Subject:What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Posted by: faye

Date:4/7/2003 12:26:37 AM

Hi all, well I'm on a harsh learning curve right now getting my mic
set-up and recording in Acid and Sound Forge. My vocal recordings
over music keep coming out sounding a bit dampered or muffled and too
bassy. I'm not sure if it's the sound card. I'm using SB16 Awe64
which I think may be the bottom of the line, not sure. What's the
best or ideal sound card to use when recording on your pc or into
sound editors? I'm not sure if it'll make a difference but I hope it
does.

Thanks

Frustrated Faye

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: Spy

Date:4/7/2003 1:06:54 AM

Hi Faye.

Sorry to answer your question with a question, but do you want the 'best' money-no-object (some soundcards cost as much as a few thousand £/$) or the 'best' within a budget? If it's the latter (and let's face it most people don't have unlimited spending power), then what is your budget?

Also you mention mic set-up but you haven't said what (what type) mic you're using. Do you have a mic-pre or voice channel of any kind? Where (what space) are you recording your vocals? Are you near the computer or any other source of 'noise' (i.e. unwanted sounds)? All of these things make a difference to the final result. The real question is what is your long-term aim? If you intend to go pro/semi-pro with this, then you would be best off doing some research in a pro/semi-pro music/music technology site such as Sound On Sound before you buy anything else and then spend as much as you can afford on the most suitable equipment within your budget.

This will seem very daunting to begin with but don't be discouraged, we've all got to start somewhere. HTH.






One Love, Spy!

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: kilwilly

Date:4/7/2003 3:43:57 PM

So, in your opinion, what would be the 'best' sound card on a budget ?
i.e. under $200 ?

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: SkZ

Date:4/7/2003 5:28:38 PM

>>> What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording... ?<<<

It's not the best sound card out there by any standards but' I use the AUDIOPHILE 24/69 and it's quite a respectable sounding card' and it's within your budget.


The link: www.m-audio.com

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/7/2003 11:54:35 PM

Anything from M-Audio, Echo or Terratec is a sure bet.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: fresnog

Date:4/8/2003 9:41:01 AM

The Echo Mia or the new MiaMidi are cool.
I use the Mia ($175) and I couldn't be happier (with the card, that is...)

Fresnog

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: kilwilly

Date:4/8/2003 3:53:41 PM

Right now I have a soundblaster 16, just what came with the computer.
I haven't had any reason to worry about it(using hardware synths up to now).
I downloaded a couple free ware stand alone synths - The ticky clav and the cheese machine...when I play them the sound craps out...it has crackles in it which are not related to speakers...is this a function of the sound card (would you think) ?
Are virtual synths manipulating your sound card or simply routed through it ?
(did that make sense ?)

Subject:RE: What's the best or ideal sound card to use when recording...

Reply by: Spy

Date:4/9/2003 4:37:12 AM

Hi Kilwilly,

Think of it this way; the only thing that comes between what you see and the computer is the monitor, right? If you're monitor only showed black and white (or light green and dark green as in the early days) you wouldn't be too impressed with it's performance for a full colour video. The analogy here is that the monitor is the 'visual interface' between you and the binary operations of the computer.

Similarly, the soundcard is the 'audio interface' between you and the digital information being processed by the computer. Therefore, the worse the quality of the interface the worse the quality of the sound it produces.

Creative soundcards are fine for use with 'normal' PC applications because the apps have usually been written with PC speakers/sound in mind. However, audio software requires audio-quality monitoring to realise its full potential, so the monitors (speakers) and audio interface (soundcard) need to be as good as possible to allow the best performance from the software.

If you're serious/semi-serious about your music I suggest you upgrade your soundcard and your speakers as soon as you can afford to.

HTH





One Love, Spy!