Soundcard advice, and maybe a hot topic

[Fleghand]

I have been looking at the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum Ex. It's within my budget, and seems to be quite capable of doing what I need (demo production, possibly for others). However, I know the general disdain for Soundblaster products within the pro community, so I'd like to get some angles on the whole Sounblaster issue.

First of all, I have a Live! now, just because it was so cheap, but the midi latency is about a full second, and it's frustrating to do anything more than basic analogue demos.

My main concern is price vs. features. I need something with both analogue and midi, but I do have a patch bay, so even 1 in is enough. Is there anything out there under, say, 250$ USD, that can accomodate a non- to semi- pro context?

More questions forthcoming as I can think of them.

Cheers

[Robert D]

How bout a hundred dollars less than that, and sooooo much better than any SB?
M-Audio Audiophile card......$149
http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOAP2496

Cheers, RD

[the_lost]

I'll second that, RD!

tl

[+Erik.+]

i'll third that even though i don't own one! but a terratec 24/96.

It's not helping that the uk's computer music gave the audigy 10/10 and the audiophile and terratec come in at 2nd and 3rd place.

what the hell is that all about?

[bombastique]

10/10?? are they high? maybe creative just paid them alot of money to say that, otherwise i can't imagine why....

[martin armsby]

Toms hardware tells a different story - 6Fire 2496 knocks spots off creative!
He uses the free RMAA to test all sound cards, I downloaded it and tested mine as a comparisson (same result) and tested other less worthy contesters too like XFire and ARC88. I was thinking of starting a pool for these tests on my website if anyones interested. I'd like to see some of the results of pro cards other than my own.
I know that the listening test is very important but still its a start.

cheers

M

[Fleghand]

You win.

I went to the music store, and got the M Audio 2496. It was just too much for me to bear with the MIDI latency of the SB.

I'll let you know how it goes, so far, it's the best impulse-buy I've made yet. http://www.audioforums.com/forums/wink.gif

[Fleghand]

You win.

I went to the music store, and got the M Audio 2496. It was just too much for me to bear with the MIDI latency of the SB.

I'll let you know how it goes, so far, it's the best impulse-buy I've made yet. ;)

[XenosoniK]

actually, fleghand, YOU win.

had you gone with creative, you would have lost.

-Xeno

[Chicken Inc]

Hey guys, theres nothing really wrong with the audigy2 plat. ex. maybe the other cards were crap but for a muso that spends just as much time doing 5.1 and 6.1 surround work it suits me fine. Remember it's not always the tools it's the person using them.

[usul]

I am happy with STAudio products DSP24 value or C-port and system III all of them work perfectly.

regards

[wingmanx]

what are the thoughts on external versus interal sound cards, or sound cards which you can have an additional box hub thats somewhat removed from your actual computer?

keep in mind i dont really know what i'm talking about, i just have a vague idea about hearing that it's better if your audio input device is in a box not inside your computer.

i'm thinking about buying an audiophile so this is why i ask.

[macouno]

Well.. the internal vs external issue is an old one... but it does still apply.

Since you say "keep in mind i dont really know what i'm talking about" well.. let me put it like this.

First there's the fact that all electrical equipment produces some electro magnetic fields and stuff... basicly junk that flies out of it.

Then there's the difference between analogue and digital... digital is just ones and zeros.. nice clean data. analogue is precise electrical signals. And both can be affected by these electro magnetic fields if they run through non shielded wires/boards and such.

But in the case of digital.. well... a 1 that's a little less 1 is still a 1 (since there's no in between in digital)... but for analogue well... it doesn't do any good. Your analogue audio signal can really be affected by the stuff computer parts spit at it.

Now the thing is that a lot of internal cards that are out nowadays have easily adequate shielding, which makes it a non issue. But in the past it was allways a good idea to keep all your analogue audio bits away from the computer. So there's the breakout box.

Does this mean it doesn't matter at all??? nah to be safe, you'd still be better off having a card with it's a/d convertors in a breakout box. And almost all high end cards are built that way for that reason anyway, so if you want quality, you'll end up buying one of those.

Then again... I do believe the audiophile has good shielding... so all of this doesn't really matter. No one's complained about it being noisy yet. So you're safe there.

[This message has been edited by macouno (edited 05-07-2003).]