Get a real freakin soundcard!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Slackmaster2K
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Slackmaster2K

Slackmaster2K

Gone
Well I got my Delta44 ($199 shipped at outpost.com) and while I know it's not the best thing out there.....

Oh man, the difference is night and day. I stepped up from an AudioPCI and an SB PCI128, both of which are similar to the SB Live as far as converters go.

Everything sounds 10 times better. Even my girlfriend noticed immediately! My POD sound considerably better (though still a cheap knock-off). My lonely SM57 microphone has a new lease on life....I never realized what this old standby mic was capable of.

Not to mention that mixing is faster and easier and the +4db inputs allow me to run my ART pre at its prime levels. (this particular card allows you to select +4/Consumer/-10db input levels on each input channel, and +4/Consumer/-10db for all of the outputs)

Now, I'm not bragging to impress the pros & goldenears out there. I am a 100% homebrew amature deaf CHEAPSKATE. I know that a lot of you out there are like me and I know that you're thinking of "getting another AudioPCI" or perhaps wondering "how does the SB Live sound?" Save your $50-100 bucks...unless you're just interested in soundfonts, these cards will not satisfy you long.

I'm telling you now that whole A/D conversion process is absolutely critical to your sound. It's not just something that only pros can hear. Ever notice how what you're hearing is not what's being recorded? That when you're listening to your guitar sound live through your monitors it sounds great, but then after it's recorded it sounds weak? The day after I got my new card I was just sort of screwing around, recording some guitar riffs. As I was playing them back my girlfriend comes in the room and says, "oh, I thought you were playing." THAT is the difference.

I know that I'll eventually outgrow this Delta44. But at $199, it'll get my cheap ass by for a time. I hope that others out there like me won't make the same mistakes as I did....wasting money to save money....spending money in $50 chunks thinking that you're coming out ahead. Save up and invest your money on a good signal chain...at least one good mic or DI box, a good preamp, and a good soundcard. Have at least this much before investing in effects/processors or monitoring equipment...because salted shit still tastes like shit.

Sorry for sounding like an infomercial...

Slackmaster 2000
 
I had the same reaction going from a Diamond MX300 gaming card and my Yamaha MD4S to the Delta 44. I do acoustic guitar but my girlfriend always seems to think that I'm actually playing as well. Although the Delta converters sound pretty good, I wonder how they'd sound compared to a higher end AD such as an Apogee. I'll probably never know! (and if I wanted to know I should have gotten the Delta 66 with the S/PDIF!) BTW - any suggestions on getting a longer cable between the card and the Break Out Box? I'm using the one which came with the card and I'd like a longer one so I can have the card sit in my rack rather than on top of my PC, which is under my desk.
Glad you're enjoying your new toy!

-Evan
 
Slack, I bought a Soundblaster Live Card, then
my Darla24 card. I now have an SBlive that I
dont use taking up a PCI slot in my Computer.

Sound advice for those looking into soundcards,
skip the SB and get a decent soundcard, you
will save some dough.
 
Yo Slack,

I'm in the same boat you were in. But I note that the new Echo Mia with 2 ins/2outs, 24/96 DAs and S/PDIF is available at the same price as the Delta 44.

Has anyone out there tested either or both? Any idea which way to go? Either way, it's gotta be better than my Soundblaster - which just crapped out on me anyway....
 
Slack,

I know where you are coming from... just picked up the Delta Audiophile2496 a few weeks ago and it IS night and day....$149 was as far as MY cheap ass will go....I believe it has the same converters as the Delta 44 and they are pretty sweet for the price...I run my guitar through the Johnson J-Station(AKA Pod Killer) into the S/PDIF and I still have the 2 analog inputs (actually 1 stereo, but they are on separate RCA connectors)...only downside on this one is the inputs arent balanced....My next step is a decent monitoring system, let me know if CheapskateMaster has any tips for this one....Im playing hell learning to mix thru my stereo system....im watching my blood pressure so i take my shit without salt....
 
I love my Delta 66... but I like my SB Live too as a MIDI synth/Sound Font sampler, and for $75, it does those jobs far better than I have any right to expect.
 
