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marchhare
Senior Member
   

 United States
370 posts Joined: Jul, 2003
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 03:17:02
Ok once again needing some advise.... so I am almost done piecing together my computer... Right now I am trying to figure out a good sound card that would be the best choice for sound ., I will be using this system mainly for music production and I will be using Cubase for music production.Any brands and info would be great.Aswell as some good sites aswell..
Cheers
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Edited by - marchhare on 2009/02/16 19:59:13 |
Project-Industrial
Advanced Member
    

 Netherlands
2,481 posts Joined: Nov, 2005
33 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 06:53:35
depends on the rest of your system and what your planning to do wif it. i always chose to go with ati radeon.. proper brand.. never let me down =]
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Vitalism
Advanced Member
    

 Canada
1,707 posts Joined: Oct, 2005
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 07:51:37
i may be totally out of line here as i frequently make a dumbass out of myself, but isn't the ati radeon not a soundcard?
get something by soundblaster. i bought a 50$ external card and i have no regrets. it's quality and i get great sound out of it. buy an internal one for yours and i'm sure you'll be even more satisfied.
i think silver mentioned something on here a while ago about an internal one.
look up x-fi. that's what mine is. it should be a good starting spot if anything.
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silver
Admin
    

 Japan
12,577 posts Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 08:26:39
bugbear is right, depends what you need it for, if you just want something for gaming then anything is good, if you want to record and produce you might want to look for something better. Although these days audio mixdowns are done all via the computer so outputs are *not so much* of a big deal.
I have a a x-fi with the breakout box (not sure it's tech name)... very cool what it can do but you might not need this much audio functions
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marchhare
Senior Member
   

 United States
370 posts Joined: Jul, 2003
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 11:25:20
Sorry I will be running cubase... I will u[date post
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Triquatra
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 United Kingdom
12,636 posts Joined: Nov, 2003
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 11:41:31
i had an x-fi platinum in my last PC - looked cool as hell hehe
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Shades
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 United Kingdom
1,189 posts Joined: Dec, 2006
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 12:52:36
price wise, the best music production soundcards available are from m-audio
cheap, affordable & are designed to do the job
i've got an m-audio 24/96 & even now i've upgraded pc & running vista, it still works a treat
just stear clear of soundblasters or surround sound cards
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Edited by - Shades on 2009/02/16 12:54:10 |
Dain-Ja
Advanced Member
    

 Canada
1,983 posts Joined: Oct, 2004
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 14:56:34
umm...
DO NOT get a Soundblaster (or any other gaming card) for production. They sound like shit and don't have high speed ASIO drivers needed for low latency music production.
If you're just recording (not producing), you're still better off with a low end pro audio card than a caming card because the signal/noise ratio and sound is SO much better.
External Firewire cards are better than PCI cards because they lower noise/interference and allow easier connectivity/mobility. Stay away from USB sound cards, they don't have latency/stability needed for music production.
If you're on a budget: M-Audio: 2496 (PCI card), M-Audio Firewire Audiophile (Firewire), Presonus Inspire 1394 (Firewire)
These cards generally have RCA ins/outs (unbalanced) and few inputs/outputs
If you've got a bit more money: Focusrite Saffire LE (Firewire), M-Audio Firebox (Firewire)
These cards have numerous balanced ins/outs as well as pretty good mic pre-amps (especially the Focusrite card) and very good sound quality
If you're loaded: Anything by MOTU or Apogee
These cards have the highest quality ins/outs and preamps, etc
I have a Focusrite Saffire LE and it's amazing. I also own an Audiophile 2496 which is great bang for the buck (but for production you should probably go for balanced outputs) and an Audiophile Firewire (which is OK other than having shitty drivers).
Hope that helps.
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Triquatra
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 United Kingdom
12,636 posts Joined: Nov, 2003
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 14:59:41
ooo silver got the slaaaaaaaam
i agree with dainja - especially dont go buying one just cause it looks cool ;)
having used it, i wouldnt have bought it - i had to give it back to the owner when i left stateside.
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Edited by - Triquatra on 2009/02/16 15:23:04 |
Dain-Ja
Advanced Member
    

 Canada
1,983 posts Joined: Oct, 2004
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:11:24
I'm not trying to put anything anybody else said down
Just saying, gaming cards have hardware acceleration for games which reduce quality and they're simply not suited to music production. You *can( use ASIO4ALL with them but that's just a stop-gap measure and there's no reason not to get a real pro audio card in the first place.
The lower end ones I mentioned are only 90-130$. The Presonus Inspire 1394 has even has balanced ins/outs I think.
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Triquatra
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 United Kingdom
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:23:25
of course not, you're just telling silver his expensive x-fi sounds like shit
im sure he'll love that ;)
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silver
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 Japan
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:24:26
I dont know where you get your info Dain-Ja, sure soundblaster make gaming cards but the high end cards are just fine :)
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/musicmovies/article.asp?articleID=53937&categoryID=15 "Shipping with the Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ and selected Sound Blaster® Audigy® series sound cards is a rock-solid ASIO driver with low-latency performance down to <=2ms." .... "The ASIO driver in Sound Blaster X-Fi and selected Sound Blaster Audigy sound cards lets you take advantage of that fact" You might be right on value for money, I'm not sure what a M-Audio: 2496 goes for these days but you WILL NOT go wrong with a X-Fi sound blaster for audio creation and ASIO. My main studio PC I have a delta 1010 card :)
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Dain-Ja
Advanced Member
    

 Canada
1,983 posts Joined: Oct, 2004
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:38:43
I'm aware of that. If you go into Creative's E-MU line the cards are much better.
But everything soundblaster is made for gaming and entertainment, and even with those ASIO drivers you'll get much better sound quality out of a pro audio card. Especially for the money since Creative's stuff is incredibly overpriced!
An Audiophile 2496 is like 100$ CAN these days.
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silver
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 Japan
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:47:45
^^^ so we agree then the only concern is price :)
But the X-Fi card does have a phono with preamp built in if you want to rip your vinyl ever so clear :)
I have the bottom one...
FRONT

BACK:

Plus the card itself has 4 outputs...
Also has optical in and a butt load of features... but if you are ONLY looking for sound creation and are on a budget then perhaps go with what Dain-Ja suggests.
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Dain-Ja
Advanced Member
    

 Canada
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:52:39
As far as I can tell there's no balanced ins/outs and the X-Fi is more expensive than a Saffire LE!
It's not just price, it's sound quality too...
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silver
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 Japan
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Posted - 2009/02/16 : 16:56:10
quote: Originally posted by Dain-Ja:
As far as I can tell there's no balanced ins/outs and the X-Fi is more expensive than a Saffire LE!
It's not just price, it's sound quality too...
Why would you need balanced in's and outs unless you where going to run a massive PA system from it? Like I said before if you ONLY want sound creation you might be better off with something else, I like what I have :)
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