Soundblaster PCI 128 vs. Soundblaster Live 1024

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MASTON

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Hello


Hi, there, eveybody. Here’s my deal. I’ve got a classical guitar a bunch of half-written songs, a 64 MB AMD-400 computer and Cakewalk and Cool Edit Pro, and not much money, and I want to get going on recording.

First things first. Soundcard? OK, well I’m going to go budget and after some research I’ve decided to go for either the SB 128 (£20) or the SB Live 1024(£40). I’d go for the 1024 but according to the reviewer at www.pcavtech.com, the Live cards aren’t as good as the 128 which is a bit confusing seeing they cost twice as much. Anybody know anything about this.

Cheers
 
Glad to see they finally updated that site with some prosumer cards.

Anyways, both of the cards you selected suck, but they'll both work. The difference between sucks and sucks a little less is relatively small.

The SB Live! has soundfont support, a built in synthesizer, does environmental sound processing, does 5.1 surround (I believe) and has optional SPDIF (depending on the model). If you're going to experiment with computer generated music at some point you'll be much better off with the SB Live. Otherwise either card will work ok.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I think you should start by checking with the software manufacturers to make sure they are compatible with the sound cards. I would also check to make sure that they are going to be compatible with your computer. By what you've listed there, you may run into some problems.

You are also probably going to run into problems with the low amount of memory on your computer. Recording software is very demanding on a computer

One last thought to throw out at you, what are yougoing to use for a microphone and how do you intend on routing the sound from the guitar to the computer.

Peace
Joe
 
Slackmaster: Thanks for the advice. Don't think I'll be doing and computer generated music in the future though, so I'll probably go for the 128.

JC lives: Cakewalk is compatible with Soundblasters, not sure about my AMD set-up but it's pretty standard and I haven't heard of any issues. The on-board chip (that I blew up) is SB compatible so shouldn't be any problems, but I'll check up on that.

Yeah, I know about memory, I'll upgrade as I need it.

As regards mikes and pre-amps and mixers and that, I was gonna leave that for another post but while we're at it might as well do it now.

I'm probably gonna get a Phonic 2-channel mixer for £79 ($120), which has phantom power and decent pre-amps. (Don't actually need a mixer, but can't find a cheap stand-alone pre-amp anywhere, so may as well go for the mixer)

Not sure about the Mike yet. Either a cheap £25 ($40) dynamic mike made by Stag (yeah, I know that's well stingy but it's supposed to be a really great Mike for the money) or if I go mad I'll try and get a condenser though it'll have to be 2nd hand 'cos I've only got about £60 ($90) to spend.
I've been following nutdotnets post and somebody (Gidge - I think, though could be wrong) reckoned good results can be made with half-decent dynamic mics, SB cards and a decent pre-amp.

So there you go. What d'you reckon. I just want to get started. Don't need absolutely immaculate sound (though I do want to get the best I can with what I can afford)

So there you go. What d'you reckon.
 
Don't skimp on the preamp or mic. There are good choices for either that you can afford as a beginner, and they'll retain their usefullness as you get better.

First, look into the ART Tube MP, a single channel tube mic preamp that retails for about $100. You really can't beat it and you won't be trying to sell it a week from now. Plus it retains its value pretty well.

Second, for a cheap dynamic microphone stick with the standards. You can get yourself an SM57 or SM58 for $80 or so and you can use either for both instruments and vocals. While neither would be the last mic you'll buy, they'll both be useful down the road as you upgrade. Both of these mic's sound great if used properly, and don't let guitar store salesman tell you "oh this mic is comparable to the SM57" or "this mic blows away the SM57". Any time somebody is offering you a cheap alternative to a cheap microphone, run like hell.

Now no matter what, you're going to get demo quality recordings out of the Soundblaster. There's really no way around it. Really think hard about when you need to start, and how long it would take you to really save up some money.

If you would like to hear what I'm talking about, you can check out the first two songs on my mp3.com site. http://www.mp3.com/slacker I recorded both with a single SM57 and an ART Tube MP, but the first (Dirt) was recorded with an M-Audio Delta44 24bit soundcard ($250) and the second (Adity) was recorded with a Soundblaster PCI128 ($30). Neither of these recordings are great, but notice how the first sounds real and the second sounds dull and lifeless. (note, the first one, "Dirt", was recorded and mixed in one afternoon a few days after purchasing the Delta... I didn't put much time into it) In fact, compare the acoustic part at the end of Adity to the acoutics in Dirt, since the only difference in the recordings is the soundcard....same guitar, same mic, same mic technique, same pre.

As far as your computer goes, don't think you're going to have success with any more than 8 tracks. I tried recording with a K62-400 for a while myself...it's just not built for speed. You should think about more memory almost immediately. It is SOO cheap right now. You can pick up a 128MB stick for under $40.

Slackmaster 2000
 
MASTON,

The ability of the SB Live to use custom sound sets via the Sound Font standard is well worth the difference in price. The wavetable on the 128 sounds cheesy by comparison.

-AlChuck
 
Slackmaster - Cheers. Noboddy seems to stock the Art Tube MP in this part of the world (UK). Cheapest mic tube pre-amp I've come across around here is made by TLE and costs £300 ($400). Suppose I could order from the US.
I'm sure you're right about the mic - The SM57-58 seems to be the one to go for doesn't it. Think they cost a bit more than that in the UK though.
I'm only looking at recording 4 tracks at the moment, sos the AMD'll be Ok for a while.


Alchuck. Hi. I won't be doing any computerised sounds so do I need the sound sets and wavetables and all that stuff. Better to use the extra bit of cash I'm saving on something I need isn't it. The only thing I might possibly need (and it's not a priority at the moment) is a half decent realistic piano sound and I don't think you'll get that with any kind of SB anyway will you, or will you ? How DO you get a realistic piano sound while we're on the subject (of which I know absolutely nothing about - what's a soundset? soundfont?, wavetable,??, ) ???

Cheers
 
It's kinda noisy but not really. It puts out enough signal that its noise isn't too noticable.

The people who rate it a 1 probably aren't using it correctly. You need to load the tube just so...there's a point where the preamp goes from sounding ok to "ahhhhh, there we go"...but the sweet spot is very narrow and depends on the application.

For best results it needs to be running into a +4 input. If you plug it into a -10 input then it's very difficult to use. You won't be able to turn the input gain up high enough (the input gain is where the sweetness is) without having to turn the output gain down so low that it starts to effect the sound.

Also, the thing needs to be on for about 4 hours before you use it. Well, I shouldn't say that...it starts to sound better after a few hours of being on.

Finally, don't expect to be "wowed" or anything. This is all very subtle. It'll get the job done for you fine.

My only real gripe about the Tube MP is that it lacks a power switch and I don't like the wall-wart power supply.

BTW, there's a new Tube MP out with a nice analog VU meter on it! A bit more expensive though.

Slackmaster 2000
 
There are some really nice piano Sound Fonts around... maybe I'll spool one off tonight ans send you a few moments of it to give you a sense...
 
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