M
mtown408
New member
Should I buy a audio interface or a soundcard for a Studio Projects VTB-1 Tube Blend Mic Preamp? What do you guys reccommend?
andycerrone
Banned
What other gear do you have? I have one of those, and I run run it throuhg a Delta 44 interface, and I love the sound I get from it.
daav
Flailing up a storm.
interface and soundcard are effectively the same thing.mtown408 said:
A soundcard processes audio digitally, it also usually has jocaks for inputs and outputs. An interface does the same thing, but normally an interface has more input and more outputs and might be outside of the box.
So a soundcard is probably something we think of as a PCI card that you put int he box, has a few jacks in the back.
An interface may have a PCI card component, but will often have a "breakout box" or cables that will provide additional input and output jacks and will often have mic preamps built in as well. More common these days is an enterface with a firewire or USB 2.0 cable as an interface. Eitherway, they are all audio interface's.
So, the answer: look at interfaces, that term alone will mean you are more likely to be dealing with a made-for-recording piece of equipment.
The question you need to ask is (and answer here for best advice):
What is my budget?
How many inputs and outputs do i need?
How obsessed am i with incredible sound quality?(this will determine if you want to pay extra for better converters and higher bit rate and sample depth).
Do i need mic pres on my interface or not?
Once you know what you want on those counts, pick a few firewire interfaces that fit the bill and choose one(if your computer doesn't have a firewire jack, get a card to add one, it is cheap and firewire is just easier and faster than anything else).
Now if you are like me, and super cheap, you can look to save money by buying used (see the want adds, people here are often selling older interfaces) and/or getting a model with less or no preamps
daav