stop the noise!

[wilberzany]

I'm as new to this stuff as you can get.So heer i go.I a'm presently using a sound blaster type sound card.I have a lot of back ground noise,even with no mic's plugged in.Will a good sound card fix this? which one? Internal Or external? XLR or 1/4" ?.

P.S.

I'm using magix audio studio 10 & also have power tracks

help!!!!!!!!!

 

[mixsit]

Let's first eliminate the possibility that compared with a signal at a proper level the noise isn't at least passable?
Otherwise yes, any decent conversion should be about the quietest part of the system.

 

[cpl_crud]

Yes, a lot of consumer cards have high self noise.
The creative cards are particularly susceptible to this, as the link the mic/line inputs in the software mixer- meaning that if you unmute the line-in, you also unmute the mic in, so you've got the noise of two inputs as opposed to one. Plus, we're not talkign about the highest-quality preamps in a consumer card...

A pro card will fix this- however the usual case of "you get what yo upay for" applies.
If you want to spend $3k on getting an apogee converter to feed a high-end AES/EBU card, then you're not going to have much noise. If you get an edirol USB interface for abotu $200, then you're not going ot get the same quality.
There are quite a few threads here about audio interfaces, also check out the "computer recording" forum, as well as www.gearslutz.com (you're probably looking for the Low-end theory forum there)

 

[Minion]

That was the whole reason I got my Delta 44...I was useing a cheapo SB Live Sound Card before and I had about 9db of Backround Hum and that was without it even being Plugged into my Mixer...

After I installed my Delta 44 and Plugged my Mixer into it my Backround Noise went from 9db with the SB Live card to 0db with the Delta 44....

You can get a M-Audio Delta 44 which has 4 in and 4 out for Probably $150US or maybe less or you can get a Delta 1010 for maybe $200 to $250US , the AD/DA Converters seem quite good so if these are in your Price Range and have enough inputs/outputs then it might be a good choise to try one of these cards....

Cheers

 

[cpl_crud]

After I installed my Delta 44 and Plugged my Mixer into it my Backround Noise went from 9db with the SB Live card to 0db with the Delta 44....

I'd be careful about quoting figures in dB without giving a scale...
dB is a relative scale- so 0dB means "at the same level as the reference", so your above post is really saying that the 44 is as noisy as the soundblaster...

Just a bit of symantics for you. Look up decibels on wikipedia- there's a lot of info there, and you'd probably be amazed

 

[Minion]

What I mean in My Recording Software there is a Backround Noise that My Recording Software Measures at about 9db which isn"t there at all with My Delta 44...

So the Sound Blaster had 9db of Backround Noise and the Delta 44 didn"t have any Backround Noise....

 

[wilberzany]

thanks for the info. Willber Zanny

 

[cpl_crud]

What I mean in My Recording Software there is a Backround Noise that My Recording Software Measures at about 9db which isn"t there at all with My Delta 44...

So the Sound Blaster had 9db of Backround Noise and the Delta 44 didn"t have any Backround Noise....

That would mean that the 44 has a noisefloor of -9dB//Soundblaster

And, just as a general note, you should try and set any digital meters to dBFS (Decibels, ref. Full Scale). This puts 0dBFS at the top, and everything else is a negative figure. (This includes and DAWs, software etc- anywhere that you're workign with a digital signal)
Why?
Well, 0dBFS means that the sample is "full", ie every bit is a "1". You can't fit anymore information into it, so turning up the volume any further will just result in further clipping.
Depending on your bit depth, the "bottom" of the scale will be about -96dBFS (16 bit) or -112dBFS (24 bit, I think. Can't remember off the top of my head)