is a new soundcard necessary?

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sleeprecordings

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hi...i'm brand new to this forum, so please forgive me if this sounds like a dumb question. i have recorded two full-lengths in the past and a couple of eps, but the record i just recently started recording is the first i'm working on mostly on my own with the help from some friends. last weekend we recorded five songs in milwaukee (i live in chicago) and i have the recorded audio on a bunch of cdrs here. they are the quieter songs on the record...no drums, and i want to mix them on my own with my laptop. while i have a couple of overdubs to do at various places (flute, some noise tracks, etc), almost everything is finished. i'm researching active monitors and am about to buy some, but i was hoping someone on here might be able to tell me if using the standard soundcard in my laptop will make my mixes worse. i just have a hp pavilion ze4900 and it's the standard soundcard. the record will be mastered and all, but i want to make sure i'm not going to mess anything up. thanks for your time.

matt

www.thegunshy.com
 
sleeprecordings said:
hi...i'm brand new to this forum, so please forgive me if this sounds like a dumb question. i have recorded two full-lengths in the past and a couple of eps, but the record i just recently started recording is the first i'm working on mostly on my own with the help from some friends. last weekend we recorded five songs in milwaukee (i live in chicago) and i have the recorded audio on a bunch of cdrs here. they are the quieter songs on the record...no drums, and i want to mix them on my own with my laptop. while i have a couple of overdubs to do at various places (flute, some noise tracks, etc), almost everything is finished. i'm researching active monitors and am about to buy some, but i was hoping someone on here might be able to tell me if using the standard soundcard in my laptop will make my mixes worse. i just have a hp pavilion ze4900 and it's the standard soundcard. the record will be mastered and all, but i want to make sure i'm not going to mess anything up. thanks for your time.

matt

www.thegunshy.com
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. I would advise upgrading your present soundcard, however you'll need a preamp to boost the audio signal going into your soundcard.
 
thanks for the advice. i do have a tube mic pre amp for recording. i used a very minimilistic setup for the demos of the songs. i was just wondering if the sound card effects sound output at all...do these nice sounding tracks we recorded lose anything listening to them through my soundcard? again, sorry if it's a dumb question and thanks for your time.

matt
 
Check out www.emu.com and their 1616m soundcard. A nice bit of kit for the laptop user. You DO need to upgrade as your current soundcard will not reproduce the sound in an accurate manner:) I have their 1820m desktop card and LOVE it!
 
From what i'm getting, all the material you have is already on your computer or a cd. I get that you arn't recording anything at the time being. If that is the case, it doesn't really matter. Your soundcard will not affect any files. The only way it would matter is if you were using a line out or headphone jack and recording to some sort of device. You may get slightly cleaner output when listening but it will be far less critical than with recording. If you are actually recording a new soundcard is a no brainer. Although i have heard great recordings on a factory card, why limit the quality, especially if you can afford it. That was one of the first things i bought.
 
yeah it is staying digital? should not be a problem.

fateswebb
 
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