| Author
|
What makes a soundcard good?
|
Dennis the menace
DevilsDennis Sparris McHilton
Started Topics :
128
Posts :
2899
Posted : Apr 22, 2008 22:59:37
|
So how do you choose soundcard?
What makes it good? inputs? outputs? Samplingrate? bla bla bla...
What made you choose yours?
|
|
|
Boobytrip
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
39
Posts :
988
Posted : Apr 22, 2008 23:35
|
|
Depends on what you need and what you're willing to spend. If you use a lot of hardware you need good AD/DA converters with a steady clock, so you'll make the crossover to from analog to digital as tansparent as possible. In the case of hardware you'll want a good number of inputs and outputs as well. Also look for good service, and steady as a rock ASIO drivers with ultra-low latency. |
|
|
|
orange
Fat Data
Started Topics :
154
Posts :
3918
Posted : Apr 22, 2008 23:39
|
|
Alex Roudos
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
411
Posted : Apr 22, 2008 23:46
|
The choice of a soundcard is/should be at the very first place based upon :
1. The current needs,
2. The future needs(if they are known for certain),
3. The budget.
The higher the level of knowledge about music production equals higher knowledge of the current and future needs which will result to the best possible choice according to the available budget or postpone the purchasing of a soundcard until the budget is sufficient.
This is what happened in my case. Knowing my curent and future needs and always according to my budget, my first audio interface(the last 5 years) was the Tascam US-122. The second and current audio interface is the Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 as my needs(for extra inputs and quality) grew. Now that i upgraded my da and monitoring system and my knowledge regarding dynamics processing, recording and mics, mixing and mastering, acoustics have grown substantially for my own personal standards, my next audio interface will be soon the Prism Sound Orpheus. And this is where the story will end as it is the best firewire audio interface on the planet(until the next one  ).
 A friend told me once that the biggest mistake we make is that we believe we live, when in reality we are sleeping in the waiting room of life. |
|
|
|
psyaudionamics
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
38
Posts :
546
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 02:50
|
|
alex that sound card prism looks fucken awesome i never heard of that brand, but i checked the site out fucken radikal man, good luck thats one expensive piece. |
|
|
|
Alex Roudos
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
411
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 03:22
|
I know man, it's very expensive if you look at it as an audio interface, but if you look at it as what it really is then it's a bargain.
Prism Sound is considered to be the best ADC/DAC manufacturer in the world. Their 2ch ad and da converters cost around 10.000 euros each.
The Orpheus is even better than them as Prism Sound claims due to better, more advanced and cheaper manufacturing materials that are available these days.
So, for around 4.000 euros you get 4 very high quality, super clean and transparent mic-pres, 8 channels of ad conversion, 8 channels of da conversion, a monitor controller and the option to cascade 6 of them and having the best and cheapest 48in/48out recording/playback system equipped with excellent ad/da conversion.
A friend told me once that the biggest mistake we make is that we believe we live, when in reality we are sleeping in the waiting room of life. |
|
|
|
psyaudionamics
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
38
Posts :
546
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 03:27
|
thats just tooo sick lol... it does sound killer!
but im quite happy with my rme fireface800 at least for 5 yrs more hehe. |
|
|
|
Elad
Tsabeat/Sattel Battle
Started Topics :
158
Posts :
5306
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 03:52
|
|
Get-a-fix
Getafix
Started Topics :
147
Posts :
1441
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 11:10
|
|
Alex Roudos
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
411
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 12:03
|
|
Getafix, i will reserve it for you if you can wait Orpheus is not coming that soon. I expect it to be in my hands somewhere around the end of the summer along with an AEA R44 mic.
A friend told me once that the biggest mistake we make is that we believe we live, when in reality we are sleeping in the waiting room of life. |
|
|
|
psylevation
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
52
Posts :
841
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 12:45
|
Gear Sluts! 
~Airyck~
~Unoccupied Mind ~
Psyowa! |
|
|
|
Mike A
Subra
Started Topics :
185
Posts :
3954
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 21:28
|
Quote:
|
What makes a soundcard good?
|
|
Exterior design. On stage you will want as many flashing colored light as possible.
|
|
|
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Apr 23, 2008 23:22
|
Quote:
|
On 2008-04-23 03:22, Alex Roudos wrote:
I know man, it's very expensive if you look at it as an audio interface, but if you look at it as what it really is then it's a bargain.
Prism Sound is considered to be the best ADC/DAC manufacturer in the world. Their 2ch ad and da converters cost around 10.000 euros each.
The Orpheus is even better than them as Prism Sound claims due to better, more advanced and cheaper manufacturing materials that are available these days.
So, for around 4.000 euros you get 4 very high quality, super clean and transparent mic-pres, 8 channels of ad conversion, 8 channels of da conversion, a monitor controller and the option to cascade 6 of them and having the best and cheapest 48in/48out recording/playback system equipped with excellent ad/da conversion.
|
|
If I had $4000 to spend I would likely get myself a 192 i/o from Digidesign...
Professional standard and you can add any console to it at any point. It is also what is used by most professionals around the world and has all the wordclock and timecode you will need... at least for music production. I myself have an m box 2 pro and am very happy with it. Great AD/DA converters and with a third party plugin 5.1 capability. It also is pretty stable overall. imo a great choice for a lot less money with high quality...
Upavas - Here And Now (Sangoma Rec.) new EP out Oct.29th, get it here:
http://timecode.bandcamp.com
http://upavas.com
http://soundcloud.com/upavas-1/ |
|
|
|
piXan
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
107
Posts :
807
Posted : Apr 24, 2008 01:07
|
|
Alex Roudos
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
411
Posted : Apr 24, 2008 01:45
|
Quote:
|
On 2008-04-23 23:22, Upavas wrote:
If I had $4000 to spend I would likely get myself a 192 i/o from Digidesign...
Professional standard and you can add any console to it at any point. It is also what is used by most professionals around the world and has all the wordclock and timecode you will need... at least for music production. I myself have an m box 2 pro and am very happy with it. Great AD/DA converters and with a third party plugin 5.1 capability. It also is pretty stable overall. imo a great choice for a lot less money with high quality...
|
|
Your suggestion means moving to the Mac platform, which is something that would happen only if the PC platform would disappear from the face of the earth in a blink of the eye. I am not and never will be a Mac guy even now that they are like PCs
As long as for the conversion part Prism can only be compared with Lavry Gold, EMM Labs, Weiss and DAD converters.
I have never read not even one positive comment about the ad/da conversion from the M-Box and the same goes for the 00 series. Everyone serious about recording that owns a Digi 00 is bypassing their converters.
I'm not bitching or accusing Digi and their products, what i mentioned is what i've read the last six months in different forums, and i'm following this because a very good friend of mine is a Mac guy who just bought the 003, but anyway he knew from before that he's gonna bypass its ad/da stage.
And if the Orpheus was $4000 and not euros i would buy it tomorrow
A friend told me once that the biggest mistake we make is that we believe we live, when in reality we are sleeping in the waiting room of life. |
|
|
|
