Not sure which soundcard to get

  • Thread starter Thread starter robotica
  • Start date Start date
R

robotica

New member
I've had three suggestions: The Echo Mia, Audiophile 2496, and the Tascam us-122. I want to record just vocals and guitar. Someone suggested an Audio Buddy to go with the 2496, but how do I convert 1/4" to RCA? I was told it would render the balance of the Buddy's 1/4" outs useless. And can you then only record a mono signal to the card? I'll be the first to admit I don't know a lot about digital recording. Basically I want a reliable setup for less than $300.
Also, will I need a mic pre for any of these cards? I'd really appreciate your help. I have a rare opportunity to record somewhere quiet next week (I live in the city, too much noise), so I really want to get something set up before April. If you need to know, here's my setup:
ASUS P4PE mobo
Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor
1 GB Corsair pc 2700 DDr ram
Western Digital 7200 rpm 80 GB hard drive
THanks again for the help. Everybody's been really great on this site.
 
I would get the EMU 1212m

It is $199, and has great converters, MIDI, and firewire.

It's a PCI card, and does 24/192, SW drivers are great. Support is great.
 
So how is it for recording vocals and guitar? And would I need a mic preamp for it? Any thoughts on the other suggestions made?
 
yes, you will need a mic pre with the

1212m. a nice 2/4/6/8 channel mixer from behringer, alesis, mackie and others should come with a couple of decent budget mic pres in them and can run anywhere from $49 to $199.

the sound of the 1212m to my subjective ears is pristine, i record heavily distorted electric guitar, with a wide array of harmonic textures.

1/4" to RCA adapters are readily available. Nothing should be rendered useless in this convesion, as the connections are "unbalanced"

I haven't used the other cards, so I don't have an opinion on them. I do know the US-122 has USB limitations (e.g. doesn't do 96khz), but may be a very good option if portability and if 48khz is fine for you.
 
I want a very simple setup without a lot of extras. I don't need most of the things the 1212m does. I want to keep it to a card, and maybe a mic preamp at most. I don't have a lot of space and I get impatient with anything more complex than two or three buttons. Basically I want the ease of recording simple vocal and guitar (no effects added) to a 4-track but on my computer. This is only for recording demos, nothing more.
 
WARNING ... You said it "Just for demos" ... under 300$

For soundcard
You can choose Echo’s Mia cause it has balanced I/O’s with 4 standard 1/4 inch jack connectors or M-Audio’s Audiophile 2496 cause it’s its cheaper than Mia but has RCA jacks and is therefore not balanced.

For mic Preamp and instrument D.I.
A very nice all in one solution , compact and affordable is audio buddy from M-Audio.
Behringer UB 802 is the cheapest thing you can get and do your job just fine ( I have heard it with various mics and you can do your demos with acceptable sound quality), but it doesn’t have instrument input so you would need an extra DI box , maybe also from behringer.
 
Okay, so what about the 2496 with a Behringer 602 mixer? I can get the mixer really cheap. Would that handle all my needs?
Or, the Echo Mia with the Audio Buddy? Which do you think would produce the best results?
 
MX 602 should be even better if you can afford it. It’s a little bit more expensive than UB 802. Actually both mixers have the same features , the specs differ.
At this price range feel free to make any combination of the above products , you’ll get similar performance with either Mia and 2496 soundcards or MX 602 and Audio buddy preamps.
My personal choice would be Mia and Audio buddy.
 
you mentioned that you will be recording guitar and vocals? and you also meantioned a problem with mono limitations. From what i have learned here, it would be fine to record your shit in mono because you are not recording stereo sources. Just mixdown your final stuff in stereo when you have panned your tracks.

ON anohter note, i use the tascam-us122. It is pretty solid. Definately good for a first-timer in recording. I have never recorded at 96 Khz but it sounds pretty good to me at 48Khz.
 
Hey Minofifa, what kind of comp are you running? And do you have problems with latency? I keep going back and forth between a pci card and usb. I like the portability of the usb, but the card seems more versatile if I decide to expand my recording.
 
I am in the same financial situation as you, so I bought a used M-Audio Delta 44 on eBay for $135 shipped. That’s 4 balanced 1/4" ins and outs with a breakout box. If you need the digital I/O you can get the Delta 66 (same thing as the Delta 44 with digital I/O's) for $150 to $175. I was thinking of getting an Echo Mia but it only has 2 ins and outs and no breakout box. I hated to be limited to just 2 ins, even though It's only me recording myself (I like to get a lot of different recording angles). Again these are used prices, but they work the same as new ones. If you go this route be sure to check the feedback of the person selling.

Duff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top