I always tell folks you get what you pay for, and buy what you need. Now I have an SB Live Value card in both a PC at home and one at work. At work I keep a cassette deck under my desk which I am using to slowly copy my collection of old bootleg cassettes onto CD. Because the source sound isn't all that great, the SBLive is just fine for this - a good value for $50. I have no problem recomending it to a kid who is just learning recording.
But when I record my band in my basement studio I am using a Gadget Labs Wave 824 card at 24 bit with decent mics and mixer. Obviously there is no comparison in recording quality. But I would not try to configure my Gadget Labs card to play game sounds either. So both cards are good tools for their respective uses.
 
Hey Slack...

"I know that I'll eventually outgrow this Delta44. But at $199, it'll get my cheap ass by for a time."

Next year when it grows old on ya' sell it to me!! I'm starting on the other end of the chain (right or wrong) and will soon have a nice AT4033 to accompany my presonus mic pre...only prob...my Soundblaster!

Oh well - there is always NEXT YEARS tax return.

Enjoy the new toy!

zip >>
 
What was it that the CRUSTY OLD COOT Sonusman used to say........ buy once... buy cheap twice..... how did he say that?......????.......... here kitty, kitty. Come home, here kitty........
 
buy cheap buy twice-that's how he used to say it.
meeeeooowwwww hisssssss hisss
 
i just wanted to see my new dingly thing whatever... like yours most peter!

guhlenn ;)

damnit!!! it is supposed to move!!! i had too make it smaller and did this with photoeditor and now it is freezed... help me!!
 
fab4ever,

Two inputs just don't seem like enough. I would have liked 8 but four will get me by. I mean, it's easy to think, "I'm only one guy, two inputs is twice as many as i need!"

But damn I can easily think of ways to use 4 inputs. My next experiment is going to be running my guitar into the POD, running one line out of the POD into the delta, and the second to my amp...then mic'ing my amp....then using a second mic on the strings of my guitar (which can produce a cool sound). So I'll be mixing raw pod, my amp post pod, and the strings. That's using up 3 inputs right there and I'm not even trying.

Alternatively I might try running my guitar into my ART preamp and then running that into the delta. Then using the Delta outputs to route the signal to multiple amplifiers and/or the POD, then back into the delta which might produce cool results. I have this dorky OLD RCA mini-PA thing...basically a microphone amplifier with a speaker...anyway it has a cool nasty crunch to it that would be fun to mix with a nicer sound.

Anyways, yeah the lack of SPDIF on the Delta44 might become a bummer...but my current wish list doesn't include anything that I'd use SPDIF for. Besides, at the 199 price I think I can probably get my money back on ebay a year from now.

Slackmaster 2000
 
guhlenn,

You can't use a standard image editor application to resize an animated GIF (unless it happens to have that feature). All it can display and manipulate is the top image in the stack, and if you resize and save, you basically have then made a smaller, separate file of only the first frame in the animation. You need to resize it in an editor capable of working with animated GIFs.
 
I think there is an option on this site to upload and resize your own personal gif.Dragon will know for sure
 
Slack,

Thanks for the advice. You are eons beyond me in terms of recording experience, so I really appreciate the suggestions.
I am prepared to purchase the Delta 44 - unless someone steps forward in the next day or two with urgent advice to get a different card.
 
Okay, sorry for being off-point here, but I can't stand it: How do you get an icon next to your user ID?
 
fab,

You need to edit your profile to get the "avitar" under your name. Play with your user profile.

As far as the Delta...don't choose it over the MIA just because of what I said....be absolutely sure it fits your particular application. I've only been at this recording thing a very short time myself...a year and a half maybe and I realy heavily on the advice of others around here. Just a disclaimer :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
Does anyone know if you can run a sblive and something like the delta together (not at the same time, but keeping them both in the computer)...I'd like to hang on to the sblive, cause that's where all my drums and various other noises come from, with the soundfonts...But I also need something with more inputs/better sound...Thanks!

-travis
 
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