An Affordable Pro-Quality Sound Card? 126
TFGeditor asks: "The company I work for is launching a pre-recorded radio program. I will be working with other staff (all in remote locations) to create the sound clips and then cobbling the show together (mixing). I will also interface with the co-host at a remote studio over the net via uber-broadband connection, producing our portion of the show as if we were in the same studio interacting with each other. What is the best sound card for the money (PC/XP) for this type of application?"
Your output is no better than the weakest link (Score:2)
There is no point getting an über sound card if you have unter speakers.
Re:Your output is no better than the weakest link (Score:5, Informative)
To answer the original question, I think the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 is one of the best consumer audio cards on the market (so long as you're not looking for a ton of I/O).
Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)
I must concur with this. The M-Audio card mentioned is excellent. We use it for professional recording and it performs well.
Re:Your output is no better than the weakest link (Score:4, Informative)
If you need to record audio from microphones with XLR inputs I'd go with something like the M-Audio Delta 44 24bit/96. It has 4 ins and 4 outs that can be used for recording from a mixer using professional microphones. The quality A/D and D/A converters are pretty good, and keeps in sync well. I've gotten some good recordings out of the card.
If you require more ins and outs, I believe that you can stack multiple M-Audio cards.
Note: They provide drivers for Linux too.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
1. M-Audio Delta 44 ($150)
2. Behringer Eurorack UB1222FX-PRO Mixer $199(has phantom power),
3. Rode NT-1A or NT3 Condenser microphone.($199 A really good mic).
SOme cables etc. Then your good.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The company does talk up the board quite a bit.
I AM having a strange leak problem between channels. Its pissing me off.I've heard of reliability issues.
I hear that a top priority in a mixer is to have really good pre-amps. Any thought on this?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In fact, considering the state of codecs, broadband, and computer speakers, the guy who suggested the Soundblaster isn't too far of the mark.
Soundcards (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Other way round, ProTools comes with a 'free' MBox. It's a fucking expensive piece of software. I believe there is a light version around now - look on Digi's site for "M-Powered" - that works with M-Audio's gear.
Don't listen to those losers who tell you that you need a Mac. You'll be paying twice the price (no offense, I love OSX, but hardware is $$$) for the same thing.
ProTools 7.2 on Int
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. Macs really are better for audio production - it's not a silly myth. I'm a pro and if a guy turns up with a PC for serious use everyone just thinks 'amateur'. Sorry, it's just the way it is.
Any actual, practical reason for this? Or am I just feeding a troll?
Re: (Score:1)
Behringer? The entire bussiness model is based on making knock-off's of successful products. It's all very cheap, but also cheaply designed and engineered.
I've considered buying their items a few times now (Guitar AMP, digital effects.) They look grea
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
hear, hear. I have had no end of problems with 2 different soundblaster lives. In both cases, creative's own drivers refused to install claiming no soundblaster product existed in my system. For reasons known only to creative, they wrap their drivers in some shite installer that fails to detect their soundcards in many cases. They cripple their drivers so that they cannot be installed through the normal windows hardware detection routines, so when their installer
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
'Pro' is just a gimmick. A 'Pro' engineer has a working understanding of acoustics, psychoacoustics, signal processing, music, electrical engineering, and knowledge of audio history as well as a sense of current recording/broadcast styles. The equipment that a 'Pro' engineer chooses to work with is almost always based on usability, and how it will enhance/impede his
Re: (Score:2)
- I agree for Creative products. They are getting trumped all the time, and basically M-Audio is much better bang at the same buck. Although I cannot say if Creative's products are *cough* misleading anymore, they used to sell 96KHz 24bits products that barely was able to recognize 14-15 bits of stuff with deceiving frequencies.
- The message was not about microphones. If he's doing radio, he only needs to invest in decent cables with
M-Audio (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.m-audio.com/ [m-audio.com]
I agree .. (Score:2)
Wrong place. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not normally one to complain about "Ask Slashdot" questions, but this isn't the best community to turn to for a recording question. There are forums in which nearly every member has bought many different audio interfaces -- you want one of those, not Slashdot.
