Help! Why a $500 card over a $100 card?

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DJRubio

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I'm looking to buy a sound card to record just one track from my synth/with sequencer.. and all I need is a clean recording to put to mp3.

Will sbLive Value get me through with a clean recording? Good enough for mp3 at least. Why do ppl reccomend a $500 card? I am confoosed and don't know what to do! My current sound card has a hum/fuzz that doesn't go away! Please help!!!
 
You don't need to spend $500 to get rid of that sounds-ghastly hum. Many cards in the $300 range provide a noise floor that's better than really nice cassette decks.
Besides better connector choices than the 1/8" stereo miniplug, what you get beyond the $300 card is better A/D and D/A converters and/or more of them. Other features might include digital I/O via S/PDIF, AES/EBU or some sort of ADAT interface. Some cards even include fairly high quality microphone pre-amps as opposed to just the line level inputs on cards like my GINA. Some will also throw in a MIDI interface.
You might also consider an outboard digital converter and a cheap digital I/O card.
Jittering Jim uses this method and his mixes sound great.


[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 05-12-2000).]
 
even a 20 dollar pci card produces great results.. at first..then as your ear gets better trained you start to hear more noise..then you spend one hundred on a card...then your ears get trained..then you buy a 300 dollar card.. and so on..

the worst case scenario is you become ed rei and you can tell the difference between what channels your using on a soundcraft mixer into what channel of the soundcard.. :)

if you just want decent quality mp3s to impress your friends then a 20 dollar card is fine..

- eddie -
 
Here is a link to a couple of recordings I made using SB Live Value card ($89) and a Marshall Condenser Mic ($169). I do realize that this extremely low end methodology does not result in the finest quality, but for my hobby, it works well.
Click here --> www.mp3.com/lostandlonesome

George
 
the worst case scenario is you become ed rei
and you can tell the difference between what channels your using on a soundcraft mixer into what channel of the soundcard..


lol, ha ha good one Eddie.
 
There are other things to consider besides your soundcard. I had a similar persistant hiss in the background of my recordings, so I bought a more expensive soundcard. It didn't help one bit because the source turned out to be my cheap microphone. Since I replaced that, things have been going just fine.
 
Solve your problems by buying my Midiman Dman 2044. Its brand new.Only used twice. We had it for a spare but decided we didnt need it. It has 4 ins and 4 outs. 20 bit. must sell. Paid 250.00. will sell for 190.00 and I will pay for shipping. Steal it! see detailed ad under ads for music and equipment for sale.theres a phone number there.thanks
Bill LM
 
Thanks guys for all your help.

The idea of getting a cheap sound card with a digital input to be used in conjunction with an outboard digital converter sounds like a great idea. Does anyone reccomend any digital converters?

Currently, I"m trying to record on a $20 card and it's "ok", but the hum/interference still seperates me from the more 'pro' recordings...

Maybe I'll try a SBLive (with digital I/O).. and if it doesn't have good results, I'll look into getting an outboard digital converter.

BTW, you can hear my bad recording quality music at http://mp3.com/DjRubio - The first song is the one which I just recorded with my $20 card.

Thanks again,
DJ Rubio
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BlueNorthern:
Here is a link to a couple of recordings I made using SB Live Value card ($89) and a Marshall Condenser Mic ($169). I do realize that this extremely low end methodology does not result in the finest quality, but for my hobby, it works well.
Click here --> www.mp3.com/lostandlonesome

George<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
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