Soundcard help

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chocolatecheese

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I just built a new computer, but I put off getting a soundcard until I could do more research. I do some home recording. Nothing too elaborate. Maybe a mic and a guitar at the same time.

I would like a card that is capable of recording, but I also would like a card that will be decent for gaming and listening to music.

I'm running Windows Vista, so it needs to be compatible.

If I get a soundcard, I'll need external preamps. Correct?

Any help is appreciated.
 
Excellent guide and suggestions:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm

At the $100 2-channel level, the MAudio 2496, Emu 0404 or Echo Mia are great standards.

Vista will be a problem for you. It is still a BETA product (less than 18months old, no 1st service pack out yet) so drivers are a problem. Many people are reporting problems with audio hardware and software.
 
The 24/96 is a great card. Sounds just fine for games or anything else and works great for recording...no latency, good ASIO drivers, etc. Never had any problems with it at all.

Not sure about Vista support though, check the M-Audio website.
 
How do I hook my speakers up to the 2496? Through the RCA jacks? What's a decent mixer cost?
 
RCA or SPDIF. No Vista support for the 2496 though (yet)... I know, cause I have both. (Dual boot with XP saves the day)
 
danny.guitar said:
The 24/96 is a great card. Sounds just fine for games or anything else and works great for recording...no latency, good ASIO drivers, etc. Never had any problems with it at all.

Not sure about Vista support though, check the M-Audio website.
Click to expand...
No such thing as "no latency". Just a question of how much matters to you. I definitely notice latency when triggering EZD or Addictive Drums, and if I play guitar very fast I notice it through GR2.
Still, it's not usually enough to really bother me.
 
Mistral said:
No such thing as "no latency". Just a question of how much matters to you. I definitely notice latency when triggering EZD or Addictive Drums, and if I play guitar very fast I notice it through GR2.
Still, it's not usually enough to really bother me.
Click to expand...

Obviously there is a little latency in everything. :rolleyes:

I meant there is no audible latency for me. I can hook in my guitar for example, apply FX and listen in real time while recording over other tracks without latency. On SoundBlaster or other non-recording cards, there is usually a slight delay when you pick a note and then hear it through the real-time monitor. Even with asio4all.

I've never used GR2. I can play over EZD fine without latency issues. As far as I know, GR2 is pretty CPU-intensive, so any latency you get from it will be CPU related and not driver related (which is dependent on the soundcard).
 
got me thinking...

chocolatecheese said:
How do I hook my speakers up to the 2496? Through the RCA jacks? What's a decent mixer cost?
Click to expand...

Does one "need" a mixer at all with the 2496 if you are laying down guitar or bass tracks, one at a time? People truly admire this card. But what about a headphone jack? I don't think it has one. Would he need a seperate piece of equipment for headphone use?

I was looking at the 2496 and the delta 44 and thought of something... I like the 0404 type interface because of the headphone option. Since these cards do NOT have headphone jacks, when you plug in a guitar and play, will you hear your guitar in both R and L monitors or will it be in mono?

J
 
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Jackson J Bass said:
Does one "need" a mixer at all with the 2496 if you are laying down guitar or bass tracks, one at a time? People truly admire this card. But what about a headphone jack? I don't think it has one. Would he need a seperate piece of equipment for headphone use?

J
Click to expand...


Yes you'd also need a mixer or preamp with this card, or a DI box if you're not micing a cabinet. Headphone duty would be taken care of by the mixer
 
I use a Presonus HP4 headphone amp to hook up my headphones and my computer speakers (need an 1/8" to 1/4" stereo adapter).

I'm not sure why M-Audio chose to use RCA connections, but 1/4" connections would have made things a lot easier.
 
danny.guitar said:
Obviously there is a little latency in everything. :rolleyes:

I meant there is no audible latency for me. I can hook in my guitar for example, apply FX and listen in real time while recording over other tracks without latency. On SoundBlaster or other non-recording cards, there is usually a slight delay when you pick a note and then hear it through the real-time monitor. Even with asio4all.

I've never used GR2. I can play over EZD fine without latency issues. As far as I know, GR2 is pretty CPU-intensive, so any latency you get from it will be CPU related and not driver related (which is dependent on the soundcard).
Click to expand...
I think the main factor is the tempo of the music you play. For slow rock and such it is perfectly fine. Try playing double kick metal at 160 bpm and you'll definitely notice it.

And GR2 is no more CPU intensive than EZdrummer is, in fact it is probably less so. It features a "lo-res" mode which is just fine for jamming. In any case it is always perfectly playable, It's drumming that really throws you off if it's delayed more than a few ms..
 
Jackson J Bass said:
Since these cards do NOT have headphone jacks, when you plug in a guitar and play, will you hear your guitar in both R and L monitors or will it be in mono?

J
Click to expand...
I actually Macgyver'd myself a guitar patch cable that is an RCA on one end by splicing them together. It plugs into the left RCA input on the 2496, and goes directly into my guitar. I get great sound in Guitar Rig 2, believe it or not. And when I monitor the direct signal, I hear it in both speakers. But that may be down to the software I am recording with.
 
EZD is hardly CPU intensive. It is just WAV samples loaded into memory and triggered via MIDI. It takes up a lot of RAM but not much CPU at all.

I just did a test (I wouldn't call myself a particularly "fast" player) of playing really fast bullshit licks and heard no audible latency at all. :confused: But that was through about 6 free plugins in a chain, which aren't very CPU intensive.

ReaTune (guitar tuner)
MyMag (distortion)
MyMag
SimulAnalogue amp simulator
ReaEQ
GlaceVerb

I imagine GR2 is much more CPU intensive than all of those plugins combined which explains the latency (which makes it a CPU-related issue and not related to the soundcard/drivers).
 
Why are you so certain it's that CPU intensive when you've never even tried it?

10% cpu useage is what I measured just now. Not really that much.
 
Mistral said:
Why are you so certain it's that CPU intensive when you've never even tried it?

10% cpu useage is what I measured just now. Not really that much.
Click to expand...

It's got nothing to do with the sound card/drivers.
 
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