Re:Wrong place. (Score:4, Interesting)
conflicting terms (Score:2)
IMO, "pro-quality" means: having this be less good than your competitor's means you don't eat. "Affordable" well seems to be a little less picky.
Re: (Score:2)
The fact is there are really o
Re: (Score:2)
I agree. But if you lay off the compressors and processing in most pop music, the artists would be exposed for the frauds they are. There goes 90% of the recording industry!!!
Not that I wouldn't rather be recording symphonies for a living, but those jobs are few and far between.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
most likely because you are not familiar with the many "prosumer" audio offerings to choose from. There is a large pool of very decent hardware that is not quite professional but far beyond the needs of the average consumer. Frankly, any of the soundblasters from Live! on would be adequate for the task described. The good low-end pro models are the M-Audios, which I think are what the submitter is looking for, being both mac and pc
Re: (Score:2)
Lots of options... (Score:2, Informative)
some general advice... (Score:3, Insightful)
good luck...
audiophile + motu (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/AudiophileU
I've only used it on OSX but I think the drivers should be just as reliable on XP.
This one sounds even better but is more expensive and you'll need firewire.
http://www.motu.com/newsitems/traveler-press [motu.com]
I've got their 828mkII and this one uses the same DAC/DAC as that which sound really good.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I can understand your concerns with USB - but Firewire is designed for real-time video transfer and provides rock-steady bandwidth. Why would there be a problem with realtime audio transfer over Firewire?
Re: (Score:2)
Related to this. I generally don't trust external general purpose connections. This is mostly due to USB, PCMCIA and TCP experience.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
"For internal combustion engines it mainly comes down to no direct experience with it. I haven't had a vehicle yet that used it so I have no idea how good it is. I know it
Re: (Score:2)
You haven't? Gee. You must be really new to computers then TCP is what TCP/IP sits on. Several companies actually use this for direct communication over RJ-45 connectors and CAT5 cable. Some are for high end video applications as well, but that requires some expensive high end hardware. They don't bother using TCP/IP as that just adds an extra layer of complexity onto the TCP la
Re: (Score:2)
Insults aside, I'd really like to learn what you're talking about.
You or
Re: (Score:1)
Firewire is rock-solid. The only problem I have with it is the sensitivity of bridge chips to static electricity.
That being said, I still prefer a PCI solution.
Also, USB is crap for realtime. If I remember correctly, IEEE1394 uses hardware-based buss control, and USB is software based.
Re:audiophile + motu (Score:4, Insightful)
Stick to what you know sunshine.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Well, feel free to not believe all you want. You can pry my USB audio hardware
Re: (Score:2)
This is an itsy-bitsy tiny-winy part of a current USB or Firewire-connection. There's no issues that I'm aware of with realtime audio over either USB or Firewire.
Parent has the right answer (Score:5, Insightful)
By the way, I imagine you'll probably find a better selection (and prices) of these interfaces at your local Guitar Center or discount music superstore than at your regular computer parts store.
Good luck.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
FWIW, I achieved a much higher S/N ratio with an internal M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 than I did with an Edirol USB interface. Internal isn't always bad. Most of the comments are overstating the effect of interference on a quality board.
I second the motion (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
What's the best car? (Score:2)
There's a huge variety of pro and semi-pro audio gear on the market. If you've got detailed requirements then you need to start reading tech specs and reviews. If you don't have detailed requirements then just search for "usb audio interface" and/or "firewire audio interface" and pick something in the $100-$200 range.
There are a vast number of features and quite a wide price range and I really dou
Toyota Prius (Score:2)
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (Score:2)
The iMic rocks (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Hit zzounds.com and look around. (Score:2)
An external unit will prevent the electric noise from your PC from causing issues, and using firewire instead of USB will mean less CPU usage for the same work.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You'll still have some latency problems because of your PC, but I'm not sure if that will be an issue with what you're using it for. Check M-Audio's recommended PCs/Macs if it's an issue.
I would suggest an Echo product (Score:2)
Other Sound Cards (Score:2, Informative)
RME Hammerfall (Score:2)
Get thee to Ebay! [ebay.com]
(No, that is not my auction.)
