good soundcard vs. audio interface

[AlfredB]

Hi there,

My comp (1,6gh, 256mb, 80gB7200 HDD) is suffering from its internal sound card that seems to dump all audio on the cpu.

I am just starting to record ... but would like to know if its better to buy a good "regular" soundcard or go via firewire pci card into a "more pro" audio-interface.

any thoughts? pros/cons...


thx
alfred

 

[wombar]

It all depends on what you're recording and how many tracks at a time you need. If it's just guitar/vocals/bass and you only need one track at a time then the M-Audio delta cards might be worth a look.

PCI(i.e an internal card) cards tend to be cheaper than firewire because you aren't paying for portability. More info would probably make answering this question easier.

How many tracks at a time do you need to record?
Whats your budget?
Are you happy opening your PC up to install a PCI card?
Do you need a portable solution?
What are you going to be recording(drums, guitar etc)?

Something like this would probably be a good start although that would depend on your answers to the above questions.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_gb/Audiophile2496-main.html

 

[AlfredB]

How many tracks at a time do you need to record?
Whats your budget?
Are you happy opening your PC up to install a PCI card?
Do you need a portable solution?
What are you going to be recording(drums, guitar etc)?

to put it in pragmatic terms ... as many tracks as it needs - to be honest, I dont want the number of tracks that I can work on the system interfere with my creativity. but if you want a number, i guess i should be fine with 15-20 simultaneous trax

budget: $ 200 - 300ish

not happy opening the pc, but willing to do so (will also put some memory in there once its already open

no, portability is not an issue - i'm a bedroom artist .

i plan to do a "full recording" - so far i have a drum loop (mic'ing a drumkit is not possible at this stage), and i record. bass, guitar and vocals

 

[Roy/Keys]

You might want to check out the emu-0404.The installation is easy, the quality is good,and it runs around $140.00,u.s. incl.shipping.
rock on dude !

 

[manning1]

hi again. if were me i would look at a cheap pci sound card.
tracertek.com and if i remember staudio.com have some cheap stereo in/out
that are around 80 bucks if i remember and do 24 bit.
but a word of warning. do two things to cover yourself.
1. make sure if it doesnt work in your computer you can return it and send it back.
2. to ensure a trouble free installation ask BEFORE BUYING if the sound card is compatible with your motherboard and chipset. if you have an older athlon in particular with a via chipset many people had complications.
please note that due to tech change some sound cards work great out of the gate - others ? well you can get problems depending on the age of your chipset/mbd/manufacturer.
you might also look at the maudio revolution or some of the others people like for example the populat audiophile 2406 and delta range.
but the KEY to success in this game is not to having anything else hogging the pci bus (like a fancy gaming card) when you put a pci sound card in a pci slot. now there are exceptions. some people have reported that matrox
cards seem to be able to coexist in a pci slot with the sound card.
but i never take the chance. hth.

 

[manning1]

btw - if its tweaked right with a good modern hd you should get way more than 20 tracks. ive had 20 tks on ancient pent 1's that i helped.
maybe even 40 or more.

 

[Polaris20]

Audiophiles are like $100 these days. Get that and an Audio Buddy, and you're set.

 

[AlfredB]

Audiophiles are like $100 these days. Get that and an Audio Buddy, and you're set.

what is an audio-buddy?

... people here on the board ???

anybody care to move to Santiago, Chile ???


cheers to my audio-buddies ... hehehe
alfred

 

[manning1]

audio buddy is a 2 channel cheap mic preamp. made by maudio.
for amplifying mic signals for sending to the sound card.
other cheap options - behringer make a mic100 preamp.
or look at a yamaha mg mixer (100 $$ ?).
check out zzounds.com and music123.com and other internet retailers
for pricing.

 

[TamaSabian]

I got one Audiobuddy, it´s great as starting point. Second that Yamaha MG mixers, good for the price. Better then beh´s