soundcard recommendations under $100

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aaronbjames

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I am a singer songwriter and want to try making my own CD's at home (mostly for fun). I have a fairly new computer system (2Ghz celeron, 256 MBRAM), a Yamaha PSR640 keyboard, a mixer and microphone, and Cakewalk HOme Studio. I need a good soundcard, but I'm a student, so I need it on a budget. I've looked into a Soundblaster Live 5.1 Platinum because it comes with the Live! drive and since it's not very new they're almost affordable. I've searched the threads and haven't had much luck finding helpful replies on soundcards. Does anyone have any experience with this card and drive, or any other suggestions. Is there a decent soundcard with 1/4 inputs for under $100?

Thanks so much
 
If you buy a soundblaster, you are guaranteeing yourself a hugely pleasurable moment - that is, the moment when you get rid of it and hear a proper card for the first time.

There's a Audiowerk2 on the ebay site subtractor showed you which is way under your budget. You could do a lot worse. People more knowledgeable than me might identiy better bargains than that, but used quality stuff is definitely the way to go.

Please don't buy a soundblaster.
 
You need to increase your budget by about $100!

Slackmaster 2000
 
aaronbjames said:
I am a singer songwriter and want to try making my own CD's at home (mostly for fun). I have a fairly new computer system (2Ghz celeron, 256 MBRAM), a Yamaha PSR640 keyboard, a mixer and microphone, and Cakewalk HOme Studio. I need a good soundcard, but I'm a student, so I need it on a budget. I've looked into a Soundblaster Live 5.1 Platinum because it comes with the Live! drive and since it's not very new they're almost affordable. I've searched the threads and haven't had much luck finding helpful replies on soundcards. Does anyone have any experience with this card and drive, or any other suggestions. Is there a decent soundcard with 1/4 inputs for under $100?

Thanks so much
Click to expand...

Save up you're money - $100 doesn't buy squat! Creative cards are gamer's cards and not well suited for DAW work. The Echo Mia or M-Audio Audiophiles would be your best bet. They both can be bought for $150.

I think you should upgrade your RAM too. 512Mb is the going minimum for DAW's nowadays. Any less and you'll run into trouble when your HD starts swapping.
 
go with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz until you can get a pro card......then again, a prosumer card isnt far off from your budget......the delta audiophile 2496 is $149, but has RCA inputs instead of 1/4" but that really isnt a big deal for what you are looking for......
 
Thanks for your suggestions. I don't know much about soundcards yet, but what makes the other cards you suggested better than Soundblaster? Do they produce better sound/recording, easier to use, etc.? What's the difference in the final mix between using a soundblaster and a prosumer card?
Thanks again
 
Oh, and I meant to add to that post, why is a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz better than the Soundblaster? Isn't it a gamer card too?
Thanks again
 
I have a Sb Live card. after spending several months tricking it and tweaking it with driver combinations and aggrevating workarounds it is quite usable for me now. Had I been exposed to the advice these guys are giving you I would have been several months ahead of where I am now, as for as spending my time on recording and mixing instead of worrying with this sound cards limitations. I would not recommend buying anything along these lines if you REALLY want to do multitrack recording. I would recommend saving the cash, adding a little more to it and getting one of the recommended cards these guys are talking about, even its its "just for fun". :)
 
aaronbjames said:
Thanks for your suggestions. I don't know much about soundcards yet, but what makes the other cards you suggested better than Soundblaster? Do they produce better sound/recording, easier to use, etc.? What's the difference in the final mix between using a soundblaster and a prosumer card?
Thanks again
Click to expand...

They are better because of lower noise floors. better DAC's and most importantly better drivers. Creative's support is pathetic to say the least - their drivers for my SB Live for XP never worked correctly with programs like Sonar/Home Studio 2002.

Working in 24bits before final mixdown is also a good idea because of dithering when working only in 16bits. The SB Live is a 16bit audio card - it cannot work with 24bit audio.
 
While I agree with everyone that Creative cards are not that great, I also agree that you have to start somewhere. I use SB Live and SB Audigy cards all the time for making 16 bit / 44 recordings - usually recording cassettes, usually at work.

Something like an Audiophile 2496 (about $150) is a much better card. But it's really not a bad idea to pick up an SB Audigy OEM "Value" card for about $65. It will get you started with recording, and then when you do move up to a better card later it will still be useful as a PC game card, or for MIDI.

My only caution would be not to spend any MORE that about $65 on one. If you can't find one for that price, start saving your pennies for something better.
 
the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz has better converters and lower noise floor than the SB cards......ok, not drastically better, but better nontheless.....also it is capable of inputting 4 channels simultaneously......and again, if you do move up to a better card, you can still use it for Midi.......
 
Thanks again for your advice. One more related question. How important is it to get a card with 1/4" jacks rather than 1/8" jacks? Gidge, you made it sound like it wasn't. I know that you can buy RCA converters for 1/4" jacks. I also have a four track recorder that I can use as a mixer and pream if I need to. So should I be worried about finding something with 1/4" jacks?
Thanks
 
I bought my SBlive value for $28 at Compuvest. The adapters from rca to 1/8" for 2 lines in and 2 lines out (left/right in & out) , 4 6ft stereo cables with RCA connections, 4 female/female connectors for extending the cables to reach from computer to and from my mixer. All of this cost me approximately $30 at radio shack. I picked up two more 6" stereo cables to go from the mixer to the stereo amp. In all I spent less than $100.

If your input and output to and from the mixer is 1/4", 8 rca to 1/4" inch adapters will cost you somewhere around $2 apiece.




But it was a lot of work for 1 stereo in and 1 stereo out. ;)
 
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Having a soundcard with 1/4" and/or XLR jacks is definately handy, and required if the card is going to support balanced connections. However, in terms of sound quality it's really not going to matter much. It's just a pain having to reach around the back of the computer and fumble with adapters or extention cables.

If you already have $100 to spend, then I'd totally recommend tucking it away for a little bit. Once you hit the $200 mark you can get into a Delta 44 which has 4 ins and 4 outs via balanced 1/4" jacks on a handy little breakout box. At the $150 mark there is always the Audiophile which will be on the same sound quality level as the Delta 44, but uses those annoying RCA connectors. Both of these cards will be of better sound quality than anything in the sub $100 range.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Another question: Some of you have said that it might not be a bad idea to get a cheaper sound card, because I can always upgrade later and use the cheaper one for MIDI. First, do expensive pro-sumer cards not have a MIDI port? Second, if cheaper cards aren't that good anyway, then should I get the absolutely cheapest one I can find and use it only for MIDI and just use the onboard soundcard for other stuff until I can save up for a real one? Finally, how do you use two soundcards at the same time? (that might be a technical question that belongs in another thread, if so feel free to ignore it).

Thanks again
 
. . . . assuming that the onboard soundcard does not have a MIDI port.
 
Some prosumer cards have MIDI and some don't. Yeah it's possible to use MIDI on another card, so getting a cheap card woulnd't be a total waste (if you don't have any soundcard at all right now). Something like the SB Live would be a cheap investment.

However, I think that the Audiophile is probably one of the best all around products for the price. It does two channels of 24/96 and has MIDI and SPDIF all for about $150 new.

Slackmaster 2000
 
If your computer has a joystick port, then it probably doubles as a MIDI port...this is how it's done on most consumer-grade and integrated soundcards. Check your Sounds and Multimedia dialog from the control panel to see if you already have MIDI capability.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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