sound card selection???

[hofacker]

Can y'all give me a bit of advice? I'm looking for an improvement in my siound card. I currently have a TASCAN 424 Mk II (that has been modified to have phantom power and inserts, ...but that's another story), an ISIS sound card and Cool Edit Pro. I'm currently recording acoustic jazz and classical (quartets etc.) using all 4 tracks on the TASCAM then dumping the tracks into CEP for very minor editing, track balancing, slight compression and the like, then burn a CD. I would like to move up to a higher bit resolution as I up grade my recording capability. I feel like I need at least 4 simultaneous input channels and 6 or 8 would be better. It seems like the advertisements say 4 (or 6 or whatever) but in reality they only have 2 input channels! and of course, the budget is limited... What do you recommend and why?

Thanks!

 

[AlChuck]

I feel like I need at least 4 simultaneous input channels and 6 or 8 would be better. It seems like the advertisements say 4 (or 6 or whatever) but in reality they only have 2 input channels! and of course, the budget is limited...

Not sure what you mean there... every soundcard I've ever seen that advertises 4 or 6 inputs indeed has 4 or 6 inputs... examples?

I'm looking for an improvement in my siound card. I currently have a TASCAN 424 Mk II (that has been modified to have phantom power and inserts, ...but that's another story), an ISIS sound card and Cool Edit Pro. I'm currently recording acoustic jazz and classical (quartets etc.) using all 4 tracks on the TASCAM then dumping the tracks into CEP for very minor editing, track balancing, slight compression and the like, then burn a CD. I would like to move up to a higher bit resolution as I up grade my recording capability.

Seems to me that your biggest problem sonically has got to be the fact that you record to a four-track cassette tape first. Why not us the Tascam as a mixer/mic pre only and record straight into the computer?

The Isis has eight inputs, so you should be set for ins. A better mixer than the rudimentary one that's built into the Tascam would help a lot, too. Not much point in getting a higher resolution card unless you have pristine high-quality signals coming in.