this question in the Computer Forum.. you will get a more varied response over there.. most people here have M-Audio's or the like and most will say to ditch a SB, save money and buy a slightly better one if you know what I mean..

Learn the software and make crappy recordings/notepad type songs. Then once you get a good Sound Card start making quality recordings. If you want to get a half decent card go for it, however down the track you won't have the money you spent on it to buy a better card...

Anyway, I'll get back to my job ;-)

Porter
 
My personal feeling is that you are not making much of a step up going from an SB Live to an Audigy.

Like Porter says, you might want to look at some of the entry level Delta cards instead. However, keep in mind that typically the better cards do not have midi synth capabilities.

What software are you using? You might want to consider DXi's for your midi needs. They are much more flexible than a sound card.
 
i'm using Pro Audio 9 and i have no external synth, so i can't use a delta card. but porter, not to be a smartass, but i have an SBPCI now, not an SB Live, so to me, its a big step up. i want to use a serious studio for serious recordings, which is why i'm applying to Full Sail, so this just keeps me occupied (24/7 i might add). i just need to make sure of a few things.

1. an audigy LS is compatible with Pro Audio 9.

2. i won't get that damn hiss i get from my SB PCI.
 
Have you considered upgrading your software instead. As a PA9 owner, you can get Sonar 3 Studio edition for $149.00. This would allow you to use DXi's for you midi (although still leaves you with the SB for audio.)

You can probably upgrade to Home Studio for even less.

Not telling you what to do, but that might be my approach and then get a "real" sound card down the road.
 
I cannot find any information that would lead me to believe the wavetable synthesis is any better on the Audigy LS than on the PCI512. The PCI512 and the SB Live! both use the EMU 10K1 chip, and while the Audigy series use the EMU 10K2, it looks like the only difference is the addition of IEEE 1394 (firewire). Take a look at this.

Now the DACs are different, for sure, but for MIDI synthesis I don't think you will see any improvement.

If you believe some of the reviews on Amazon, SoundFonts do not work with the Audigy LS.

My recommendation would be to save your money. The suggestion to use DXi softsynths in Sonar or HS2004 is also a good one. That will sound better than wavetable synthesis on any SoundBlaster.
 
i just took the pro audio 9 cd over to my friend's house (SBLive) and tried to do what i wanted to do with my file there and it played fine, so i think it must make some difference, but know i'm debating between audigy and santa cruz (turtle beach). audigy seems more like a gamer card, and i am a musician, so they don't mix.
 
and i know my PA9 needs upgraded, but i even e-mailed cakewalk and they said that it's problably my card, so i don't know which one i want to upgrade to, but i can't take this PCI any longer.
 
What?

Buy the Audigy 2 card!!!! Now if you are doing multitrack recording go out and buy other cards that are dedicated to recording, but an audigy 2 card has the external jacks on the front of your computer, plenty of memory on the card, full support of soundfonts, effects, DXI, anything that you can think of. I have Sonar 3 and Pro Audio installed on my computer, I use different programs that I use for different type recordings. The sound card can be found for about 79.99 new these days and started in the market at $299.99!!! Do yourself a favor if you are getting into recording spend the money on the instruments not on the recording gear!!! Hope this helps :eek:
Again if you are recording single instruments individually, this card rocks.
I have a computer with a 599.99 card in it, I get the same quality out of my Best Buy $79.99 card!
 
a friend of mine is going to full-sail right now, i asked him about your question. first of all, he said don't go to fullsail unless you're ABSOLUTELY SURE that that's what you want to do.

But basically, his advice was, hold off on the Audigy.

Full Sail has a lot of equipment there that blows most of your stuff (and my stuff) away. they're pretty committed on pro tools and digidesign... and if you're not sure what those things are, you will. (we know them as "expensive".)

an audio card, though, is really no better than the recording software that you use it with, and the software is no better than the person recording, and even the engineer can only do so much depending on who the musician is. you see what i mean- it's a chain, and your audio card is only one link in that chain. you'll need to think about how you're going to integrate everything.

so i'd suggest one of two things. either (a) just keep on playing with the cheap stuff until you learn enough to make use of the really expensive stuff, or (b) wait until you get to Full Sail and use their equipment. it's much better than what you can afford on your own. Once you're there, you'll have a better idea of what you want, or need. Until then, please, save yourself some cash.

That being said, I use an M-Audio Delta44. M-Audio Deltas are pretty popular among home recorders- any time the "i'm considering buying a <insert creative labs sound card here>" question comes up, everybody says buy m-audio instead.

but if you're going to lay down any amount of money, you want to make sure it's well-invested. so do the learning first, then spend the money- you'll be glad you did, seriously.
 
I'LL SHOW THEM, I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!! :confused: anyways, i got a santa cruz, and i have the same problem, static with my internal synth. i am starting to get pissed, but maybe u know if it's a software problem. i don't think so, but it might be. i use Pro Audio 9, and i know it's old, but i wouldn't think it adds synth static. and i know i want to produce for a living, but i've heard a lot of full-sail oriented jokes also.
 
Rock Star 87 said:
I'LL SHOW THEM, I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!! :confused: anyways, i got a santa cruz, and i have the same problem, static with my internal synth. i am starting to get pissed, but maybe u know if it's a software problem. i don't think so, but it might be. i use Pro Audio 9, and i know it's old, but i wouldn't think it adds synth static. and i know i want to produce for a living, but i've heard a lot of full-sail oriented jokes also.
Click to expand...

I had an issue once when there was static whilst I was recording.. it happened when I was using two sound cards in the computer at the same time, one for recording and one for play back.. just a thought..

Porter
 
i only have one, but turtle beach e-mailed me and said i should uninstall the BIOS if it was a motherboard sound card. it was OEM, but not motherboard. i can ghetto-fix it by eliminating (EQ-ing out) the opposing frequency (16.5 KHz) but thats all i can do for now. thanks for the reply though.
 
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