Best soundcard $150 or less and M-Audio Duo???

[jrides]

Im building a computer for a friend and he needs a soundcard to do some demo stuff with and some vocals. Whats good out there in the less than $150 range. I have absolutely no experience with soundcards less than $500 so I dont have any clue.

Also has anyone used the M-Audio Duo? I was thinking it would be a good value to get decent sound into his puter since their preamp technology I already know to be acceptable. Any thoughts? Your help in this matter would greatly be appreciated.

[wilbong]

go for a pci card. (internal)

not an usb unit.

that's my advice !


terratec 6fire and M-audio audiophile are well rated for that price range !

[Fleghand]

I use a Soundblaster Live!, which is not at all pro, but still has good recording quality, and costs less than 50$.

[jrides]

I apologize....I forgot about the SBlive... I do have experience with that card. Its been a while though. I wanted to put him a step above the SBLive actually....lol. That thing is noisy as hell. And it records at 48hz which is unacceptable. I was trying to find out about soundcards with better specs. Does anyone know about the Audigy2 around as noisy as the SBlive? Thanks for your help so far.

Peace,
jrides

[Pretty Pretty Cyanide]

I can say this about the Audigy2: it's great for games!

Not going to say anything else about it.

The DUO will do you but for added midi in and out get the audiophile.

[mrmoviescore]

M-audio Audiophile 24/96 card is a very good choice.

Over here in the UK you can guy it for £139, so it should be about the same in america.

[jrides]

I was looking at the Audigy for its Soundfont capability moreso than anything. Softsynths put such a drain on even the most up to date computer with all tweaks added. The 3 gig processor allows you to run more than before....but still the drain is heavy if your song is midi intensive. But thinking about it now....I doubt that this guy will even be using soundfonts, so I guess that was just overkill. Maybe the Audigy question was really gear toward satisfying my own questions....lol.

I guess M-Audio it is for him then. I will look more at the Audigy for incorporating soundfonts when they get their ASIO 2.0 drivers up and running. Any further comments are welcome. I will continue to check the thread and respond. Thanks guys.

[usul]

do not worry about soundfonts you can use them with a softsynth like livesynthpro os vsampler. Definitely go for something better than a SB.