soundcards

  • Thread starter Thread starter BrettB
  • Start date Start date
BrettB

BrettB

Well-known member
hi guys,

After a long period of thinking I decided to invest my first money I saved for recording gear in a pc. Now the well known problem is: I don't have a clue which soundcard I have to buy!!

I've read about Aardvark, Emagic, Creamware, Cubase studio Pack, but I haven't really got a clue where the real differences are. I would like to be able te record a couple of audio tracks (guitar, voice, bass, programmed drums from Fruity Loops) and also a few effects would be nice.

Can you guys give me some advice?

Thanks!!

Greetings

Brett
 
Some advice:

  • Read the digital primer on the main site
  • Decide what you need
  • Search this forum
  • Read the manufacturers' specs

I'm sorry for sounding harsh but all general information you need , and some, is already written in the thousands of threads regarding soundcards.

Be a bit more specific and we'll gladly help.

/Ola
 
Soundcards

My advice is to steer clear of SB products. They are OK but if you want to work with as little latency as possible, they are a nightmare, since they don't come with their own drivers.

Look for cards where the manufacturer has written a driver for their own card.
 
?????

SB? Meaning Sound Blaster? And what makes you think they don't write their own drivers?
 
Well, I bought the SB Platinum and it uses the same ASIO driver that I had before. When I asked someone there, they told me that is how it is supposed to be. 750ms latency and DM500 is not a good purchase for serious musicians in my opinion.
 
Brett,
Some have digital i/o, some hane analog i/o, and some have both. Decide which you need, and that will narrow the field a little. Decide how many inputs you need (how many tracks do you need to record simultaneously?),and that will narrow the field a little more. Now figure out your budget, and the choices start to become clearer.


Twist
 
christian_colby,

I don't really know much about drivers, ASIO or otherwise, so I can't really explain this... but if it's supposed to be the way you described (you seem to suggest their is a generic ASIO core driver), then that core driver must have some interface to specific hardware devices. Creative would have to write some interface to allow their card to communicate with this core driver, I would think. Can anyone out there who knows about this elucidate?

-AlChuck
 
Save yourself! The which soundcard debate is endless but seeing as though I spent a ludicrous amount of time trying to answer the same question I will add my conclusions. I looked at all major products from Pro Tools(the "high end system" which enables to to pay $45-100K for a system that is no better than current $2k systems) to the Soundblaster Live(which should not be considered for proaudio work) and everything in the middle. The middle is the tough part because there are a few great soundcards/interfaces. My resolve was to purchase a MOTU 1224 core system. The AD converters are excellent, it works flawlessly with my computer, Cubase 5, And Wavelab 3. Actually I have never heard music sound as good, it is a remarkable system!

Hope that Helps!
 
christian_colby
AlChuck

The Sound Blaster Live Platinum, or any other SBLive for that matter has no
ASIO driver that's why they have a latency problem.
 
Ty,

It's the APS driver that we're talking about. It does have an ASIO driver, and the SB Live hardware is essentially the same as the Emu APS card. With a little fiddling you can get the APS drivers running the SB Live and therefore get the ASIO capability. Haven't tried it myself since I use Cakewalk but others have.

-AlChuck
 
sound card machismo

Alchk sound blaster should hire you to do their pr. SoundScape Rules dude!
 
Hey I'll take their money if they want to throw it at me...
 
Hi AlChuck

I did try the APS driver that was one of the reason I decided to get a RME card,
it was OK but nothing like a driver that's made for the Soundcard.

It's still better than the SBLive driver by a long way if you're REC music,
but that dose not change the fact that Creative don't make a ASIO driver for
the SBLive and that's a sucks.
 
go for Terratec EWS88MT...PCI
8 Ins x 8 outs on RCA...
MIDI in MIDI out, SPDIF.
24 bit AD-DA conversion....96 khz.
ASIO drivers....
$600 US
I've been using this card since it's release in December 1999...I'm really impressed with it's performance(AD/DA conversion and latency)
I use Cubase and a lot of software synths/drum machines...EWS88MT's latency is around 8 ms.
check it out at http://www.terratec.net
cheers
greyman
 
On my SB Live i have about 15 ms latency, without any other drivers than the ones that came with the card. (On a 600 mhz AMD cpu) The platinum isn't different from any other live card, except for the Live Drive.

Third party AISO drivers do exist, search the forum for links. I've only heard good things about these, they should reduce latency further. And by golly, since we're talking HOME recording here, it will suffice. Lots of other stuff to mess up your recordings in a bedroom, apart from the sound card.

Then again, I'm strictly no-fi. That could explain my love for consumer trash.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top