Need help - soundcards

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simonlusco

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This is a very bizarre problem and it defies logic. See if you can expalin this for me as I am really puzzled.
I bought an edirol UA-5 USB sound module, using a Rode NT1 condensor mic, with both Cubase SX and Adobe Audition. Used it for a year, sound quality, about 5 out of 10. Not great.

Then I bought a preamp, audigy LS sound card (nothing flash) and sound quality went up to 8 out of 10, really great. So I thought I would spend a bit more money and get a pro soundcard.

So I buy an M - Audio 2496 Audiophile, it has some great reviews. Sounds terrible, 5 out of 10 also. My question is how come? Why am I getting far superior results from equipment which is not strictly sound recording gear? Why do the so called pro set ups, designed specifically for recording, sound so bad?

Please help me. I really want another soundcard to get 10 out of 10, can anyone help me here? Thanks a lot...
 
you have to tell use what was in your chain when you recorded each time...what you were recording...into what software program...every detail so that we can analyze the problem and figure it out.....just asking vague questions with no description of the problem doesnt help a thing...when you say "sound great or not sound great" WHAT exactly???you have to be more specific in your questions. so are you using the preamp every time/??if you want help, you have to describe every single detail of the chain, the problem and any thing else you think will help, otherwise , we are guessing and trying to read your mind..which , well.....doesnt work.


simonlusco said:
This is a very bizarre problem and it defies logic. See if you can expalin this for me as I am really puzzled.
I bought an edirol UA-5 USB sound module, using a Rode NT1 condensor mic, with both Cubase SX and Adobe Audition. Used it for a year, sound quality, about 5 out of 10. Not great.

Then I bought a preamp, audigy LS sound card (nothing flash) and sound quality went up to 8 out of 10, really great. So I thought I would spend a bit more money and get a pro soundcard.

So I buy an M - Audio 2496 Audiophile, it has some great reviews. Sounds terrible, 5 out of 10 also. My question is how come? Why am I getting far superior results from equipment which is not strictly sound recording gear? Why do the so called pro set ups, designed specifically for recording, sound so bad?

Please help me. I really want another soundcard to get 10 out of 10, can anyone help me here? Thanks a lot...
Click to expand...
 
Specifics

Ok here goes. The edirol UA-5 was used alongside XP, rode mic NT1, nothing else. No preamp was used as this has its own preamp. The sound was a bit muffled and not crystal clear. I mean the thing recorded OK but it sounded like it does when you dub cassettes a number of times, on the old stereos - you lose a bit of quality each time. This was quite an expensive product and I was wondering if it was the USB's fault somehow. I had onboard sound at this point, but this didn't matter, the edirol bypassed this. I sold this unit.

Then I went to my friends house. He was running a condensor mic with a behringer vacuum tube preamp (ultragain mic 100) with audigy LS which is an inexpensive soundcard. He gave me some of his songs to listen to. They were 30% clearer than mine, better sounding, clarity, definition, you could hear all instruments fine. So I bought this set up. Ironically it was cheaper than the edirol UA-5.

Each time I was using both Adobe Audition 1.0 AND Cubase SX, just to make sure there was no error caused by software, I recorded with both programs.

Recently I wanted a pro soundcard. So I researched this for a few months, finally buying an M Audio Audiophile 2496. I used cable adaptors 1/4 inch into rca's incidentally still with the same preamp and software.

Same as the edirol, the sound was not up to scratch. I recorded a song and burnt the same song which I had recorded on the audigy system to compare them. The Creative Soundblaster audigy was much much clearer, with better tone and definition and less background noise when I played it on my expensive CD player. This is a mystery to me and it seems to defy logic. Now what I want to know is, what soundcard will actually be an improvement? I am tearing my hair out here. Can anyone help me, cause the pro at the shop could not...
Could it be drivers? I did not delete the old audigy drivers...
 
Would it be possible to post samples?

The only thing I can suggest is to check the gain settings in the M-Audio Control Panel. They have variable signal level adjustment options for the Delta series of cards, and I think the Audiophile should be no different. Try different signal levels to find the one that best suits your preamp (which I'm told is crap, sorry, like most Behringer products).
 
Just as a point of clarification, the m-audio cards, while certainly decent (I own one), are not generally considered "pro" soundcards. They are dedicated recording cards (which the audigy is not), but are aimed more at the home recording market.
 
Yes, post samples...There has to be something going weird....
If you want a definite step up, I would suggest the Lynx versions...or even more so...the Esi juli@, which is an excellent card and way out does my old maudio 2496

lets hear those samples!
teddy



simonlusco said:
Ok here goes. The edirol UA-5 was used alongside XP, rode mic NT1, nothing else. No preamp was used as this has its own preamp. The sound was a bit muffled and not crystal clear. I mean the thing recorded OK but it sounded like it does when you dub cassettes a number of times, on the old stereos - you lose a bit of quality each time. This was quite an expensive product and I was wondering if it was the USB's fault somehow. I had onboard sound at this point, but this didn't matter, the edirol bypassed this. I sold this unit.

Then I went to my friends house. He was running a condensor mic with a behringer vacuum tube preamp (ultragain mic 100) with audigy LS which is an inexpensive soundcard. He gave me some of his songs to listen to. They were 30% clearer than mine, better sounding, clarity, definition, you could hear all instruments fine. So I bought this set up. Ironically it was cheaper than the edirol UA-5.

Each time I was using both Adobe Audition 1.0 AND Cubase SX, just to make sure there was no error caused by software, I recorded with both programs.

Recently I wanted a pro soundcard. So I researched this for a few months, finally buying an M Audio Audiophile 2496. I used cable adaptors 1/4 inch into rca's incidentally still with the same preamp and software.

Same as the edirol, the sound was not up to scratch. I recorded a song and burnt the same song which I had recorded on the audigy system to compare them. The Creative Soundblaster audigy was much much clearer, with better tone and definition and less background noise when I played it on my expensive CD player. This is a mystery to me and it seems to defy logic. Now what I want to know is, what soundcard will actually be an improvement? I am tearing my hair out here. Can anyone help me, cause the pro at the shop could not...
Could it be drivers? I did not delete the old audigy drivers...
Click to expand...
 
are you using the rode mic still???that may be the culprit too. do you have pads engaged on the mics ???


BigRay said:
Yes, post samples...There has to be something going weird....
If you want a definite step up, I would suggest the Lynx versions...or even more so...the Esi juli@, which is an excellent card and way out does my old maudio 2496

lets hear those samples!
teddy
Click to expand...
 
I don't know the solution, but I will say that it is more than likely your own fault.
 
I think that you are just used to hearing the over-hyped sound of the Audigy. Now that you can hear what your recordings REALLY sound like with the Audiophile you need to re-think your recording methods. The Audiophile doesn't hide things the way the Audigy does. When I first started recording with my computer I also had an Audigy soundcard. When I switched to the Audiophile I had similar doubts until I realized that the Audiophile was giving a more realistic reproduction of my recordings.
 
I am here at work (!) so I cannot post the samples, but thankyou all for your responses they were helpful overall. Any other tips would be much appreciated.
 
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