Soundblaster Live versus Value versus Dman

D

druid

New member
I am a newbie in the digital recording world. I would like to know what econically priced sound card would be the best choice. Do I need the I/O ports of the SB Live if I am burning CD's directly from my computer or could I get away with the SB Live value? I have a ART pre-amp that I am going to use to connect my SM58 to the sound card. Does the SB Live (not value)provide a better input (less hiss/distortion) than the standard 1/8" jack of the SB Value? Is the DMANN better than the SB Live? I am only going to need one track to record simultaneously.
 
The SB stuff can sound OK; check out the older .mp3s from Istyle; but I'd suggest getting a card with RCA inputs at least instead of those dreadful 1/8" miniplugs. I think SB makes one of those for around a C-note.
Oh yeah- This weekend, Guitar Satan is selling the Gina for $299!!!!!! You can't beat that with a stick. This card, combined with that pre-amp, could produce astonishing results. As they say down there (way down there... :) ) at GS: "Man, you're gonna dig it."
 
I bought the DMAN 2044 from Guitar Center (Is that the same as Guitar Satan? If not, it should be!) for $199. It came with the breakout box (4 1/4 IN, 4 1/4 OUT). We've been very pleased with it, and for the money, I think it's a great deal. Admittedly, I had been eyeing the Event products (namely Layla), but I couldn't pass up the Midiman price! If anyone has a reason that the Event products are better, I'd be interested in hearing from you. The sound quality was definitely a bunch better than going into the SB Live card that I have.

Good Luck!
Michael S
 
I bought my Gina on the recommendation of several people I trust. I think a spec vs. spec comparison would be less than helpful here because some vendors are more conservative than others when making these claims. How about posting some .mp3s recorded
with the DMAN. That price (along with those two extra inputs) sounds wonderful. And as to
Guitar Center: what do <you> think? When it comes to leading thou into temptation's grip, who does it any better?
 
I am currently mixing down some stuff that we've done off of the DMAN 2044 and will post a message here when I have it up on our website. Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a place on this website to post clips of material, with the method and equipment used to produce the piece (i.e. input device, recording software, plug-ins, etc.)...just a suggestion.

Thanks,
Michael S.
 
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