Better Soundcard, Which One?

[Vikki]

I.m using an M Audio 2496 soundcard at the moment and getting reasonable results, is there something better out there sound quality wise and perhaps something with more inputs and outputs?
Vikki(uk)

 

[TimOBrien]

Hundreds.

Go to sweetwater.com or musiciansfriend.com and go to the "Recording" sections. Start browsing and order their free catalogs until you can narrow it down a bit....

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

The M-Audio Delta 1010 is quite nice. You could also get that new Mackie unit that's coming out or a Firepod.

 

[noisewreck]

What price range are you looking at?

There are the RME cards/interfaces that are top notch, Lynx is another one.

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Hundreds.

Go to sweetwater.com or musiciansfriend.com and go to the "Recording" sections. Start browsing and order their free catalogs until you can narrow it down a bit....

Or as you're in the UK you'd probably be better off with digital village, turnkey and Thomann (which is in Germany but the prices are very good and they have a good selection of stuff).

You need to state your budget really as there're lots of options as has been said. If you want a noticeable upgrade in sound quality from the 2496 and multiple ins/outs you'll be looking at quite a bit of money I reckon. A-D conversion is one of those things where you have to fork out a lot to get a small improvement in quality.

Along the same lines as the audiophile but with more ins/outs would be the Delta 1010 as mentioned which has a breakout box and 8 balanced ins outs or the cheaper 1010LT which has the same number of ins/outs but has no box. Also ins 1&2 are balanced and have a mic pre built in, all the other ins/outs are unbalanced. This is the card I use and I'm very happy with it.

If you want a serious upgrade then I can't offer any help as I've never worked with high end interfaces/converters.

 

[Robert D]

If you want a noticeable upgrade in sound quality from the 2496 and multiple ins/outs you'll be looking at quite a bit of money I reckon. A-D conversion is one of those things where you have to fork out a lot to get a small improvement in quality.

Yes, this is very true. I addad a Lynx L-22 card to my setup for doing the D/A conversion, and for my gold A/D channel. It was a nice upgrade, but it certainly didn't render my Delta converters unusable by comparison, despite being many times more expensive per channel. It really kind of validated the Delta converters as being perfectly fine for most tracks. I think the extension of the gold channel to the converters makes a lot of sense for the budget minded. Something like a Delta 1010 for qty, and then 1 set of high end converters for monitoring, and for recording the stand out tracks.


-RD

 

[Vikki]

Thanks for the advice, i think i will save up a bit more cash and buy one of the Lynx cards, i think the fear is finding that the sound difference is not that great for the extra amount of money, i guess i will find out soon.
Vikki(uk)

 

[Halion]

Just a tip: are you absolutely possitive that the results you are not happy with now are there because of the soundcard? I would put it way back on my list-o-upgrades when it comes to low-end gear (and the 2496 definately ain't that bad). What I'm basicly asking is: are you aware of the actual impact that your soundcard has on your overall sound?

 

[Robert D]

Just a tip: are you absolutely possitive that the results you are not happy with now are there because of the soundcard? I would put it way back on my list-o-upgrades when it comes to low-end gear (and the 2496 definately ain't that bad). What I'm basicly asking is: are you aware of the actual impact that your soundcard has on your overall sound?

Halion asks a good question here, and speaks to the point raised by Kevin. A converter upgrade from the M-Audio stuff is really about putting a slightly finer point on an already sharp pencil. It is unlikely to fix any problems you are having with your sound. It'll make good sounding recordings sound that little Nth degree better, and add a bit more definition to the stereo image, but it won't make bad pre-amps sound good, or correct bad mic choices or positioning, and it won't fix a bad mix.
On the other hand, I went ahead and bought my Lynx card somewhat early in my upgrade curve. But I was already pretty happy with my recordings and mixes, and was starting to experiment with mastering. I wanted to "know" with certainty that I was hearing every detail and nuance, and that evaluations of other equipment upgrades would be viewed through a crystal clear lense.
So, while I love my Lynx card, I would urge you to first evaluate your I/O needs, and whether something like a Delta 1010 doesn't address that while giving you a little better quality at the same time. Of course the Lynx is expandable, so you can always build up to the number of I/O you need, just don't do that while using bad mics and poor preamps.

Best regards,
RD

 

[Vikki]

Thanks again.
I have a couple of JLM preamps that are pretty good i built them from a kit, here's a little test i did with them using the 2496 card, this was only thrown together in a few moments so its not balanced out or anything and i was trying to stop the cat eating the mic cable with my foot while i was playing(seems a real pro setup doesn't it) it gives an idea soundwise what i'm getting............

Vikki (UK)

 

[Halion]

Damn, you got some chops girl! I like that stuff

Your sample sounds pretty good, on the bright side, but not bad at all.
I don't think you're soundcard is gonna give you much better results. I do think a new mic or 2 will give you more color options. If you want a better sound, I'd go that route (although I can't find anything wrong with your current sound, but more options might be nice).

If you want more inputs, the answer is already supplied.

 

[Vikki]

Thanks everyone i'll go back and practice some more recording and give it a few months before i change anything, i'll get hold of a few mics and see how we go, its mainly vocals that the sound seems to fall down on.
Vikki(uk)