soundcard choice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stengah
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Stengah

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hi
I'm building a small budget home studio
I'm getting a new computer and I'm going to be using it mainly for recording.
I need a decent soundcard for music production.
I can't afford one that's more than around 200 (even that's too much, and also I don't want to pay too much, because computer hardware gets better rapidly, and the prices go down proportionally.)

I need suggestions:
which soundcard(s) do you think is the best,
which one should i purchase,
why do you think so?

any help is much apreciated

Thank You.

Stengah.
 
I can hear the first question . . .

how are you planing on using your studio? :confused:

I think it depends on what uses you have planned; for instance, I use my second PC with my m-audio keyboard, so a cheap Soundblaster 16 has been fine. Nothing fancy I'll grant you that, but if it's not broke . . .

Obviously there is just a whole bunch of stuff and it doesn't take long looking around at some of the better web pages out there like www.sweetwater.com (my favorite) to see all those goodies.

Remember, your tastes and opinions/uses of your studio will change.

Just remember to have fun. :)
 
Good soundcards for recording and for price

Terratec makes wonderful soundcards for under 200 dollars that have RCA and Optical inputs and outputs. They are 24-bit and 96khz. Right now I have an EWS 24\96 got it for 100 brand new it works great. It is recommended that it is set up for a computer for which its sole purpose is for recording\mastering\etc. The better ones also have quarter inch jacks and such. The digital ins and outs come in handy for hitching the card up with a digital recording consol for playback and recording with a better dynamic range than the regular analog RCA audio transfer.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/d=tp?q=terratec
 
M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 hands down best " cheap " soundcard on the market . I have seen them as low as $100.00 new from online retailers .
 
sammz said:
M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 hands down best " cheap " soundcard on the market . I have seen them as low as $100.00 new from online retailers .
Click to expand...

yup! tried and true....

for $99 or less nowadays, these are really a bargain!

Get it and make good music....
 
starber, mainly I'm going to be recording electric bass and electric guitars using my digital amp simulator (Behringer Bass V-amp pro).
I don't use midi at all.
So, it's mainly going to be recording in the hard disc and mixing/master it.
Especially with these purposes I just mentioned, 24bit is a major plus.
The soundcard that's coming with the Dell I'm getting is a 16bit Sound Blaster. It should be decent as you said(I haven't tried, because I don't have the comp yet), but I will switch to 24bit anyway soon or later.
 
Stengah said:
hi
I'm building a small budget home studio
I'm getting a new computer and I'm going to be using it mainly for recording.
I need a decent soundcard for music production.
Click to expand...
Depends on you other gear and recording plans.
If you already have a hardware mixer, you will come a long way with a Juli@ card from Esi. It's 24bit/192kHz, has a stereo in/out and SPDIF. It's nothing fancy but the sound/recordings are great. I have it connected to a Mackie 1202 mixer with great preamps.
Thing is you cannot monitor midi while recording vocals (i.e.) on a setup like this - nor record two inputs to different channels (without panning a stereo to 2 mono), but anyway; I allways audiorecord the midi tracks anyway (and then mute the midi tracks) so for me it works great.
Here is a link to the Juli@ info page.
 
the cheapest sound card i know of with 4 inputs and does 24 bit is a new one called the maya mk2. but there are few reviews on it as it is sooo new.
might be worth a look as its 100 bucks from tracertek.com or it was last time i looked. but if you want a safe solution. everybody likes the audiophile
as you can see from the comments on this bbs.
if you want very high end some day keep track of what lynx or rme are offering. pro's really like these. but mucho dinero !!
 
Wilkee-

Is the EMU 1212M really that good? It looks great on paper... but I'm suspect of anything from Creative since their release of the Soundblaster live that claimed 24 bit I/O but did not fully support it...

You own one?... converters are good?

Any other owners out there with opinions on this card?

Thanks,

Steve
 
sammz said:
M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 hands down best " cheap " soundcard on the market . I have seen them as low as $100.00 new from online retailers .
Click to expand...
That's what i have. It was $100 retail locally. They have gone down in price alot. Very easy to use, makes your comercial music sound better also. I love mine.
 
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originally quoted by 5150 Musician
Terratec makes wonderful soundcards for under 200 dollars that have RCA and Optical inputs and outputs

I amd using the Terratec DMX 6fire. It truly is a great card for te price. Just beware of the drivers. You will most certainly need to update them right away.
 
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