liitle help on sound cards

  • Thread starter Thread starter gonzorock
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gonzorock

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I am looking to buy a sound card but a bit stuck on which one to get. I am going to use my 1642-VLZ Pro 16-Channel Mixer and am wondering weither i need so many inputs as i was lookin at the M-audio delta range. I also have a Yamaha keyboard which is connected via midi cable and the delta 44 does not have midi port do i need it?

Sorry if i sound so dull but i'm new to all this!!

Thanks :)
 
You just need to decide how many simultaneous analog inputs you will need in the forseeable future. If you plan on recording a drumset or a live band, you will generally need more inputs than if you are just tracking guitars and vocals. The Delta cards are a good place to start. You can chain together multiple delta cards, if needed. The Delta 66 has SPDIF to make that easier and those can also be used for digital in/out. I think in Windows XP, you can synchronize the cards without SPDIF, though. The Delta 1010 has 8 inputs plus midi, IIRC.

As for midi, you could also just buy an inexpensive USB midi interface (around $30).
 
don't count on getting those Delta 44s to sync. Some get it to work, some have trouble. I got them to work for awhile, then started having problems. I never figured out why. It could've been my software, or any of a hundred other variables...

If you need more than 4 analog ins, I recommend looking at something else.

Are you doing electronic stuff and making music by yourself, or are you mic'ing instruments in a full band?
 
TimOBrien said:
Basic Soundcard Guide:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm

(90% of all newbie questions can be answered in Tweak's guides....)
Click to expand...

It still fails to mention the best reason not to buy PCI---that being that PCI is deprecated. The new standard, PCI Express (PCIe), is not compatible with standard parallel PCI cards. It has already replaced PCI on the Mac side of the house, with other manufacturers soon to follow.

Buying a $99 PCI card is fine unless you're a Mac user; you'll probably outgrow it before you can't find a PCI-compatible motherboard that you like. Buying a $500 PCI interface (e.g. the Delta 1010) is throwing your money away, IMHO.

Even if the whole PCI deprecation thing doesn't bother you, the Delta series is still a fossil; the technology dates back to 1999 (at least for the 1010 and the 66). There are excellent FireWire and USB options available for not much more money, with improved converters, pres, etc. Unless that extra $30-50 would really kill you, you'd probably be a lot happier with something more modern.
 
dgatwood said:
It still fails to mention the best reason not to buy PCI---that being that PCI is deprecated. The new standard, PCI Express (PCIe), is not compatible with standard parallel PCI cards. It has already replaced PCI on the Mac side of the house, with other manufacturers soon to follow.

Buying a $99 PCI card is fine unless you're a Mac user; you'll probably outgrow it before you can't find a PCI-compatible motherboard that you like. Buying a $500 PCI interface (e.g. the Delta 1010) is throwing your money away, IMHO.

Even if the whole PCI deprecation thing doesn't bother you, the Delta series is still a fossil; the technology dates back to 1999 (at least for the 1010 and the 66). There are excellent FireWire and USB options available for not much more money, with improved converters, pres, etc. Unless that extra $30-50 would really kill you, you'd probably be a lot happier with something more modern.
Click to expand...

So, why don't you recommend a good quality PCIe soundcard for us?
 
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