Soundcard for laptop?

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Sterling30

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I recently purchased a used version of Cool Edit Pro 2.1 that I want to use on my laptop.

Any feedback on 2.1 a,d most importantly, what affordable stand-alone soundcard will work well with a Dell 5100 P4?
 
zzounds.com and music123.com have a list of usb and firewire sound cards.
frankly i would stay away from usb. having said that it might work for you.
i'm just a computer engr with an admitted bias against usb. i dont like the protocol.
on firewire make sure that your firewire support in your laptop is compatible.
on either solution make sure any unit you get is returnable just in case a glitch occurs with your laptop. also - its better when running cool or any multitrack program to have 512 ram minimum and preferably 7200 rpm hard drive. MAKE SURE YOUR LAPTOP hard drive has good throughput.
you can check it, and i'll even comment on the stats if you run diskbench
from prorec.com. it will give you an idea of track capability of your laptop.
some other advice. cool is a fine program but lacking in midi functionality ,
and things like music notation and editing, and printing out music scores etc.
if you need this functionality check out what i use.
http://www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm
the video tour on this program is very interesting. and covers things like vocal correction and harmonisation etc. peace.
both products together would give you a powerhouse recording solution imho as cool DOES have some very nice audio functionality.
 
I found this..

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/Audigy2zs_notebook/

Would be interesting to know if anyone's using it..

I check out that site btw.., the program offers alot for so little money. What system do you run yours on, for how long now and any glitches in it al all you've experianced?

And how well do you feel it measure up to Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, ect?
 
I haven't used the Audigy 2, but I do own the Soundblaster Extigy, which is an external soundcard.

I tend to produce voice recordings with background music, so I'm not that big on creating music (only dabble), but I've been really pleased with it so far.

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/extigy/
 
sterling. i dont get glitches. like most modern software you need 512 ram ,
anthing up from a 1ghz processor, and preferably 7200 rpm drives.
it will work on your laptop provided your laptop is not crud.
actually its been known to work on pretty cruddy systems ive tested it with.
if you post your laptop specs i'll comment further as my day job for years was as a computer engr. as to other programs. , ive tried everything on the market. the demo will work as you stand now. just try it....and youll see why its loved by myself and so many others. ive had pro tools users tell me they wished they had known about it earlier. but you try it and see if it does it for you. ive been a user for many years.
 
I have a newer Dell P4, XP, 384 Ram, so I guess I'll have to beef up the Ram a bit and will add an external HD. I'd like to get something up and running by springtime and Windows is the most assessible to me, XP seems to realy be a stable OS.

This is an inpressive program also. www.sawstudio.com

Not cheap but the light version is reasonable.. Powertrack is so affordable though and offers so much. I'm sure it's worth a try.
 
it depends which makes you happier.
just be aware that what i use for the price includes a lot of midi features as well. peace.
 
The "light version" is only $200..., reviews are glowing on this program and you can even interact with the person who created it on a his forum on his site.., no techies to deal with, no non-support, the creater is always assessible. But I am going to check out Powertracks among a few other programs.
 
Appreciate the link Digi to Soundblaster Extigy, that is more what I had in mind.., thanks again..
 
sterling. heres some interesting nice features..TO NAME A FEW !!
when checking other packages...see if they have the following.
i think youll find nothing comes close. but do your own comparison.
0. vocal pitch correction and harmonisation.
1. editing of midi velocity dynamics.
2.drum grid editor velocity values. plus triplet feel.
3. handling jazz swing music. jazz fonts.
4. midi channel filtering and rechannelling .
5.gradual increases/decreases in tempo. tempo mapping.
6. editing of note durations.
7. 5 beat grouping of notes.
8. guitar fretboard display showing notes being played, and notation for guitarists.
very usefull for midi guitarists.
guitar tracks printed out in guitar tab format
9. printing blank staff pages.
10. slash chord ability eg..Cm/g
11. audio track de-essing and hum filter and noise gating.
12. interpreting chords from an imported midi file.
13. editing of sysex messages.sysex delay handling for synths that need it.
14. filling tracks with a drum style pattern either preset or your own making.
15. on screen pitch bender if the musician doesnt have a synth
with pitch bend.
16. jukebox KAR feature.
17. a slew of effects presets for various types of audio tracks..
like vocals, guitar, bass, drums etc etc
18. very detailed notation editing, and printing features.
including lead sheet production.
any of the foregoing features
are very handy for home and pro musicians.
and ive just scratched the surface of features.
and not even mentioned things like handling sound card latency,
endless looping, and all the other audio recording and editing features.
all the best to you sterling.
i think if you notice the high ppq resolution of 3840 released there is no competition. heres the full list of recent enhancements. it blows my mind.
http://www.pgmusic.com/ptnewfeatures.htm
nothing comes close.
 
