upgrade advice

[larrye]

OK - I want to move up to a real soundcard! I have the following:
1. monorail 4200 with AMD K-6-2 350 Mhz in mATX midtower case
2. 4.3 GB Ultra ATA Smart EIDE hard drive
3. sony cd burner
4. motherboard - don't know type, came with built in soundcard
When I bought this computer I was not into pc recording. Now I am HOOKED!
5. I sing in a quartet and record using n-track
6. I generate midi tracks using "band in a box" and use this to
sing to as I can't play ANYTHING.

Since I bought this computer, I disabled the soundcard by moving jumper pin on the motherboard, removed the drivers, and installed a montego II into PCI slot #5. Slot 6 is sound modem, slot 4 is a shared PCI/ISA that is still empty.

I was all set to buy the Aardvark 2496 (i need the 4 ins and mic preamps) but now I find it won't play midi tracks and I will have to have another card for midi audio.

How important is the soundcard for midi quality? I could keep the monteo but it does not seem to be very stable. Would the old built in sound card be good enough for midi if I hooked it back up? Or should I buy a soundblaster for my midi? I don't have enough money to start from scratch.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!!

 

[j]

the aadvark will play back midi with a viirtual synth, e.g., the roland sound canvass......for sequencing midi , the drivers you use are far more important than the soundcard....what i'd do ,, and i've never tried this,, is sequence with a card that has synth onboard and then route midi tracks thru a soft synth....if you have acheived a sound you like, you don't want to sequence it with midi, you want to record the sound....unfortunately i haven't tried to record sounds from one soundcard to another ....yet.

hope this helps..

 

[larrye]

J,
If I understand what you are saying, I should be able to take my midi files, and convert them to audio, (I have a program called Roland vsc-88) and record them using the aardvark 2496??? If I can, it will solve a big problem for me.
Thank you for your help!

 

[j]

if you are using the soundcanvass in a sequencer/multitrack you can mix your midi tracks and save them as digital audio. i think N-tracks will do this. the aardvark direct pro 24/96 has midi in/out; it just lacks onboard sounds , so you have to use a software sound module. if you are only using a software synth/sound module and you aren't recording midi tracks from an external controller like a midi keyboard, the aardvark should work fine. you can even play soft synths using a midi keyboard with the aardvark, however, you may run into latency issues...one of the good things about having a hardware synth on your soundcard is that there is no latency , so they are good for recording midi tracks which you can later run thru a virtual synth...i'd check with aardvark to make sure the card will work ok with your setup.

good luck

 

[schwa]

What j says is true...

But you should be careful about making plans regarding softsynths on your system. An AMD 350 MHz is going to have a hard time running any of the moder software, let alone softsynths.

Assuming you can't get a new computer and a new sound card, and if I undertand your goal (better vocal quality and better midi sound), I'd keep the montego, add a small mixer, and a hardware sound canvas (under, but almost $500). The MIDI will sound much better. Actually the Korg sound modules are going pretty cheap and will accomplish the same thing. Last I saw they were under $400.

If you go this route, the sound module and mixer should still be usefule when you decide to upgrade the card and 'puter.