soundblaster

  • Thread starter Thread starter namtrab101
  • Start date Start date
N

namtrab101

New member
Hi all! I've read a lot of posts saying not to use a soundblaster card.....but use Darla, Gina, etc. Now, I've been using a soundblaster for my first recordings, and everything seems ok. I have some recording issues, but I am assuming that they are related to my inexperience with recording/mixing....volume level, etc. Since I have absolutely NO experience with higher quality sound cards, what improvements are there with a better soundcard over a soundblaster? I would buy one in a second if I knew that my music would sound even better. If it matters, here's my set-up....instruments/vocals are miced, ran into a mixer (for the preamp), mixer connected to my soundcard. Pretty basic, pretty easy. Thanx!!
 
There are a few basic, major advantages with higher quality soundcards.
#1 is sound quality. It depends on your model, but with audio cards you can get 24 bit sound both directions. And most of these cards are so quiet that you don't even know they're there.
#2 is inputs. I use a simple, 4 input soundcard. But with 4 inputs you can record 4 seperate tracks at the same time (great for drums!). BUT you may or may not need 4, 8, or 16 inputs.
#3 is full duplex. When I used to use a Soundblaster, while I was recording something the sound coming out of my PC sounded scratchy and crappy. I later learned that It was not capable of listening to the sound and playing it back at the resolution I was trying to get. BUT Your soundblaster may be newer and handle that problem.

Thats the majors, at least MY majors when I decided to spend the money on a soundcard. I got a Delta 44, my only gripe is the Win2000 issues I've had. Other than that, it's been great so far!

H2H
 
The Sound Blaster AWE soundcards were not true full duplex; they played back already-recored audio at lower resolution while you were recording. But the parts were not recorded like this, they were recorded at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz. If you played back only (that is, without overdubbing), you heard the full 16-bit quality.

The Sound Blaster Live family are all true full duplex and play back at the same resolution as they record whether or not you are overdubbing a new track.
 
Bartman, (trabpukcip!),I had a soundblaster, then
upgraded to the Darla24card.Since I am not an
engineer type, I will say it in laymans terms:
It sounds much better now!!

I record only one track at a time, so the Darla24
works for me with just 2 inputs. I find the eight
outputs helpful with my setup, others may not.

If you record a few instruments at a time,
the Darla24 is not right for you, but I love mine,
works great and installed fairly well. Cheers David
 
David

I am not (more like, not anywhere near!) an engineer, either. So, laymans terms work well for me!! I too only record 1 track at a time. Hey! This is my little solo project!! LOL!! So, the Darla card sounds like a decent choice for me as well.

So you say the sound quality is just flat out better. That's great, but is that the quality of a recording, or just the quality of the playback, or both??

Out of curiousity, why does anyone need 8 outputs?

Thanx a bunch!
 
David

Something else I just thought of....
If I get the Darla, do i just mic my amp, connect the mic to my mixer, and then connect the mixer to the breakout box?
 
Why 8 outs? Well, many studios don't use a PC to record the multitrack master -- some still use analog tape decks, in fact. 8 outs allows you to work up some neat stuff with a program like ACID or other multitrack software and then be able to send the final tracks to the multitrack master as distinct tracks rather than submixed to fewer tracks. Flexibility.

In a home studio situation, though, 8 outs is not as useful as 8 ins would be. Many home studio user typically wants to be able to do it all on the PC, including the final stereo mix and making MP3s and CDs. In this case all you really need are two outs to be able to monitor in stereo.

And about micing your amp, yeah, that's an excellent and tried-and-true way of getting a good guitar sound. There are many articles on how to do this. Another excellent approach is to use one of those guitar amp modelers that have come on the market in recent years -- the Line 6 POD, the Johnson J Station, the Yamaha DG Stomp, and others. This gives you a very workable guitar sound without the hassles of finding the "sweet spot" with the mic and having to play loudly enough in your home to get the right sound. They also offer the flexibility of having many types of amp sounds to choose from at the touch of a button, compared to needing to have a Marshall plexi, a Fender Bassman, a Soldano, a Vox, etc. all at your disposal.

Purists will tell you that micing a great amp is the only way to go. But for home demos, these modelers can sound fantastic.
 
Bartman,
you got it, mic the amp, amp to mixer, mixer to
breakout box.

I use eight outs for convenience. Mixing with a mouse
sucks, so I do temporary mixing, with real faders,
so I can hear the parts better. I do complex stuff,
so the eight outputs really help me.

For final mixing, you just need two outs for monitoring.

You asked;
"That's great, but is that the quality of a recording, or just the quality of the playback, or both??"

Well, the Recording is done at 24bits, instead of
16bits for the soundblaster, so I assume the recording
is better.
 
Great! Thanx so much for the help, guys! I'll be doing all my mixing on my pc. I have an extra home stereo, and I'll be getting my studio monitors in a couple days. I'll be doing the mix over the monitors, but I want to be able to see how the mix sounds on other set-ups. So, could I connect the amp and monitors to one set of outputs on the Darla, and then connect the home stereo to another set of outputs?

And as far as the setup goes, when I get the Darla, would I connect the dual RCA (tape out) of the mixer to the input of the Darla....using handy ol' adapters, of course!!
 
I connect my mixer to the darla using the aux sends,
1/4 inch. Saves a trip to radio shack!!

I dont think the set up you mentioned is going to
work, but I am not sure. The Darla has eight
individual outputs, grouped in twos. When you
record many tracks, you then choose which
output for each track. Lets say outputs 1 and 2
for bass, 3 and 4 for guitar, 5 and 6 for drums,etc.

If you hooked it up your way, you would have the
Bass coming out your monitors, and the guiar coming
out you stereo speakers!!

I think you could probably get an A/B Box to switch
between your monitors and speakers, assume the
power issues are compatible (and you dont blow up
the speakers). Looks like you will have to go to radio
shack after all!

By the Way, what software are you using??

The Darla24 comes with a cd, with something
called echoreporter. If memory serves me, I
believe you can download it for free from
http://www.echoaudio.com Check it out, it will run
a test on your system and tell you approx
how many tracks you can record with Darla
 
yup, I checked the website. Go to downloads and
get the echo reporter.

They have a new card on the site, called Mia.
It looks like it is pretty cool, and it says
it is less than $250. Has Just two outs, so
if you dont need the outs maybe this card might serve
your needs better, it has some good specs. David
 
Thanx David. Now I understand the sound card.....you assign different tracks to play to different outputs on the card. I was thinking that all tracks would play through all outputs. By the way, I'm using Cool Edit Pro, full version.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top