Sound Card Question

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TripleM

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When I compare my mixes against commercial mixes, I can hear significant differences (I know that doesn't exactly set me apart from many other people around here :)). There is just a smoother and warmer sound to commercial releases.

When I compare my mixes against commercial releases in a spectrum analyzer I can see differences. Commercial mixes have a nice smooth curve that starts low in the low frequencies, peaks at around 600 hz or so, and then has a nice smooth taper off to 20 Khz.

My mixes have a very rough curve. If the graph of a commercial mix can be described as looking like the teeth of a coping saw, mine look like something a lumberjack would use. OK maybe I'm exagerating a bit, but I hope you get the point.

My mixes also don't have that smooth taper from 600 hz to 20K either. There is a dip at about 1000 hz, a peak at 2400 hz and a dip at 9 khz. This seems to happen with every mix. I record mostly pop-rock with a couple of guitar parts, bass, drums and vox.

I'm wondering what is causing this. One thing I'm thinking about is my sound card. I have a Soundblaster 64 PCI card, which I know is not the highest quality. Additionally, the cable going from my mixer to the sound card is a cheapie bought at RadioShack. I don't know if that might be the cause.

Other components of my signal chain:

Mic: Shure SM57, and Oktava Mk-319
Mixer: Mackie 1202 vlz

Would buying a better sound card help with these problems?

Thanks, and please let me know if you need any other info to give an adequate answer.
 
I am no expert, but there might be a problem with your tracking/mixing, which, a decent soundcard that allows higher than 16bit /44k. Something, say 24/96k, would give you more room in your tracks. Or it could simply be that commercial releases are mixed and mastered in places normally far superior to what the not-as-experienced can get in the home studio. Of, course, as I stated I am no expert, but based on what I have observed and read about, that's my 2 cents. I'm sure there are other things as well such use of eq and compression that will all play into the "mix". Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be here to answer you.


Vice
 
TripleM said:
When I compare my mixes against commercial mixes, I can hear significant differences (I know that doesn't exactly set me apart from many other people around here :)). There is just a smoother and warmer sound to commercial releases.

When I compare my mixes against commercial releases in a spectrum analyzer I can see differences. Commercial mixes have a nice smooth curve that starts low in the low frequencies, peaks at around 600 hz or so, and then has a nice smooth taper off to 20 Khz.

My mixes have a very rough curve. If the graph of a commercial mix can be described as looking like the teeth of a coping saw, mine look like something a lumberjack would use. OK maybe I'm exagerating a bit, but I hope you get the point.

My mixes also don't have that smooth taper from 600 hz to 20K either. There is a dip at about 1000 hz, a peak at 2400 hz and a dip at 9 khz. This seems to happen with every mix. I record mostly pop-rock with a couple of guitar parts, bass, drums and vox.

I'm wondering what is causing this. One thing I'm thinking about is my sound card. I have a Soundblaster 64 PCI card, which I know is not the highest quality. Additionally, the cable going from my mixer to the sound card is a cheapie bought at RadioShack. I don't know if that might be the cause.

Other components of my signal chain:

Mic: Shure SM57, and Oktava Mk-319
Mixer: Mackie 1202 vlz

Would buying a better sound card help with these problems?

Thanks, and please let me know if you need any other info to give an adequate answer.
Click to expand...

what u are hearing is talent or lack there of coupled with millions dollar equipment
 
Honestly, the problem is you, and that Soundblaster 64 isn't going to help you fix it!

You need to be able to record decent sounding tracks, and you need to be listening back on a system that allows you to make appropriate decisions. You need a good soundcard and a good monitoring setup. There's no way around it, so until you get some equipment you'll just have to compensate with your ears as best you can!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Here's my two cents.....I'n my very amatuer opinion...

Maybe the peaks you are seeing are from intsruments that are on top of each other. Whem two instruments are competing for the same freq. range they will tend to sound muffled. One thing I've noticed in the difference between great sounding mixes and others is the clarity of the instruments in the mix. This comes from quailty instruments, picked up by a quality mic fed to quality recording equipment. Then they are eq'ed to give each inst. a distinct place in the mix.

Larry
 
Slackmaster2K said:
Honestly, the problem is you, and that Soundblaster 64 isn't going to help you fix it!

You need to be able to record decent sounding tracks, and you need to be listening back on a system that allows you to make appropriate decisions. You need a good soundcard and a good monitoring setup. There's no way around it, so until you get some equipment you'll just have to compensate with your ears as best you can!

Slackmaster 2000
Click to expand...

Thanks Slack. I fully acknowledge that much of the problem is with me - and I practice every moment I get. My question here was if (in addition to working at getting better myself) I upgrade my Soundblaster to say an M-Audio Audiophile soundcard, how much improvement to the recording quality would there be?

Thanks again.
 
The difference from the SB 64 to an Audiophile should be very considerable! Your noise floor should drop from about -40db to -70db or lower, and what comes out will sound much closer to what came in.

Personally I've only used the Delta44 and the Delta1010....but the Audiophile is in the Delta line...uses the same drivers....I believe it should be fairly comparable in sound quality to the Delta44, which sounds pretty ok.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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