How much does sound card matter?

[skim]

I'm starting up a personal home recording studio, small budget. I'm planning to purchase a Mackie 1202 VLZ PRO board with some decent mics.

My question is, can I just take the outs (RCA) from the board to my *existing* sound card in's (mini), using a Y-adaptor (RCA to mini)?

What about things like A-D conversion bit rate and such? Are the "recording" sound cards better than typical ones geared towards video games and home computer use?

My current sound card is the one shipping with my Dell, which is an Aureal Vortex 8830. Couldn't find any info on it on the web.

Thanks in advance,
Steve.

 

[tdukex]

Your Y configuration will work, but your $10 soundcard will sound like a $10 soundcard.

The difference in sound between your card and even a decent card will be night and day. The AD/DA converters and the S/N ratio on your typical "gamer" card will make you audio sound only slightly better than if it was recorded on a hand held cassette dictation recorder.

The least card I'd recommend is the Soundblaster Audigy (the basic version). It retails for about $69 and is well worth the price according to Ethan Winer: http://www.ethanwiner.com/audigy.html

The next step up would be an M-Audio Audiophile ($179).

A $1,000 microphone through a shitty soundcard will sound like shit.

But a $79 Shure SM57 through a good sound card will sound like an SM57 should, and that is good.

 

[brzilian]

The current price for the Audiophile is more like $150. I picked one up for that at Guitar Center last month.

 

[riotshield]

I had the Aureal Vortex2 8830 (Superquad) before upgrading to a Santa Cruz, before upgrading to a Midiman Audiophile 2496. The Vortex2 was similar to the Santa Cruz, except the SC had 4 input channels vs. 2. When I got the Audiophile though, my tracks had less noise and was more 'flexible' with how hot the signal was. I haven't played with it much but it sounds good so far. It has RCA I/Os so you could plug those to your Mackie w/o using a converter cable.

BTW, I did a price search before buying and Guitar Center is the cheapest by far ($150). Most e-tailers sell it for $180. Unfortunately GC doesn't sell them online, and I don't live near one. MIDI Store (a Yahoo! shop) sells them for $160 + ~$5 shipping. I bought one from them and they shipped it the next day, no problems.

 

[TexRoadkill]

There is a huge difference. Much less noise, better DAC, higher bit rate, greater in/out flexibility.