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I have 120$ and i'm within reach of a M-audio keyboard, i just don't have a soundcard. Should i get a soundcard before anything else? From what i understand, with my shitty soundcard, if i try and record any midi shits, it'll be laggy.

Soundcard or Midi controller?

i'm no expert but you should just be fine without the soundcard..

i've never had any problems using my midi keyboard without one, i don't even really see how that would be a problem but again i'm no expert

Use asio4all with your daw and you shouldnt have a problem with latency.

I'll throw in my vote for the MIDI controller, I just use whatever's built into my laptop and I've never had any problems.

A snobby freind told me that without a soundcard, my productions were always going to be horrible, because asio4all makes things sound "bad". Is that untrue?

Id say Midi aswell
but id recommend gettin a soundcard when you can

Its really annoying when using the standard card and all you can hear is fuzz and static

Killamike49 wrote:A snobby freind told me that without a soundcard, my productions were always going to be horrible, because asio4all makes things sound "bad". Is that untrue?

That`s just BS.
Most folks use their native asio or asio4all.

Your daw is a car, do you want a new racing suspension (midi) or racing exhaust (interface) .

RandoRando wrote:Your daw is a car, do you want a new racing suspension (midi) or racing exhaust (interface) .

I expected way more from that comment

Get a controller, don't master your tracks untill you have a soundcard with decent monitors/maybe headphones.

RandoRando wrote:Your daw is a car, do you want a new racing suspension (midi) or racing exhaust (interface) .

That makes no sense.

Killamike49 wrote:I have 120$ and i'm within reach of a M-audio keyboard, i just don't have a soundcard. Should i get a soundcard before anything else? From what i understand, with my shitty soundcard, if i try and record any midi shits, it'll be laggy.

No, midi control happens in your processor, totally independent of your soundcard. Upgrading your soundcard will not help with midi latency or buffer lag, those are two very big misconceptions, but those both have everything to do with your processor and nothing to do with your soundcard.

But why would you want something to control instruments you cant adequately hear? i promise, a proper soundcard/interface will have an output 1000x better then your stock PC soundcard (most of which playback at 192 or 256k, you know).

Electric_Head wrote:

RandoRando wrote:Your daw is a car, do you want a new racing suspension (midi) or racing exhaust (interface) .

That makes no sense.

i kind of get it.. suspension is how your car handles (how you handle your daw, i guess) and exhaust is how your car sounds

With a soundcard will everything sound better? Like, itunes, and diablo and such? Or just programs that use asio like deckadance and fl?

mikeyp wrote:

Electric_Head wrote:

RandoRando wrote:Your daw is a car, do you want a new racing suspension (midi) or racing exhaust (interface) .

That makes no sense.

i kind of get it.. suspension is how your car handles (how you handle your daw, i guess) and exhaust is how your car sounds

Yes! Electrichead u mk no sense

soundcard

get your core right first then get toys.

Killamike49 wrote:With a soundcard will everything sound better? Like, itunes, and diablo and such? Or just programs that use asio like deckadance and fl?

Diablo.

You sir, Win.

did you get a beta key yet? i want a beta key

Buy Both! Id suggest soundcard first though and then pick up a midi keyboard second hand or something... thats what i did paid 50bucks for my keyrig49 its nothing special but it helps alot with workflow and playability of. I bought a 25 keyboard first and that was pretty much a waste of money lol.

Killamike49 wrote:With a soundcard will everything sound better? Like, itunes, and diablo and such? Or just programs that use asio like deckadance and fl?

Yes... no... sort of.

lemme try to explain this better, do you know what bitrate is? If diablo's soundtrack is at a higher bitrate then the bitrate your soundcard outputs at, your soundcard is constantly downsampling your audio. If the games bitrate is equal to or lower then your soundcards output bitrate, it will sound the same.

The fact is when your plaiyng lossless, rendered audio from your synth your missing alot at default soundcard bitrates. Video games would be the least of my concerns as a producer, that shouldnt even be part of the question if your DAw will sound better during monitoring.

nnny wrote:

Killamike49 wrote:With a soundcard will everything sound better? Like, itunes, and diablo and such? Or just programs that use asio like deckadance and fl?

Diablo.

You sir, Win.

+1 for soundcard.

Haha, i know that diablo's bitrate is probably down there, i was just asking if it would make everything on my computer that can sound better, sound better. Getmi?
And thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it.