Regarding Soundcards and their importance?

[teejayem]

Okay so I keep reading mixed advice about soundcards and what it can do to serve you in better quality in music.
But I also read in other places it has nothing to do with the quality of your track? Right now Im using a powerful i7 processor 13gb ram windows 64bit with a realtek hd on board sound card, im looking to buy an emu1212m but people say it doesn't improve your sound?
I simply want a soundcard that makes me music sound more professional, I notice my tracks don't sound as clear and thunderous as pro audios (I already understand that mixdowns, mastering and simply great synth combos aren't in equation) but yeah, Im lost.
I use nothing but soft synths with a usb midi keyboard, I don't plan on recording vocals with it since I have an actual place to go and record whenever I need to, and I also don't really plan on recording external instruments like kicks or guitars and stuff like that. Im simply softsynth user (fm8, massive, z3ta 2, kontakt etc)

So yeah, would you recommend me getting a sound card instead of using this onboard card? I read in a few posts this dude uses only his onboard soundcard which still sounded amazing and pro in quality but I can't even get my sounds to sound even that big as his... I really want to maximize my space, frequency response and quality of my music

Soundcloud

[wormcode]

We discussed this a couple of weeks ago if you want to do a search.
Sound cards do not change the audio or effect it in any way unless you are using any available onboard DSP effects, which the EMU cards do have. Otherwise, it will just help latency by taking strain off your CPU, and provide more professional inputs and outputs, and support very high bitrates 96khz+. There is also better routing depending on the card. The EMU cards have Patchmix DSP which has very nice routing options, based on traditional analogue mixers. But as I said, unless you use the sound card's DSP effects, it does not polish sounds. The EMU cards' effects can be used as VSTs. They aren't amazing, but a nice bonus. Some very usable effects.

If you are having latency issues with MIDI or excessive crackling, then yeah upgrade. Some people can use the onboard sound card, but eventually it becomes a bottleneck. If your latency is set higher than 50ms or so in normal projects, I'd say it's time for a proper sound card.

With a new sound card, you can set the latency much lower. Mine can be set at 0-2ms in most projects. It's best to have it at 10-20ms though, as anything lower doesn't really help and just eats up CPU.

[teejayem]

okay so if I were to use samples on the new soundcard would they sound a bit more clearer? Im confused because I always hear so much more pro quality tracks compared to mine and the only thing I dont have is a dedicated sound card, I wish I understood how many professionals have such crisp, bulk and clean productions with so much 3d and stereo imaging

[JTMMusicuk]

okay so if I were to use samples on the new soundcard would they sound a bit more clearer? Im confused because I always hear so much more pro quality tracks compared to mine and the only thing I dont have is a dedicated sound card, I wish I understood how many professionals have such crisp, bulk and clean productions with so much 3d and stereo imaging

soundcards dont change the sound of your track basically, quality all comes from mixing, mastering and synth/sample choice

[wormcode]

okay so if I were to use samples on the new soundcard would they sound a bit more clearer? Im confused because I always hear so much more pro quality tracks compared to mine and the only thing I dont have is a dedicated sound card, I wish I understood how many professionals have such crisp, bulk and clean productions with so much 3d and stereo imaging

You may also not have experience and solid mixdowns though. If you are comparing it to mastered tracks, that comes into play as well. A lot of people are self-mastering their own music before putting it online, and of course released music is mastered. Sometimes people do use tools on the final mix that play with the stereo field, excite certain frequencies, and add reverb to the entire mix. Izotope Ozone is popular for this.

Don't go downloading it and expect it to make your tracks sound pro though. The track needs to have a good mixdown to start with otherwise it will usually make it sound worse. If you can push the master gain in the DAW on one of your tracks very high like +8db, and it doesn't distort or sound like a mess this is usually a good sign that you are on the right track with your mixdowns. If you play the track really quiet, but can still hear all the elements, this is another good sign.

If you use samples on a new soundcard, it might sound different depending on what you're used to. Hard to say really. You said you are using a Realtek onboard chip. These are not the best quality, so yes some clarity might shine through in comparison especially as it allows you to run in 24bit and use higher bitrates and sample rates. It won't ADD anything though. Kind of like cleaning the fog off some goggles, it makes things that are already there a little bit clearer.

Whatever monitors you are using are also important, more important than the sound card really. What are you using?

[Phase Down]

okay so if I were to use samples on the new soundcard would they sound a bit more clearer? Im confused because I always hear so much more pro quality tracks compared to mine and the only thing I dont have is a dedicated sound card, I wish I understood how many professionals have such crisp, bulk and clean productions with so much 3d and stereo imaging

Simple answer, no.. the pro quality tracks that are made with dedicated sound cards just have better producers behind them with more knowledge about the mix.

[skimpi]

I dont know what kind of music you listen to, but up until not that long ago, Mosca made all his tracks using headphones, and probably the stock soundcard, dont quote me on the soundcard thing though. As everyone else has said though, the soundcard wont affect the audio in the computer, it is all still digital so only comes through the soundcard so that you can hear it. So a soundcard may be better so that you can monitor the tracks with better quality, helping you create better mixes, but really, I dont think that there is much difference at all, you probably wont notice a difference in sound if you swap to a better soundcard.

