Soundcard Advice!

[Mark.]

I've been using the Line Out of my Marshal AVT100 guitar amp, into the Line In on the soundcard of my PC. I have noticed the sound is awfull, and unusuable for a recording. I'm almost certain that the problem is because of my onboard AC97 soundcard.

I have looked around, been looking at a Creative Audigy, and came here to find out they are more for gaming, than recording. Although it would be nice, as i do play games, but i'd prefer a soundcard made for recording.

I have looked at External (USB 2.0) and Internal, i have been told external would be better by a local PC shop, but have read articles that an internal one would be better.

I am not a professional, more of a home recorder, i don't record much, so i woulnd't need expensive gear, just something that has good sound recording quality. I'm willing to spend up to £80 at the most. I'd prefer something abit cheaper though.

I did see this, the iMic, Not too sure about it now, after reading through the forums on what i need!:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/why_imic.php

Any suggestions / information would be great!

Thanks!

 

[Elmo89m]

well first of all could you describe awful sounding. Does it distort is it just sounding bad. secondly it will never sound amazing recording with the line out of an amp. next as for the sound card, i dont know how much fancy symbol 80 is but the delta 2496 would be an improvement. But if you aren't willing to spen ANY money dont expect as sound that is even decent.

 

[Mark.]

A friend described it as 'grainy' sounding, its not really clear at all. The Line out on this amp is purposly designed for recording, it apparently emulates a marshall cab, according to the manual.

£80 (UK) is $137.34 (US).

Some one i know reccomended that Audiophile 2496 too, i found it for under £80 too.

 

[dgatwood]

I have looked at External (USB 2.0) and Internal, i have been told external would be better by a local PC shop, but have read articles that an internal one would be better.

Internal is a poor long-term investment, as PCI is being phased out. While folks will debate how long it will be before you start having a hard time using a PCI card with your computer, the process has already begun.

Your choices really boil down to USB and FireWire. FireWire generally costs slightly more, but causes significantly less CPU load, has less problems with clicks and pops, and on the whole should be a lot less problematic.

I am not a professional, more of a home recorder, i don't record much, so i woulnd't need expensive gear, just something that has good sound recording quality. I'm willing to spend up to £80 at the most. I'd prefer something abit cheaper though.

I did see this, the iMic, Not too sure about it now, after reading through the forums on what i need!:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/why_imic.php

I gave my iMic to my parents to record concerts with their iBook. It's a complete POS, IMHO, and completely unsuitable for serious recording use. Maybe there was a way to reduce the buffer size, but I was getting about 1/4 second latency with it. There were serious problems with early iMics getting bad audio noise from improper power filtering. When used with certain DAWs, it is notorious for having problems with pops and crackles in the audio. I wouldn't touch it with a 100 meter pole.

80 pounds is about $137 US. That's about $2 shy of an M-Audio FireWire Audiophile from J&R Music World. Don't know what the prices on your side of the pond are.

That's right about at the bottom end for decent interfaces, whether FireWire or USB.

IMHO, you'd probably be happiest getting something with a couple of preamps in it and actually using a mic to record the amp rather than using a direct patch. The M-Audio MobilePre (USB) comes in right at about that price point, and includes a couple of pres.

That said, IMHO, you'll be a lot happier if you scrape up the extra money for a Presonus Inspire 1394 (FireWire) (which with the exchange rate, should be about £116 (and again, I don't know what they actually cost over there). Just my 2¢... err... 1.2p.

 

[Omniscient]

I use the M-Audio 2496. It's a good card for the price.