What soundcards do you suggest?!

  • Thread starter Thread starter TrueCellove
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TrueCellove

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Hey,

I'm a total newbie here and I hope I haven't overseen some thread or link concernig this topic.
But I really need some advice concerning soundcards.

I plan to record (mainly acoustic tracks but also some midi tracks) with my laptop. The bad thing is, my laptop has only USB 2.0 connections and no Firewire or such.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I gotta pay attention to when buying an external audio interface?! And maybe I could have your opinion on the quality of the soundcards that are currently on the market?

I was plannig to spend around... 150-300 dollars on it. So that's the price range we're talking in my case.

Also, I heard it was possible to use a Firewire audio interface and use an adapter so that it'd fit into a USB slot?!!
Would you consider that an option or does this have negative effects on the sound quality?

Hope someone might help me here. I feel totally helpless at the moment. :o
 
If your laptop has a PC card expansion slot, you can buy a PC card that gives you fire wire ports.
 
As far as im aware if you were to go by the firewire to usb conversion method it would be quite pointless, the firewire speed would be redundant as it would work at USB speed
 
usb card will work for you

TrueCellove said:
Hey,

I'm a total newbie here and I hope I haven't overseen some thread or link concernig this topic.
But I really need some advice concerning soundcards.

I plan to record (mainly acoustic tracks but also some midi tracks) with my laptop. The bad thing is, my laptop has only USB 2.0 connections and no Firewire or such.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I gotta pay attention to when buying an external audio interface?! And maybe I could have your opinion on the quality of the soundcards that are currently on the market?

I was plannig to spend around... 150-300 dollars on it. So that's the price range we're talking in my case.

Also, I heard it was possible to use a Firewire audio interface and use an adapter so that it'd fit into a USB slot?!!
Would you consider that an option or does this have negative effects on the sound quality?

Hope someone might help me here. I feel totally helpless at the moment. :o
Click to expand...

you do NOT need firewire.

usb2 works just fine
and usb3 is here now

firewire is afaik no longer supported by new apple products
and is mainly an apple type device although you can get them to work on pcs

you get what you buy - usb cards are more than adequate for your use but be sure to get enough inputs --
you may care about the software that comes with it

many seller sites will have info on how to select your soundcard
and you can usually call them with questions to help you figure out what fits your needs and budget best
 
You won't need firewire. USB will be sufficient for your needs.

I'm almost positive that you can't use firewire in a USB port. Even if you could, I wouldn't trust it.

Apple does support Firewire. After all, they did invent it. :rolleyes:

And firewire does work quite beautifully in PCs. Not just Macs.



Suggestions.......well, that depends on your needs. How many inputs will you be recording at a time? How many preamps will you need?
 
Well, first of all thank you guys for all your replies! I really appreciate that!

I'll be recording 2 inputs at a time, I think. I won't need more for now. I'd record most of the tracks seperately step by step. And 2 inputs should be sufficient then, I guess?!

Concerning preamps... I bought a mixing table a few years ago that has 6 channels I think (do you call it channels? sorry guys, I'm not a native speaker so this is a little hard here ;) ).
Since the mics go into the soundcard via that mixer (they do, don't they?) ... 2 inputs should be definitely sufficient in my case, right?
 
TrueCellove said:
Well, first of all thank you guys for all your replies! I really appreciate that!

I'll be recording 2 inputs at a time, I think. I won't need more for now. I'd record most of the tracks seperately step by step. And 2 inputs should be sufficient then, I guess?!

Concerning preamps... I bought a mixing table a few years ago that has 6 channels I think (do you call it channels? sorry guys, I'm not a native speaker so this is a little hard here ;) ).
Since the mics go into the soundcard via that mixer (they do, don't they?) ... 2 inputs should be definitely sufficient in my case, right?
Click to expand...

Most USB interfaces come with mike preamps these days. If you are only looking to record two tracks at once, you don't need a separate mixer. Just plug your mikes straight into the interface.

However, if you want to record more than two tracks simultaneously, your mixer won't help you (it'll just mix its six channels into two). To record six tracks simultaneously you would need an interface capable of handling that number of inputs.

Your mixer, though, is not entirely redundant. You can, for example, use its six channels to mike up a drum kit, and mix it down to a stereo signal that would feed into the two channels of the interface.
 
Since you already have a mixer, keep it. Most small audio interfaces (like the Presonus Audiobox) will have 2 preamps and also a couple of line inputs. You can use the mixer to feed the line inputs to have 4 or more tracks going to your computer.
 
mixer very optional

TrueCellove said:
Well, first of all thank you guys for all your replies! I really appreciate that!

I'll be recording 2 inputs at a time, I think. I won't need more for now. I'd record most of the tracks seperately step by step. And 2 inputs should be sufficient then, I guess?!

Concerning preamps... I bought a mixing table a few years ago that has 6 channels I think (do you call it channels? sorry guys, I'm not a native speaker so this is a little hard here ;) ).
Since the mics go into the soundcard via that mixer (they do, don't they?) ... 2 inputs should be definitely sufficient in my case, right?
Click to expand...

you dont need a mixer
later on you might want one anyway so keep it

put the mikes into the audio interface
and connect it to your pc
and start singing

if you have condensor mikes make sure the interface provides the phantom power
 
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