[didi]

average mixdown + £2000 soundcard = Polished track. Invest NOW!

[JTMMusicuk]

average mixdown + £2000 soundcard = Polished track. Invest NOW!

done deal, get it while its hot people

[teejayem]

lol okay
I meant by would higher the SNR on the card, the louder and wider it will potentially sound? I heard the higher the better?

[teejayem]

I use regular stereo speakers and a sub in the middle. Nothing enhanced nothing proper though either. But when I want to hear if Im doing proper mixdowns I pop on my KRK 8400 headphones to hear anything that may be out of place in terms of mixdown

[skimpi]

lol okay
I meant by would higher the SNR on the card, the louder and wider it will potentially sound? I heard the higher the better?

If you aren't recording anything with the soundcard, it will only alter what you hear back, yes the SNR should be better and you may get a bigger dynamic range in what you hear back, and definitely if you record with it. But it still wont change the actually quality of your track. Working with software synths, and already acquired samples means your track is dealt with entirely within the digital realm, and then when you have all your elements and mix then bounce down your track, it never passes through the sound card. It is bounced down to the stereo file all entirely digitally.

[Phase Down]

I use regular stereo speakers and a sub in the middle. Nothing enhanced nothing proper though either. But when I want to hear if Im doing proper mixdowns I pop on my KRK 8400 headphones to hear anything that may be out of place in terms of mixdown

Nothing enhanced? Well most "regular" speakers are enhanced, you could say they basically have an EQ inside to make things sound "better" not original and this is what monitors do.. also it is not really about what you use though, it is about if you can mix down on it, you have got to have the ears for it and know what you are doing.. that is the only difference between pro's tracks and yours, not some magic mastering or soundcard.

[Soulstep]

Nothing enhanced? Well most "regular" speakers are enhanced, you could say they basically have an EQ inside to make things sound "better" not original and this is what monitors do.. also it is not really about what you use though, it is about if you can mix down on it, you have got to have the ears for it and know what you are doing.. that is the only difference between pro's tracks and yours, not some magic mastering or soundcard.

Very True, but a lot of mastering or pro studios have £3000 monitors, £2000+ AD converters and the loved and hated TC Finalizer etc, there's got to be a reason why they spend that much money.

I've also noticed that most my favorite producers have 8'' monitors or bigger, usually mackie's or adam's. maybe that's why there mixes sound higher quality

@teejayem I've got the krk 8400 they sound horrible to me, so harsh on the ears

[teejayem]

I use regular stereo speakers and a sub in the middle. Nothing enhanced nothing proper though either. But when I want to hear if Im doing proper mixdowns I pop on my KRK 8400 headphones to hear anything that may be out of place in terms of mixdown

Nothing enhanced? Well most "regular" speakers are enhanced, you could say they basically have an EQ inside to make things sound "better" not original and this is what monitors do.. also it is not really about what you use though, it is about if you can mix down on it, you have got to have the ears for it and know what you are doing.. that is the only difference between pro's tracks and yours, not some magic mastering or soundcard.

I wasn't looking for a magical solution to make my music sound better.. I'm just asking if it would be wise to spend 200 bucks on a card when I could just use my onboard card.

[teejayem]

Nothing enhanced? Well most "regular" speakers are enhanced, you could say they basically have an EQ inside to make things sound "better" not original and this is what monitors do.. also it is not really about what you use though, it is about if you can mix down on it, you have got to have the ears for it and know what you are doing.. that is the only difference between pro's tracks and yours, not some magic mastering or soundcard.

Very True, but a lot of mastering or pro studios have £3000 monitors, £2000+ AD converters and the loved and hated TC Finalizer etc, there's got to be a reason why they spend that much money.

I've also noticed that most my favorite producers have 8'' monitors or bigger, usually mackie's or adam's. maybe that's why there mixes sound higher quality

@teejayem I've got the krk 8400 they sound horrible to me, so harsh on the ears

okay so I guess I'm using all the wrong tools

[wormcode]

I wasn't looking for a magical solution to make my music sound better.. I'm just asking if it would be wise to spend 200 bucks on a card when I could just use my onboard card.

If you work mostly in audio, the onboard sound chip can go pretty far, but consider this:
What is your CPU usage at in most projects? Is there much stuttering/crackling?
What is your latency set at in your DAW's audio settings?
Are you running ASIO4ALL? This can help squeeze some extra life out of your onboard sound (www.asio4all.com)

You don't have to spend that much at first. If you were already looking at an EMU1212M, look into an EMU0404 which is the same card minus input options and the extra PCI daughter card. They run the same software and it still has DSP processing. I still run one in an old system and it's rock solid, great little interface. You can upgrade from there if needed. You can find those online for well under 100.

[Phase Down]

Yes it is wise to spend 200 on a soundcard, depending on what you need from it, in your case.. no. "I simply want a soundcard that makes me music sound more professional"

[Soulstep]

^agree.

tbh i think you just need to make more tunes and get better slowly, work on the bass/mid-range lines

get a good soundcard

good headphones or and monitors