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sterling. i just checked out saw's midi workshop. its an additional 300 bucks !
whereas midi is included in powertracks !! peace.
 
If you want a cheep USB card I have used a SoundBlaster MP3+ with my Dell 4100 and Adobe Audition. It is around $40. The onliy thing I dont like about it is that I had to remove the ground from my power adapter to get clean sound for playback or run it on batt. Also I have used the Tascam US-122 for $200.
 
sterling. on the issue of the right soundcard i would ask both on the pg users forum and pg tech support re...which is best with powertracks.
theyve seen it all. every variety of souncard. to be frank some people have had lots of problems with usb and sb soundcards. its not powertracks fault if the soundcard for example has bad software drivers. for selecting the right one. my best advice - ask pg tech support what they recommend. because a lot of them are musicians with their own rigs as well.
youll get it from the horses mouth so to speak.
 
I would probably consider the Echo Indigo I/O before anything by Creative, especially for working with CEP, because CEP does not support the use of ASIO drivers, so having proper Hi Performance WDM drivers is important.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/247018/

I'm assuming that midi is not a requirement for you, are you looking to do audio recording/editing/mixing only? If midi is a requirement then a different program and soundcard will be needed.

Do you have any mic preamps? You'll be needing a couple channels.

These look pretty good if midi and pre's are needed..

This one has 2 analog inputs,

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/701385/



This one has 8 analog inputs, 2 of which have pre's, plus expandablity to 16 analog inputs with an ADAT interface such as the Behringer ADA-8000 for 230 dollars.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/709201/


CEP 2.1 is a good program for audio work, I have gone thru many different programs and still keep my copy of CEP 2.1 on my system, although I use it mainly for file conversions and certain forensic editing jobs only these days.

I use the full version of SAWStudio as my main setup, (and yes at 2000 dollars from a VIP affiliate it's pretty pricey), BUT, SS has truely replaced and even exceeded my analog 16 track reel to reel and 24x8 console, plus a rack full of compressors/effects units in a way that no other program could, here's a list of what I've bought and tried, keep in mind that the only one that still sees any use at all is CEP.

Cakewalk - Guitar Tracks
Cakewalk - Guitar Tracks Pro 2
Cakewalk - Sonar 2.2XL
Cool Edit Pro 2.1
Magix - Music Studio Deluxe 2004
Magix - Samplitude 6 Studio

I've spent a considerable amount of money in my quest to not only replace, but actually exceed my old analog setup, and with SAWStudio I've found what works for me, I bought the MidiWorkShop add on for SS, just to dabble in midi a little, but in my case the midi stuff is just a slight interest, my main goal was top notch audio recording/editing/mixing, and the accessablity of the program's creator is a really nice bonus, you can actually email SS support, and Bob will usually reply within minutes, of course he's not at a computer 24 hours a day, but sometimes it seems that way! SS has been updated at least 12 or 13 times since last Christmas when I bought the program, in more than half of those updates he has added new features, and the others were bugfixes, SS is in a league of it's own, whenever Bob can duplicate a bug he WILL track it down and fix it, IMMEDIATELY, and I haven't spent a single penny on an upgrade yet, but I'm sure that a paid update must be coming soon. The virtual console, and it's ability to be automated is incredible.

SAWStudioBasic costs 300 dollars I think, and I would certainly recommend downloading the demo and give it a try, and if you do, tryout the Reverb, Levelizer, and Frequency Analyzer plugins from him too, they simply are worth every single penny, the Reverb plugin is the best I've ever used. There is a video on the website that shows what the Levelizer can do for your mixes.

I'll stop now, I'm getting carried away.. LOL!!

:)
 
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