Soundcard?

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musicsdarkangel

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What soundcards do you use?? I'm taking a look at the DSP Factory soundcard and it looks really nice. Its the sort of soundcard for me. Right now I have the Project Card that comes with Cubasis VST in the Project Pack. Is it any good?

Are there any soundcards that sound nice and take a load of the pc so that I can put on more effects?
 
DSP means that the audio processing is done on the card and not the computer. This may have some advantages but it is not in my experience very significant. I have the Soundscape Mixtreme and the card provides some efx processing and it is useful in the fact that you can record processing at the input stage...good for compression and limiting....but the amount is limited and requires very judicious use. The thing I really like about the card is the software mixer it comes with which has an amazing ability to send things in directions I never imagined with conventional mixers and is definitely better than the cake walk outputs.

Try as much as possible to actually use the device as often the manufacturers claims are wishful thinking at best. Read message boards for a good idea about its abilities.

the best thing you can do for increasing your efx is maybe adding more ram. This will help out everything on your system. It sure did on mine. If you are running a slow computer then your $ might be more wisely spent on your PC.

I think in the long run that onboard processing will get better and eclipse dsp based solutions.
 
thanks a lot man

do you know any cards that just sound good?

i'm pretty sure my project card sucks, though I know i'm not an expert.
 
Well, FWIW, the Project Card is in fact made by Ego Sys and sold as the Ego Sys Maya and Audiotrak Maya. I have heard that you can use the Audiotrak or Ego Sys drivers with the project card and you probably should since Steinberg has made no real effort to support the card. I imagine the card itself to be quite decent as far as sound quality, probably comparable to the Midiman Dman cards of a few years ago, and perhaps slightly better if it dithers down from its 18-bit A/D converter spec. Latency appears to quite good, down to 3-6 ms on the KVR-VST ASIO chart. So, unless you need more I/Os, have serious driver issues even with the Ego Sys or Audiotrak drivers, or you have cash flowing from your anus ( ;) ) I don't think you'd need to upgrade right away. If you do upgrade, I would look into M-Audio's Delta line of cards, and especially the Delta Studio if you are in need of preamps and mixing capabilities as well.
 
The thing about the DSP Factory and other such cards is that you need software that can take advantage of what they provide. It's not like you can just run more DirectX plug-ins and hope that the card will free the CPU up. The DSP Factory was supported by Cakewalk so that you could use its own reverb and effects from within Cakewalk. The Aardvark cards have a mixer applet where you can route the incoming audio through its effects, etc.
 
uh

i'm sorry, i'm computer stupid
whats ego sys driver?
just wonderin, I have project card, what else should I do?

what software should I get with the DSP factory?? I have SOME pretty raw stuff.
 
sorry

one more thing,
the DSP Factory is still pretty nice to have for 200 bucks, isn't it?? how is the quality?
any cards/software recommended for me maybe?? keep in mind I have like 300 bucks tops heh.
 
oh gosh

i'm sorry I keep posting, but I keep forgetting to add stuff.

I'm just using Cubase, and might use Pro tools. Whats S/PDIF digital I/O?? do I need it??
I just record to a program and export onto cd.
 
waaa i need a good soundcard, please please help. i'm beggin.
 
If you don't know what drivers are you'd do better to take those $300 bucks and give them to somebody to teach you about computers...me for example.

Next, save up another $250 and get an M-Audio Delta 44. If you need mic preamps and some basic mixing capabilities, go for the $400 Delta Studio. If you have a reasonably powerful computer, you can do more with plugins and the Delta cards than with the Yamaha's DSP effects. Short of the Delta cards, you'd do better to stick with your project card.
 
well my computer isn't powerful at all. With the card and all, it can only take up to like 6 or 7 effects all at once. Which in my opinion, I believe sucks.

Wow how do I find places to learn about computer stuff audio wise?? I have no clue.

THanks man. I'll take a look into that stuff.
 
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