Avoid Creative Labs (Score:5, Informative)
Finally, they recently had a serious issue where they advertised 24bit audio, but it was only 24bit on PLAYBACK. This may have been resolved, but I recently saw some posts on a forum that indicated that it wasn't. I have been doing semi-pro audio on PC's since the days of the Turtle Beach Tahiti in 1994 (back when TB made really wonderful gear... sigh) and I would never trust my music to a Creative Labs product. -NEVER-
A friend has the Mia and we're wrapping up an EP on it for our mastering setup. We recorded at my place where I use a Yamaha 01V digital mixer with an optical connection to a Terratec EWS/88D (older stuff, but I like it). The Mia is nice. I've heard great things about the recent M-Audio products as well. You should strongly consider an external box if you are doing recording (as opposed to mixing). Cards are still prone to noise (although it's much better these days than when PC audio first started) and breaking it out from the inside of the EM-washed case makes a big difference. Not to mention that if you get a firewire or USB device you can use it with your laptop and have a mobile recording solution (of course, you will then not be able to match the latency of a PCI card; this explains why I have a card but I use the card as a digital interface to an external A/D D/A converter, my mixer).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sure if you start adding fancy I/O (well, basic I/O for pro use) the cost starts adding up, but the top of the line X-Fi is still overpriced and you can probably get cards with that kind of I/O for way less. Maybe even a f
Re: (Score:2)
At the time, the inputs on the SBLive (for the price) were quite good compared to the competition. However, there were a few inputs I had absolutely no use for. Besides a line in and a mic input, and occassionaly MIDI (which a card is not even need for thes days, aren't there USB 2.0 to MIDI connectors now?), I didn't need anything else. Yeah there was the optical out (why??) and SPDIF (which is
Re: (Score:2)
Drivers (Score:2)
What part of this is analog? (Score:1)
If you're just mixing down prerecorded clips already in digital form, then delivering them to another location in digital form, your sound card doesn't matter. The content isn't going through it. What does matter is the software you're using to assemble the show.
We dont all go to bed early. (Score:1)
Oxymoron? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
E-MU (Score:1)
The Rules (Score:3, Interesting)
What I've determined is that even good quality on board D/A equipment is poor. Much better, for a number of reasons, to use an external converter plugged in to an spdif jack (input and output).
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Look to EMU (Score:5, Interesting)
Look for high quality DACs. Don't worry too much about 24 bit bit depth, or 96/192khz sample rates... 44.1/16 implemented well will be overkill as it is for any sort of radio broadcast or webcast. If you do want to go further, bit depth will generally mean more than sample rates, at least in my experience recording stuff- but there is little need unless you want to master for an analog medium and get aural advantages over compact discs.
The one problem with EMU cards is the tendency for the driver to go mental and corrupt itself. On the upside, this has only happened to me on boot- you really don't need to worry aobut it dying in the middle of a session. On the other hand it sometimes requires registry surgery and manual deletion of files in c:\windows\system32\ to let you reinstall the drivers. This doesn't happen often, but it's certainly a pain in the ass when it does.
For the capabilities they offer, the EMU cards are priced quite low. But as explained above, driver stability can sometimes be a significant issue. If you need 24/7 immediate availability, don't get them. But given that the worst case is probably that you lose an hour a day every 4-6 months(probably less), they can be quite good for many contexts.
Look at Echo products (Score:3)
AFAIK all the songs at the site www.mauiruhisongs.com were recorded using that card [disclaimer: religious content], so you can listen there to get an idea of the quality of the sound.
Two channels in and two out are not enough for some though.
Get thee an Apogee (Score:1, Informative)
some different vendors to check out (Score:1)
Get also a decent mixer and good microphones (Score:1, Informative)
A couple hints on v
My choice.. (Score:2)
Make sure to get some decent speakers for them or a good set of headphones with a flat frequency response. Flat frequency response is important to make sure what you edit sounds good everywhere. When I first star
Re: (Score:2)
Go External. (Score:1)
For what you are trying to accomplish, you should be able to get an interface and a chinese large-diaphragm condenser together in the $300-500 range. For example, a PreSonus Firebox (~$300) and a Studio Projects B1 (~$100).
