USB Interface Recording/Mastering in Adobe Audition 3.0 sound quality issue

[DLRMononokE]

I am a novice at recording. I just started a week ago. I am pretty computer literate and I've ran into an issue that makes NO sense at all.

I was using a X-Fi Titanium by Creative as a soundcard. I originally was recording out of this soundcard. I wanted to upgrade to a USB interface to record from to improve quality and I did. I did not get a quality improvement and I have no idea why.

The interface I upgraded to was the EM-U 0404. Creative has horrible customer service support so I guess my only hope is the internet.

So basically the issue is this:

In Adobe Audition 3.0 when I record with the interface and add effects it sounds horrible.

When I switch back to my Creative X-Fi PCI soundcard the quality is way better. The effects work fine etc.

I was originally using Windows 7 and I completely reformatted back to Windows XP hoping this would fix the problem and It hasn't.

I have already tried disabling ALL other sound devices except the interface and that has also failed.

I tried using a laptop to no avail as well, however, that laptop was Win 7 64 Bit and since Creative doesn't have support for Win 7 then I assume it wasn't the best alternative to test.

Hopefully there is someone out there who is much more bright than I that can help me with this or point me in the right direction.. this is seriously the biggest headache I have ever had in my life because I can't make any sense from this.

I've put together a few clips to demonstrate the issue more clearly.

The first two clips are recorded using the E-MU 0404 interface. They clearly represent the subpar quality. The first is non-edited. The second is edited using the Effects tab in Adobe Audition with the 5 voice/(changed to 2) chorus effect. It sounds horribly bad. It should not sound like that at all.

The last clip is an unedited simple recording using the Creative X-Fi Titanium soundcard. It sounds MUCH clearer and better overall.

I am recording with

Studio Projects C3 Microphone and their VATB1 Pre-Amp. ( Had this microphone for years, preamp as well just never recorded)


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Here is the Mp3 on Creative X-Fi as you can tell.. it sounds much more better.

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I don't understand the problem. From what I was told about recording a USB interface would be an upgrade in recording quality compared to a regular soundcard. Maybe I was told wrong? I don't know but I will say this.. the sound quality of the USB Interface beats the X-Fi Titanium by far, as in using headphones on the Interface verse headphones in my PC card.

I apologize for writing so much.. any who can help.. thank you very much for your time.

 

[mjbphotos]

It sounds like the EM-U might have some EQing going on with it - the high end crispness seems to be missing.

However it may be due to the output from your pre-amp not matching the EM-U's input needs - someone else can comment.

 

[ido1957]

The L and M web site shows this thing sells for around $240 Canadian which is a fairly good price. It descibes it as clean, pristine, stuff like that and nice AD converters. So I would hazard a guess that the EMU sends a very clean signal that you can eq later , whereas the Creative may be coloring your tone with bass/mids a bit and adding a bit of volume. I'd turn off your internet before recording to avoid conflicts which in my interface, causes droputs and crackling. I have the same difference in my U42S compared to my mixer. The mixer adds a lot of bass and mids - so I have to eq to compensate.