12 replies to this topic

[biggiesmalls]

Not really to do with speakers/monitors, though i need some opinion on which sound card to buy.

looking at http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

so far, tho if anyone else has a suggestion for around the same price please post.

ive got sennhieser hd 25 which are great but its the onboard soundcard i got that gives a delay when typing notes out. a mate suggested that i turn down the sample sizing in ableton, which i will try tonight, but another told me i will need a decent soundcard to stop the delaying.

[Spectrum]

Hey mate, just gonna move this one across to "Audio Interfaces" - which covers soundcards too.

SoundBlaster has never had a wonderful reputation for music production. More a gamer's card (though marketing and a complete flood of the market has probably been the main contributor there). That's not to say it won't do the job.

I'll leave it to the PC whizes to chime in on tweaking the existing soundcard. Cheap cards will be limited in how low (latency buffer) they'll go. Even with moderate delay you may experience pops'n'clicks. Hence the need for something decent.

A couple of questions:
- What are your needs (inputs/outputs) at the moment?
- What do you need for the future (more I/O, digital, mic preamplifiers, portability)?

Knowing that, someone (Captain Terrific, I'm looking at you ) might be able to chime in with some budget yet proven soundcard/audio-interface alternatives.

[biggiesmalls]

cheers for moving it phil, had a bit of a brain snap when posting...

ill get all the info i need tonight when i go home and check it all out again, will post after im home.

[Captain Terrific]

[me=Captain Terrific]hears his name called, damned superhero hearing![/me]

[beatrunner]

you could try the "asio4all" driver with your onboard soundcard for the moment. it brought me acceptable latencies on my notebook and would be the first thing to try out before throw out serious $$ on a gaming-card.....

just give it a try. you will find it here:

http://www.asio4all.com/

[biggiesmalls]

much appreciated. will def try the driver when i get home tonight.

other than that, ive been looking at an m-audio audiophile usb card for a bit now, considering lashing out for one, anyone recommend this?

[dizzy]

it's a bit of a tough call mate.

m-audio stuff is good for the price, but it's not really that great overall.

it depends how serious you are, if you're just starting out and getting a feel for things, something like ASIO4ALL and your onboard soundcard might do, or something cheap like an m-audio would also be ok.

but if you're a little bit more serious you're probably better off saving a bit more and getting something like a presonus firebox or edirol fa-66.

if you are kinda into things, and you get a cheapy m-audio, you'll probably want to upgrade it after a while to something like the firebox/fa-66, which means the money you dropped on the m-audio has gone to waste. (kinda)

depends how much external gear you use too, which will influence how many ins/outs you need and stuff like that.

also, id search google and the cakewalk forums looking for people with the m-audio device you're thinking of and see if they have any hardware compatibility. 30 mins spent search can save you a lot of heartache and trouble, time well spent imo.

[ehsan]

eurgh. presonus.

if you're spending that kind of money go go go the motu.

but I would say that

[Captain Terrific]

^ And a fair call too, MOTU is great gear.

I'm savin my dosh for the FireFace 800 tho. Long term investment, I see the start of a collection of gear soon, and would utilize the extra i/o, as well as having one of the more stable clocks on the market ( i can't justify apogee yet)

As for the others - Edirol FA66 and FA101, Motu Ultralite, Focusrite Saffire, and even the Yamaha GO46 (check it out) offer great value for the dollars

[Captain Terrific]

And sorry for the tardiness

I've been down the snow, i'm sure you understand...  ;D

[dizzy]

heh weird, what is wrong with the presonus? i have an fa-66 but have always had buyers remorse, i haven't heard anything bad about the firebox and supposedly its got really nice pres

[ajay]

Quote

30 mins spent search can save you a lot of heartache and trouble, time well spent imo.

Key statement right there....

[Jay Parker]

Dizzy, you wont go wrong with the Fa-66. They are a nice bit of kit.

Presonus do make nice pre's and for a basic card around the 500 mark i would recommend the firebox over anyone thinking of an M-Audio card thats for sure.

I wish i had the money for an Ultralite, i just cant justify the cash at the moment though.