set me straight on soundcard purchase

[pchorman]

Please help me with these questions:

I have an SB PCIAudio 64V soundcard which came with the Dell platform.

Would you consider it good enough for digitizing band recordings mixed down from analog 4-track for the purpose of cutting demos? Is the "standard issue" soundcard usually an audible weak link in the chain?

If a better card is recommended, what fairly inexpensive but higher quality card do you recommend, and where can I one?

thanks

 

[Gidge]

If you already have both the 4 track and the computer, go ahead and try it.....you can use Goldwave at www.goldwave.com or N-Track at www.fasoft.com to record.....see how it sounds.....a stock souncard isnt the optimal way to do it but a step up in quality would be something like a Delta Audiophile for $159.....do you guys record all at once or do you overdub?.....

 

[pchorman]

Hey Gidge: we record all at once, and I've already pumped the mixed down stereo signals into my machine and recorded it with Waveflow and other programs. Sounds fine to me, but I can't tell whether it can or should sound significantly better - no frame of reference other than professional recordings, against which I cannot compare.

so might this other card make a noticeable dent in final quality?

 

[Gidge]

I dont think youd be amazed at the difference in quality or think its worth $159, but it will be a tad better.....ok, but if you record all at once with no overdubs, plug into the 4 track as normal with the outputs hooked to the PC, and record straight to the PC and see if that makes any difference.....