soundcard advice

[elgato]

easy everyone, seems like a bit of a dumb question but...

what difference does an expensive soundcard make? if i were using something high grade rather than the standard mac 1/8" output, would it make a difference to what i hear?

what other uses do they have?

any help would be great

[Sharmaji]

they get sound in and out of the computer.

the $ you pay for a quality unit is for the converters, wiring, bundled software and included preamps/di's etc; if you're not recording any audio in, just using samples and whatnot, you can skimp on this somewhat, but still--the quality of the converter has a gigantic effect on what you hear out of your speakers. Muddy, noisy audio is what you get from the cheap shit.

[elgato]

they get sound in and out of the computer.

the $ you pay for a quality unit is for the converters, wiring, bundled software and included preamps/di's etc; if you're not recording any audio in, just using samples and whatnot, you can skimp on this somewhat, but still--the quality of the converter has a gigantic effect on what you hear out of your speakers. Muddy, noisy audio is what you get from the cheap shit.

thanks man

so if i want sound to help my mixdowns etc would you recommend investing to upgrade from the standard mac output?

[Sharmaji]

unfortuntely, yes-- mac's audio is absolute shit (and i say this having owned 4 macs). I dunno why they can't get it right-- it's the industry standard for audio yet their built-in materials are tripe.

a converter won't change anything on the inside-- a crap sample will still be a crap sample--but you'll be better able to make mix decisions without hard drive noise, interference and all the other crap that comes in through a computers output. plus whatever comes out will just sound better.

what you get depends on your budget-- i still have a $35 griffin imic for location stuff, but in the studio i use a metric halo box. Folks doing the ableton thing all seem to be using one of the m-audio firewire boxes, which sound good to my ears.

but anything, even the imic, will be a step up from what's included in the actual computer.

[lojik]

More expensive sound cards will give you nice low latency (quick response with things like Midi keyboards) and sound quality that you can actually use, rather than all fuzzy and low bit rate.

Higher quality cards arn't even that expensive, I picked an M-Audio 44 up for like £90 and it works great for all my Audio and Midi needs!

[FSTZ1]

all about the AD / DA conversion

you really do get what you pay for

[-balance-]

I got a m audio 24/96 does the job well, no latency.

[abZ]

I played around with the built in sound card on my new Asus board. It was major fail. The sound built in to laptops sucks too. I have been getting away with using a 24bit soundblaster for years tho. I don't do a whole ton of recording. The little USB dealy's seem to be getting quite cheap these days. Defo looking to get one soon. Been using my Torq Connective for a sound card lately. I need something else so I can record my sets.

[FSTZ1]

Been using my Torq Connective for a sound card lately.

yeah, if I go to my girlfriends house for the weekend, I'll take my torq box

its not great but it's better than the built in card on my cheapy dell lappy

[elgato]

unfortuntely, yes-- mac's audio is absolute shit (and i say this having owned 4 macs). I dunno why they can't get it right-- it's the industry standard for audio yet their built-in materials are tripe.

a converter won't change anything on the inside-- a crap sample will still be a crap sample--but you'll be better able to make mix decisions without hard drive noise, interference and all the other crap that comes in through a computers output. plus whatever comes out will just sound better.

what you get depends on your budget-- i still have a $35 griffin imic for location stuff, but in the studio i use a metric halo box. Folks doing the ableton thing all seem to be using one of the m-audio firewire boxes, which sound good to my ears.

but anything, even the imic, will be a step up from what's included in the actual computer.

many many thanks for your thoughtful answers! exactly the information i was looking for

thanks to everyone who has chipped in, much appreciated!

[concept_]

rather than start a new thread, i thought i'd enquire it in this discussion as i'm sure it is related.

What kind of hardware would i need for the following situation?:- Want to hook up a macbook pro to a pioneer djm mixer so i can record mixes from 2 turntables using soundforge, will be using serato eventually as well so would want this hooked up to the MBP...However, also want to use MBP as day to day music playing device ie play songs through Itunes or whatnot preferably through a line input of the mixer so i can keep monitor speakers (KRK RP6s) hooked up to the mixer and not have to muck about with wiring etc. all the time. Also will be getting a MIDI keyboard for production use with logic on the MBP eventually, so will need some way to hook this up. Would be very helpful if someone could tell me what I need in terms of hardware or an easier way of hooking all this stuff up (basically so i can keep monitors in one place but use them for all of the above). I am a tech newbie past turntables and mixers. Any specific hardware recommendations for my needs would be appreciated as well, though not too expensive (up to £150).

[Littlefoot]

all about the AD / DA conversion

you really do get what you pay for

so true

[lojik]

rather than start a new thread, i thought i'd enquire it in this discussion as i'm sure it is related.

