Subject:on a budget, need a good soundcard

Posted by: toochill

Date:7/6/2006 9:12:13 AM

i was looking at the soundblaster X-Fi Platinum sound card. what do you guys think about this? here's some info on it. let me know what you guys think. thanks

Treat yourself to a Creative sound experience with Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum. Whether you are into music-listening, movie-watching or PC gaming, Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum promises a sensory delight for your ears. Versatile enough for home digital entertainment, X-Fi Platinum is also ideal for all your audio creation needs. This feature-rich yet value offering from the X-Fi line of sound cards surpasses Creative's already famous Sound Blaster Audigy series. CMSS-3D and EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 build a surround sound world around you so immersive, and a game ambience so real, that you really have to hear to believe. And it works even if you are using headphones! 24-bit Crystalizer expands the dynamism of audio, so you can sit back, relax and enjoy the bliss of hearing Xtreme Fidelity quality sound. Music enthusiasts will appreciate Platinum's 109 dB SNR playback, 3DMIDI surround sound enhancements to MIDI files, new 24-bit SoundFont support, plus ultra low latency ASIO for the most precise recordings. Super-Rip CDs via Creative MediaSource intuitive interface, and give your MP3s a DVD-Audio quality makeover. Turn your home PC into a full-fledged entertainment hub. Enjoy cinema quality ambience in your own room with Sound Blaster X-Fi's THX certification and support for Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES. Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum has something for everyone. There's even a convenient and comprehensive front-facing internal I/O bay and IR remote control for easy access.

Subject:RE: on a budget, need a good soundcard

Reply by: billybk

Date:7/6/2006 10:22:57 AM

If you wanna play games & watch movies then get a soundblaster. If you wanna seriously record and mix music, in audio host apps, like ACID Pro, then get a real pro or pro-sumer multi-I/O 24/96 audio card. Don't be fooled by the marketing hype, Creative's audio drivers are some of the worst, for recording, mixing & rendering and are better suited to budget host apps, like ACID Music Studio or ACID XMC.

What kind of budget are you looking at? What are your audio requirements? What will you be recording/mixing? Do already have or need MIDI ports? Do you have an auxillary mixer?

Cheers,

Billy Buck

Subject:RE: on a budget, need a good soundcard

Reply by: Illogical

Date:7/6/2006 10:24:30 AM

Echo Mia MIDI is a great card, discontinued for a while but it's back on the market for around $129. Two 1/4" ins and outs and a MIDI & S/PDIF breakout box.

Subject:RE: on a budget, need a good soundcard

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:7/6/2006 11:24:38 AM

Obviously the words “budget” and “good” will always be at odds with one another because, “you get what you pay for”. The words “SoundBlaster” and “good” are rarely used together. As Billy pointed out, Creative’s marketing hype is a twisted bunch of lies e.g., they claim all sorts of sampling rates on their web site but it’s very carefully worded because their hardware can only do 48K/16-bit, so the rest is software trickery done in their drivers, and their drivers are some of the worst software ever written.

Since the card you are looking at is $172 street price I assume your budget is $150 ~ $200. For that price you could get an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 for $99 and a Behringer Eurorack (~$69) or XENYX (~$89) series mixer. If you already have a mixer you could use the whole $200 on an M-Audio Delta-1010 (but you definitely need an external mixer with one of these).

If you are just a solo artist you might want to just get an M-Audio MobilePre USB ($149) which has two balanced XLR inputs with mic preamps and 48v phantom power and instrument inputs. The M-Audio FireWire Solo ($199) is also great (it’s like half of my FW-410) and has one balanced XLR mic pre with 48v phantom power and one instrument input. The M-Audio FastTrack Pro USB ($199) is also very nice and includes MIDI I/O if you need that.

So there are a lot of options for good sound cards for around $150 ~ $200 if that’s your budget.

~jr

Subject:RE: on a budget, need a good soundcard

Reply by: midiaxer

Date:7/14/2006 12:29:41 PM

I like the Line 6 Toneport UX2 at $199 street price. I use it with my laptop for mobile recording. Awesome deal for the price.