For a place to get started shopping, Sweetwater [sweetwater.com] has incredible customer service. BSW [bswusa.com] has some "podcast" packages with everything you'd need to get started.
sweetwater (Score:2)
HDA Digital Mistique (Score:2)
It supports 7.1, Dolby Live, has a optical and coaxial SP/DIF ; it just works.
With the Creative Labs Audigy I always had th
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I recommend the Soundblaster 16 (Score:5, Informative)
This company would be better served by asking on an audio board. You should ask on ProSoundWeb if you're feeling lucky. Otherwise, homerecording.com has a BBS that a lot of recording folks frequent (myself included). Neither the SB 16 nor LynxOne will EVER be recommended on an audio board. You can't even get Mac OS X drivers for the LynxOne (according to the company's website). It's a fossil. And the SB 16 is a toy. Utterly a toy.
The first mistake the person asking the question made is to use the words "sound card" and "professional" (well, pro-quality) in the same sentence. These days, the correct term is "audio interface" because almost every modern interface these days is NOT a card. I would strongly recommend FireWire; USB is at best marginal, IMHO. Above all else, though, get something that is external. I say this for three reasons:
With a PCI interface, you're stuck on a Windows PC desktop forever (unless you want to try to run Ardour under Linux). You'll never be able to switch to a Mac because current Macs don't have legacy parallel PCI slots. You'll never be able to move to a laptop because the cost of a PCI breakout box is much, much more than it would cost to buy a FireWire interface . Finally, within about 5 years or slightly over, you'll be stuck trying to keep your current computer running because you'll be hard pressed to find a motherboard that still supports PCI.
I'm not going to give any specific recommendations within the FireWire space. I'll say that the Presonus pres are slightly better than the M-Audio pres, IMHO, and I've heard some people also mention that Presonus pres are better than the TASCAM pres. So if you're going for that very last tiny drop of quality, that's something to consider. Of course, if you're really trying to spend money, you can't go wrong with an RME Fireface or an Echo AudioFire. I'm also a fan of MOTU; of course, while a lot of Mac users swear by them, I've heard some PC users swear at them, so YMMV.
Re: (Score:2)
Some things I forgot to mention, in no particular order:
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I have to agree with the parent. This is most certainly not the place to be asking this kind of question. However, I'm willing to throw in my 1.5 cents, as a musician.
Now you said this is primarily a radio show, so I'm going to take a jump here and say you won't actually be playing much live music. If this is the case, then you don't have to splurge on the much higher end stuff for that "perfect" sound. In fact, your recording quality doesn't have to be the max you can handle either. I will recommend that
Re: (Score:2)
Mod parent up. Room treatment is the #1 most overlooked thing in setting up a small recording studio, which is a shame because it is the most important aspect of the sound, bar none.
I'm not sure I'd recommend a condenser mic. Depends on the voice of the person being recorded. For radio, dynamics are more common because they're more forgiving of room acoustics. If you do go condenser, go large diaphragm, as the small diaphragm condensers are likely to have too flat a response for voice to really sound
Re: (Score:2)
With dynamic microphones, however, you have to worry about proximity effect. Some engine
Re: (Score:2)
Ribbon mics are a lot more robust than most folks think. I mean, sure, you don't want to use them in front of a bass drum or anything, but most of the current ones have a fair amount of wind screen material inside to limit the amount of damage you can do during normal use. They should be treated with reasonable care, but the same applies to any microphone that you actually want to keep....
Also, FWIW, you have to worry about proximity effect with any directional microphone, regardless of whether it is dy
Re:I recommend the Soundblaster 16 (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Polish is something that many people can hear subconsciously, even if they can't explain exactly why they like one podcast over another. And, TFGeditor, if you're reading this, you're doing a podcast, aren't you? You just don't want apple to sue you [slashdot.org], huh? I understand.
Re: FrAudigy (Score:1, Informative)
You pay extras for the shiny box and the horrible software that's for