What kind of hardware would i need for the following situation?:- Want to hook up a macbook pro to a pioneer djm mixer so i can record mixes from 2 turntables using soundforge, will be using serato eventually as well so would want this hooked up to the MBP...However, also want to use MBP as day to day music playing device ie play songs through Itunes or whatnot preferably through a line input of the mixer so i can keep monitor speakers (KRK RP6s) hooked up to the mixer and not have to muck about with wiring etc. all the time. Also will be getting a MIDI keyboard for production use with logic on the MBP eventually, so will need some way to hook this up. Would be very helpful if someone could tell me what I need in terms of hardware or an easier way of hooking all this stuff up (basically so i can keep monitors in one place but use them for all of the above). I am a tech newbie past turntables and mixers. Any specific hardware recommendations for my needs would be appreciated as well, though not too expensive (up to £150).

The most practical way would be:

USB Soundcard for laptop with 2x 1/4" inputs and 2x 1/4" outputs (left and right)
Mixing desk with stereo output e.g.
http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xenyx_1204.htm

Then hook your speakers to output of mixing desk, hook the DJ mixer to a stereo input on the desk, and the outputs of the USB soundcard to a stereo input on the desk.

That will give you full volume and mixing control over your decks and your computer through the mixing desk, and will also give you room to connect other things like samplers or CD players to your computer really easily through the desk.


You could probably set it up without the mixing desk, with the DJ mixer and speakers directly connected to the In/Out of the soundcard, but you'd have far less versatility and control.

[concept_]

The most practical way would be:

USB Soundcard for laptop with 2x 1/4" inputs and 2x 1/4" outputs (left and right)
Mixing desk with stereo output e.g.
http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xenyx_1204.htm

Then hook your speakers to output of mixing desk, hook the DJ mixer to a stereo input on the desk, and the outputs of the USB soundcard to a stereo input on the desk.

That will give you full volume and mixing control over your decks and your computer through the mixing desk, and will also give you room to connect other things like samplers or CD players to your computer really easily through the desk.


You could probably set it up without the mixing desk, with the DJ mixer and speakers directly connected to the In/Out of the soundcard, but you'd have far less versatility and control.

thankyou for the informative reply. I know little about soundcards etc. but am slowly learning and understanding the terms and technical info.

I think, in hindsight to what you have said, I would prefer to set it up without a mixing desk as the price of such hardware isn't really justified for me atm just for the sake of a little rewiring. In theory, I could use serato interface as an audio player as well (though would prefer not to) but then would I have to definately plug monitors into mixer outputs, or could I use soundcard outs?? I could make it easy to pull monitors from mixer and plug them into soundcard when i want to produce which is probably the best solution- or use some other speakers for production and then just plug in KRKs for mixdowns.

"USB Soundcard for laptop with 2x 1/4" inputs and 2x 1/4" outputs (left and right)"- i'm sure there are whole threads about this but what audio interface would you recommend for this?- Ill be using logic pro on macbook pro and will eventually be using a MIDI keyboard for production- and will need output for KRKs. Between the price of £100-150?

[spiro]

all about the AD / DA conversion

anyone know how the AD converters on the KorgD16 is ?



Im using the D-link [optical?] into my mac . . .
Will the built-in soundcard have anything to do with the AD converting using it this way ?

[lilt]

AD converters: 24bit, 64x oversampling
DA converters: 24bit, 128x oversampling

from http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar01/i ... _chart.gif
the link has some others that are in the same sort of range. you may want to check their specs also =)

[cryptic]

Whats AD / DA conversion?

[spiro]

AD converters: 24bit, 64x oversampling
DA converters: 24bit, 128x oversampling

thanks!

so how does that compare to a new cheap soundcard ?
and am I right about that the converting will only take place in the Korg unit,
because of the S/PDIF connection is a digital signal stream ??!
[must say im quite new to understanding the signal flow of audio equipment]

[lilt]

yep, you are correct... all of the analog to digital conversion will happen in the d16

for clarifications sake:
DA or D/A or D>A = Digital to Analog eg. mp3 to headphones, .wav to your speakers or listening to your own latest creation straight from your cracked version of fruity loops

AD or A/D or A>D = Analog to Digital eg. sound from mic or line in to digital format eg. .wav

im not sure about the current state of sound cards... im a poor student with no mind for such luxuries... but i would recommend 24bit with 64x oversampling as the lowest you would want to go... otherwise you may as well use your inbuilt sound and save up until you can afford something better =)

[spiro]

otherwise you may as well use your inbuilt sound and save up until you can afford something better =)

thanks! will have to get something proper later but as for now the Korg will have to do . . .