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External Sound Cards
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routingwithin
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
46
Posts :
204
Posted : Apr 24, 2017 14:02:40
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Good day guys, hope everything is well.
Just have a Q about external sound cards. Lately been working on my track and normally I would just use ASIO v2 all together with my laptop internal sound card. Then I realized that the BASS frequencies twists around. i.e. I will use a SAWtooth 1 voice, but sometimes it sounds like there are phasing in it. Checked my OSC and the problem aint there.
Also sometimes when alot is going on in the track and it stops dead and starts again, there is a volume increase(but only in a certain place of the track. No duplicate patterns on each other or anything like that), also like with bad compression, but the track is not compressed yet.
Then I thought it could be CPU usage, cause the track is in the red now n then(RAM i mean). I rendered the Kick and Bass tracks - but found volume inconsistencies throughout certain parts.
I also thought it was my speakers (Age etc) - but then I switched over to my M-Audio Fastrack External soundcard and the problems kind of vanished. Still need to make sure.
My Q is - If I finish a track and render it using my plain (primary laptop soundcard) against rendering the same track with my Fast track plugged in.
Would there be a difference in quality if I played it on another system?
Or is soundcards merely for quality playback - yet rendering stays the same doesn't matter what you have active on the final render.
  " We are together in this matter you and I, closer to death, yes, closer than i'd like. How do you feel? - There can be no division in our actions, or everything is lost. What affects you affects me. " |
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knocz
Moderator
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
1151
Posted : Apr 24, 2017 21:00
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Quote:
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On 2017-04-24 14:02:40, routingwithin wrote:
Good day guys, hope everything is well.
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Hey ya! Same thoughts right back at you 
Quote:
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On 2017-04-24 14:02:40, routingwithin wrote:
My Q is - If I finish a track and render it using my plain (primary laptop soundcard) against rendering the same track with my Fast track plugged in.
Would there be a difference in quality if I played it on another system?
Or is soundcards merely for quality playback - yet rendering stays the same doesn't matter what you have active on the final render.
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Straight to the point - your sound card is not involved at this stag, at least considering you are not using any line ins
This is not the case for those fancy external DSP cards, which is more-or-less an external processor for some CPU-intensive effects (so, these effects run on the DSP unit), but the sound card is mainly there to be the middle man between the audio application sound engine (ASIO and whatnot / core audio ) and the line-out female plug(s).
When you are rendering, you are only doing sample-based math calculations; unless you tell it to screw up, no irregularities should be injected in your signal.
Try removing your sound cards from the equation: export it, check how it sounds on a dedicated audio system like in your car
Super Banana Sauce http://www.soundcloud.com/knocz |
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TimeTraveller
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
80
Posts :
3207
Posted : Apr 25, 2017 01:47
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The more plug ins you use the more you force your CPU and generate a larger latency.
A sound card can compensate this issue too or improve here atleast.
Even using too many tracks can generate a latency problem at some point. Maybe your sound inconsistencies come from one of this cases.
https://soundcloud.com/shivagarden |
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routingwithin
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
46
Posts :
204
Posted : Apr 25, 2017 16:09
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thnx..
yeah it kinda made sense afterwards, cause i did not consider the fact that even without a soundcard you would maybe still be able to render the track - cause it merely combines the audio streams/stems.
I think the problem was afterwards I played the WAV file in winamp and it kinda sounded like the same problems persist, but I think it's cause I just closed the DAW and then played it in winamp, so CPU load was maybe still going down or something.
Using a laptop is such a drag - due to the fact that my PC had 8GIG RAM. Now I have to render out every part that I create due to overloads causing glitches. what a bitch. Want to finish the track but cannot add new elements until I tidy up the track. And yeah - when i compose i work very sloppy, necessary to keep the workflow smooth.
Lately my eyes opened to the fact that the kick and bass should be inside the mix area not infront in your face, so the MID frequencies almost sounds louder. This opened up a huge new space for everything to fit in, with the SUBs carrying the low end very well and balanced.
" We are together in this matter you and I, closer to death, yes, closer than i'd like. How do you feel? - There can be no division in our actions, or everything is lost. What affects you affects me. " |
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frisbeehead
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
1352
Posted : May 5, 2017 12:30
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@TimeTraveller
That used to be a problem before they came up with PDC (plug-in delay compensation). This shouldn't be a problem with any of the current DAWs in the market.
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The only think I can think of that might help is simply to use a larger buffer size. It will increase the latency, of course, but this will only become noticeable when recording or inputing notes with a midi device (i.e. when recording).
Another good tip is simply to distinguish between experimentation and actually moving on with a project, in which case you need, at least at some point, to compromise, to stick with your previous choices and run with them.
What I mean is: no matter how strong the computer you use, it's always good practice to render stuff down and move on. Organizing the project becomes second nature, after a while, which means you should be able to do that quickly. Just makes your project easier to navigate and handle. Saves you a lot of time.
Having said all this, I really have no idea what would cause the phasing on your low end. It would be easier to come up with an explanation with an audio example.
Are you sure you weren't using any effects on it? Maybe on some parallel aux channel? Or bus processing?
Or even the inserts on the channel. Does this problem persist after you've bypassed them all?
Anyway, an external sound card could help a little bit, specially if you intend to record on the go. It shouldn't necessarily give your computer more oxygen. A standard upgrade would be much more effective. Cheers. |
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