Are sound cards worth it?

i plan on using my pc for recording music with a USB input (lexicon or tascam) and for an output i was wondering if pci audio card would be a good investment.

scytheakse said:

i plan on using my pc for recording music with a USB input (lexicon or tascam) and for an output i was wondering if pci audio card would be a good investment.

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depends on what you need i guess. i like sound cards, but i've never been able to tell the difference (that's just me though) between integrated (nor have compared dedicated cards).

Some people have mentioned onboard sound often had faint humm or buzz due to local interference on mobo.

If you don't hear any funny noise, and don't need a rad 9.1 setup, onboard is likely fine.

4GHZ_or_bust said:

Some people have mentioned onboard sound often had faint humm or buzz due to local interference on mobo.

If you don't hear any funny noise, and don't need a rad 9.1 setup, onboard is likely fine.

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Do timing, midrange, SNR, color, and accuracy matter to you?

Get a good sound card.

Theocnoob said:

Do timing, midrange, SNR, color, and accuracy matter to you?

Get a good sound card.

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Agree. If you are going to record anything you want a darn good card. My friends use M-Audio cards for recording and DJing etc. Check them out here:

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=pciinterfaces

Expensive but if your recording anything, definitely worth it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132019 i was thinking something like this (i seem to be an asus fanboy ) but the m-audio looks great for recording, id be mic-ing my guitar amp and doing a direct in from my drummers electric setup. if anyone knows anything bout that kinda thing

scytheakse said:

id be mic-ing my guitar amp and doing a direct in from my drummers electric setup. if anyone knows anything bout that kinda thing

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Plenty - What's your question?

is there any benefit to getting an m-audio card as apposed to the asus and a usb input for recording? (other then price)

I don't know much about onboard/gaming audio - but from my experience, you generally can't get the required low-latency audio I/O with onboard or gaming type soundcards.

Low-Latency monitoring is not always required - but if you'll ever need to listen to what you are feeding into the PC "through" your recording software, or if you want to use realtime samples off your PC (like using a MIDI Keyboard to trigger VSTi sounds on the PC) - then you'll need a low-latency card that runs ASIO drivers. 128 Samples of latency will start to feel "Realtime" with most AD/DA converters, but I prefer the tighter feel of 32 samples of ASIO latency when tracking (recording) - but this will generally tax the PC's CPU more.

All of the M-Audio gear is designed for low-latency ASIO operation from the get-go, and will have XLR inputs and phantom powered mic preamps for XLR Dynamic and Condenser mics (depending on the M-Audio model you're talking about). Onboard sound generally won't have such inputs - you'd need extra gear to properly interface a Low-Z XLR Mic into an onboard soundcard. I'm not a big fan of having your AD/DA conversion living inside the PC anyways.

The M-Audio stuff is relatively low-end in the big scheme of "Pro-Audio", but you will get a good deal of performance from your investment. I've used the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 PCI card in the past, and the quality and performance of its drivers were right behind my much more expensive RME/SSL setups! The M-Audio's sound quality was completely acceptable for the investment IMO. It's more what you put INTO it that counts (The song and performance)

I'd look at something like the Fast Track Pro - 2 mic inputs and a SPDIF input. You could record the drums first, and then go back and record the guitar afterwards. Or the Fast-Track Ultra would give you 4 inputs - Perfect for a mic on the guitar - a mic for Vox, and a stereo line input for the Electric Kit - all going at once to discrete tracks. You can also record the electric kit's MIDI data on your DAW software, and use the recorded MIDI data to trigger other samples in your PC!

Plenty of fun to be had on the cheap IMO! I'll check back later if you have more Q's. Enjoy!

damn actually all that makes sense. i'm gonna be using either cubase or mixcraft for my software. ive used audacity as well but i want to be able to make a decent demo and audacity just doesnt have that capability lol. and i know m-audio isn't top of the line by any means but that single thing is going to cast 2/3 of what i spent to build the rest of the pc

scytheakse said:

and i know m-audio isn't top of the line by any means but that single thing is going to cast 2/3 of what i spent to build the rest of the pc

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M-Audio is a great bang for your buck IMO. You can make a perfectly acceptable recording with an M-Audio box and a good mic. There are plenty of other cheap-ish boxes that will get the job done, too. M-Audio's driver development has been fairly impressive considering their price point. Most of the other lower-end manufacturers use 3rd party driver developers, but I believe M-Audio does their drivers in-house - and does them well (they are CPU-efficient, and very stable). Next "step up" would be RME - but that's practically adding another zero (or two) to the price ...

Cubase/Nuendo is my main platform - I dig it - but there are tons of apps to choose from. Basically, try out a few free/lite versions of DAW applications that meet your needs, and pick the one you find the most intuitive. Being comfortable with the software will allow you to focus on the creation/performance aspects. They all sound fairly similar - it's really how you interact with the GUI to get the sound you're after that can make a difference in the final sound. Practically all modern DAW apps support the VST/VSTi standard, and can run the same 3rd party effects and instruments.


The most important part of all of this - with $500 of gear in a bedroom or $50,000 worth of gear in a studio - is a good song and a great performance (or a great song and a mediocre performance ). Every facet of pro-audio is designed to "serve the song" - a great song and a good performance can transcend a poor-sounding recording chain. The inverse is not true as evidenced by the current Top-40 rotation


PS - Check Amazon and eBay for M-Audio stuff. I've seen some pretty good deals floating around. Also - if you are a student - you can get discounts on lots of DAW software!

thanks dude! i expected these forums to pay off in building a comp but the help with recording is a serious bonus as for songs, god willing in a few months when i get the equipment (i'm not a student but still boke) i'll have a link to a song for you guys

i'm not a serious audio guy, but if you plan to be working audio, get the proper hardware.

built-in sound nowadays is much better than it used to be. You no longer have to have a separate card just to have decent audio in games or decent music that isn't crackly/nasty.

But for a dedicated purpose? You wouldn't use a basic gpu for video editing, though it'd 'do the job', it wouldn't do it as well or as fast.

same goes for audio.