Cheap MIDI/Office PC Solution

[mark4man]

Gang,

I wanted to use my PC at work (only at lunchtime...of course)...to work on MIDI tracks (creating melodies, drum lines, etc. I'm under the gun on an overdue project; & need every available minute of the day to work...right up to my deadline.)

So I took my DAW (SONAR) in to the office, to load in, hoping my machine had a sound card w/ an onboard synth.

It doesn't (I don't think.)

I went to Device Manager (haven't looked inside yet)...& the sound card is an Aureal Vortex 8830.

Is that an integrated unit?

The PC is a Dell Optiplex GX110, mfg.'d in '99 or maybe 2000 at the latest.

If it is integrated, can I install a cheap SoundBlaster; & then somehow bypass the integrated audio?

Ever heard of this card?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

mark4man


BTW - Please don't tell my boss.

 

[minofifa]

will the integrated not work for you? i use the integrated sound on my desktop all the time and it works fine. Even with older MME drivers, if you are doing simple midi patterns at work and leaving the greasy stuff for your home studio DAW, you should be ok.

just get some heaphones, your sonar CD and MIDI keyboard via USB. haha oh yeah and a lock for your office door. and get a tape recorder and a tape of you talking on the phone or something so it sound like you are busy.

 

[mark4man]

minofifa,

It doesn't have an onboard synth (the Aureal 8830.)

mark4man

 

[James Argo]

Try DXi, honey... Even the simple VSC GM mode will do. Lets see how bad it is


Jaymz

 

[johnnymegabyte]

I had a Dell Pentium 2 I got from work that had same audio config.
First, in the bios setup, disable the onboard audio, and shut down.
Next, Install a SB, turn it on, and it should recognize the new card and will prompt you for all the setup stuff. Make sure your have the SB CD

SB will be able to play GM and GS MIDI. Using the 8 meg soundfonts gives you GS midi (308 instruments and 10 drum kits)
Depending on the model, controlling reverb and chorus is handled differently.
On the PCI-128 (under $25), it is either on or off. very annoying, and thus reverb and chorus is un-usable / dry.
The SB Live and Audigy's has better control, and actually more effects available. Basically, you get what you pay for.

Onboard soundcards usually depend on DLS type samples for midi.
My current PC at work is horrendous at midi sounds doing this.
But for editing, and seeing how the general sound is, sort of, OK
Taking it home and trying with real gear ... priceless ;-)

 

[minofifa]

ahh sorry, I thought you were soft-synthing as James suggested.

 

[mark4man]

Dar, Jaymz & johnny...

I took SONAR in today; & loaded it.

Now...I should really have my butt kicked, because...first, the Aureal 8830 is a PCI card; & not integrated (as I previously thought.) Second...the damn thing does have an onboard wavetable synth (as I previously didn't believe it did.)

So now...(in addition to feeling foolish)...I have everything I need to compose simple MIDI tracks, save to floppy; & bring 'em home to the project studio.

On the audio end...SONAR wont play any audio file on my office PC, from either the demo's or otherwise. The needle rolls, but there is no output; & the meters either freeze at a certain level, or don't function at all. I checked everything, including the Windows Mixer...but I think it's just too much for the CPU (although...I have WaveLab on that same machine; & that plays imported .wav files just fine.)

As long as I can do MIDI tho, I'll be fine.

Thanks again,

mark4man

 

[minofifa]

sweet.
don't you just love it when things work out unexpectedly? enjoy it cause it usually never happens.

that is strange about sonar not playing audio files. I'll ask the obvious question, do you have the routing all setup up correct? even a shitt-y computer should be able to play one or two audio files. But i guess if you don't need it, then don't worry about it

 

[johnnymegabyte]

Dar, Jaymz & johnny...
Aureal 8830 is a PCI card; & not integrated (as I previously thought.) Second...the damn thing does have an onboard wavetable synth (as I previously didn't believe it did.)
mark4man

What other PCI cards, beside Sound-Bl-ass-ter, have on-board synth ?

Your soundcard may have shown as Aureal 8830, but could it really be a Turtle Beach Montego II ? ( or not, see below )

Found his info:

Sound Cards with Aureal A3D Support
Using the Aureal Vortex 2 (8830) chipset

Absolute Outrageous 3D Sound
Aureal Vortex2 PCI
Aureal Vortex 2 SuperQuad 2500
Aureal Vortex2 SuperQuad Digital PCI
Diamond Monster Sound MX300
(Monster Sound MX25 daughterboard)
Hi-Val PCI 576 A3D
TechWorks Power Vortex 2
OEM Turtle Beach Montego II
(Digital & Optical I/O daughterboard)
Turtle Beach Montego II Home Studio
Turtle Beach Montego II Plus
Turtle Beach Montego II Quadzilla
Turtle Beach Montego II VoiceXpress
TerraTec XLerate Pro PCI
VideoLogic SonicVortex 2
Xitel Storm Platinum

 

[minofifa]

i dont know of any others to be honest. i'm sure there must be some others though.