Some advice on choosing a Sound Card.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Toker41
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Toker41

Better Than You
I put my "home studio" together about 6 years ago. It's been collecting dust for the last 3 years or so. Now that I've been getting involved with an old song writing partner, we have decided to get things going again. He is now building a PC for his home studio. Things have changed a bit since I stopped paying attention a few years ago. I have a Delta 1010 PCI card because I wanted the 10 ins, and outs. Is this card now outdated? He is asking my advice, but I don't want to give outdated information. He is looking for at least 8 in, and out. I'm reading that the Delta 1010 has no Vista drivers, and no plans to release any. Is this true? Is there a better choice of sound cards with the same, or more in and out options? Is PCI still the way to go, or should we look at PCIe? Is there a better choice than the Delta 1010?
 
Hi,

Giving my issues with the Saffire Pro 10 i would find it difficult to argue for this device unless you would go to an apple. there everyone seems to love this card. Same is true for the MOTU MKIII. (see my post homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=270750)

Most of these work well with firwire which seems to be more stable when it comes to bit rates and response times.

It all depends on what you want to achive (simultanious records, set-by step, replay and record,...) things certainly have moved on a bit in the last 6 years ;)

Kind regards and have fun
ChrizB
 
You don't have to operate under Vista.
i have my main recording comp running XP for an INCA 8 in 8 out with a backup running 98.
The card you have is still pretty flash - you don't HAVE to upgrade unless you want to.
I have to admit though that I'm using old technolgy with the system, card and program (Cakewalk Proaudio 9.3) - it's a new computer though.
 
I am trying to talk him into building a PC, but he is looking at Dell. Finding a brand PC with XP is not an easy task. Dell has only a few models that they offer XP with. Trying to at least guide him to letting the local Mom and Pop computer shop build him one with XP. So, if everything goes right, we will be using XP. However, he is worried about support for XP running out in a couple years, and then having to reinvest in a new sound card, with the lack of support for the 1010 with Vista. My thought is that if he is still doing this in a few years, he will be upgrading his PC by then anyway.
I'm pleased with the 1010 as far as in and out options. However, the drivers are a pain in the a**.

We will be using N-track ((I'm a big supporter of it:D), if I can talk him out of spending thousands on Protools.:rolleyes:
 
Hi

I am always surprised at just how, er ... 'behind' I am, in the technology stakes. If I am to put up my hand and tell the truth; I'm running Cubase VST and Reason v1 (as a rewire slave), on 98SE. my PC is only (cringe ) 800 MHz. I bought a Delta 66 about 6 and half years ago and everything that I have have still works beautifully. I don't have a problem with latency and the only time I have ever experienced a problem was when the old hard drive in my PC started to exhibit suface errors, so I replaced it.

I would also suggest that your friend follow your lead and either build a PC from scratch or get someone else to do it. 'Off the shelf' systems are not the best option in audio recording cases, where they tend to cater for the home multi-media market.

A PC used for a recording studio should, in my opinion, be used as a workstation for audio only, the last thing it should be is an all-singing, all dancing, on-line nightmare.

As for Vista, it's designed for just that type of multi-media home market and it's still relatively young.

Check out the LT version of the Delta 1010

OK, so no swish break-out box looking neat on the side, but all the important processing guts are still there. Bargain!
 
ok...I have now tried a few combinations and the answer seems to be simple for me. Either build a monster PC and stick a MOTU MKIII on it or don't bother. I am running a decent rig (I thought) and I got a dual boot system now with vista and XP running. I even bought a special firewire card and during audio recording in stereo I am still running into the odd "pop" from the cards.

PCs are not audio machines no matter what we think. Vista is worse than XP unless you plan to go 64Bit and then you are running into software support issues.

I have now reformatted one drive for a clean boot XP and my 4GB rig is now at 2.8GHz with nothing else to do but record audio. after 12 hours I still get popping coming in. painful but true. please please please if you want decent recording go Mac. If you don't care about the odd pop here and there than the PC will be ok.

have fun
 
chrizb said:
I have now reformatted one drive for a clean boot XP and my 4GB rig is now at 2.8GHz with nothing else to do but record audio. after 12 hours I still get popping coming in. painful but true. please please please if you want decent recording go Mac. If you don't care about the odd pop here and there than the PC will be ok.
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i think you have a problem somewhere ,30 seconds - 24 hours should not make a difference to the pc
as far as a monster pc unless you are running heavy vst's then you dont need one a dual core 2.4 would be more than ampel(also quiet cheap now)memory 2 gigs would see you ok.
motherboard try not to skimp too much on this but dont buy top of the range make sure it has the slots you require a chip set that does not have any isuses with your sound card and that the memory you buy is compatable with the voltage(some motherboards dont let you change this intel was one when i built mine)
sound card the 1010 pci is still a reliable card all singing and dancing is not always best low latacy and reliable are what the home recordist needs rme do good cards with very good drivers and are well supported.motu good reliable but the support is not so good especially on the phone.
 
chrizb said:
ok...I have now tried a few combinations and the answer seems to be simple for me. Either build a monster PC and stick a MOTU MKIII on it or don't bother. I am running a decent rig (I thought) and I got a dual boot system now with vista and XP running. I even bought a special firewire card and during audio recording in stereo I am still running into the odd "pop" from the cards.

PCs are not audio machines no matter what we think. Vista is worse than XP unless you plan to go 64Bit and then you are running into software support issues.

I have now reformatted one drive for a clean boot XP and my 4GB rig is now at 2.8GHz with nothing else to do but record audio. after 12 hours I still get popping coming in. painful but true. please please please if you want decent recording go Mac. If you don't care about the odd pop here and there than the PC will be ok.

have fun
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You need to pay close attention to your video card! If your video card is using up too much pc resources then this will cause your audible clicks and pop sound youre getting. I recommend a card with at lease 512 on-board mem and this will resolve your issue. There is no need to change your entire life around to mac inorder to get a desent recording. I have been recording with a simple audiophile 2496 for years and challenge you to tell the difference between me and a pro studio.
 
Only time I ever had "popping" issues is when the buffers weren't tweaked right.
 
Toker41 said:
Only time I ever had "popping" issues is when the buffers weren't tweaked right.
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Thats cool. I just like to through that info out into the world so people are aware of his issue. A lot of people dont take into effect that the other components in the computer can have negative effects on your work.

Cheers and happy recording!
 
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