Soundcard suggestions?

C

circlemouth

New member
A common question...my computer is 500mhz processor, 96 ram, 13gig hard drive and a Roland VS-840ex...what I want to do is dump my tracks from my 8-track down onto my computer for easier mixing and editing and also for more tracks potentially...not knowing what to look for, I've considered the SoundBlaster Live Platinum--I need the digital in/outputs and like the ease of the drive bay and also all the software that comes with it--but I suspect there are soundcards out there better optimized for home recording...the Platinum I've found online for $150, but I could shell out twice as much if I found a soundcard that would blow me away...any suggestions?
can you also suggest any (computer) speakers or monitors for around $100?
 
Iwont recommend that card ,look into getting a "real" audio card just for music recording,but if price is an option then you could get by with the turtle just bare in mind that the a/d converters probably arent as high of quality as they are in the better cards
 
Here's an issue to think about. You have 8 possible source tracks from the Roland. If you get a sound-card with only 2 inputs, you'd have to make a minimum of 4 passes (2 tracks at a time) to transfer a full 8 tracks from the Roland to the computer.

Thats adds up to 16 minutes of transfer time for a 4 minute song. This will get tedious if you're doing a lot of recording (I went through this with my Fostex digital 8-track). Also, the cheaper sound-cards aren't as accurate on playback timing. This could potentially cause some syncing nightmares with the roland. I quickly discovered that tech support folks don't like to help troubleshooting syncing issues with cheaper cards.

I'd suggest looking for a good card with 4 or 8 inputs. Of course, once you have that, you'll soon discover you don't need the Roland any more :).
 
I think I could probably tolerate having only a couple of inputs for a smaller pricetag...but the more I've been looking around, the more my budget I'd allowed myself has been expanding...I could do with somehting in the $300 range...
I just looked at the Midiman Delta66, Midiman Lagoon, and the Turtle Beach Pinnacle Project Studio...the latter actually looks quite good (strangely, however, it does not seem to be listed on the Turtle Beach website among their products) as well as the Delta...any specific names I should look into?

also, what's the difference between PC 100 Ram and SDRam? I know I have 96mb RAM of *some* kind, but a lot of the soundcards specs say they require 128mb of PC 100...
 
Dont forget you have to add software to your budget. I think, but I'm not sure, the echo cards come with software for multitracking. they are also a professional quality card.

Rich
 
the guillemot ISIS card is quite good and would serve your needs well. It has 8 ins and 4 outs .. plus an spdif in and out (optical and coaxial) also it has midi in , out and thru function.. This card comes with a host of software and is very easy to use. Check it out at www.guillemot.com ... it retails for about 800 australian, so try doing the maths for american.. But like pg said , youll soon find you dont need the roland anymore.. But maybe look at selling it or trading in on an ISIS.. Just look into it first , ive had problems with digital recording , but i dont think it was the card , more my lack of experience in the digital ealm ... just dont learn the hard way , shop around....
 
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