How much can i do with a sound blaster card?

[G-Style]

im getting ready to get a new one, but i wanna know if i need it

[Major Audiot]

Well, you can smash flies with it... he he...

Seriously put... It's really up to yourself "how much". It depends on "what you do" and who you are "doing it for". You don't mention any specifics about the card, so it's kind of hard to tell...

Personally, I belong to those who DO NOT think it's necessary to have the coolest, newest and flashiest "system/card" to make a good production. I know, because one of my (professional) productions, not long ago, was made using a system with the Yamaha Waveforce card - and that was when some people considered Layla the "coolest" card... You just have to know the tricks http://www.audioforums.com/forums/wink.gif

Just something to think about before you throw big bucks on a new card...

http://www.westwoodi.net/~smilies/contrib/ruinkai/flipa.gif @ Emagic

[diminished]

emagic,loooool.
btw,they are worthy of both fingers.loooool
oh major,you forgot mac man even now that they own em.loooool


[This message has been edited by diminished (edited 07-08-2002).]

[Major Audiot]

Naah.... Mac can have'em... I believe Emagic fell right into their own crap... sorry, I mean trap... http://www.audioforums.com/forums/wink.gif

[Robert D]

G-Style - How much can you do with it? You can do a lot with it, it's just a question of the audio quality you're after. Personally, I think it's one of the first things anyone should upgrade in their setup, but there are many factors involved. If your just starting to learn recording, have very limited funds, and none of the other essential equipment, then you can get along with the SB for awhile before you upgrade. Learning to get the most out of it will teach you good habits that will stay with you when you get a card that lets you get away with bad gain staging. You will need an external preamp to get acceptable results with an SB card, and don't expect to start charging money to record through it, but it can get you by for now. Just don't go investing a bunch of money into building the super DAW, or buying Neuman mics, and keep using the SB.
Regards, RD

[G-Style]

thanks a lot guys, you've saved me a lot of money...i will still upgrade, but only after i've mastered my sb...

[TimOBrien]

The venerable SBLive is not a bad card to start out on.... still better than most pro studios had a decade ago. And when you move up to a full 24-bit card you can always keep the SBLive for MIDI and soundfont stuff (I have... I'm running an SBLive and an Echo Mia together in my PC.)

Record at 48kHz, the native sample rate for the SBLive, to keep it from resampling your work. You can resample to 16-bit/44.1kHz when your song is finished and you need to burn a CD or MP3.

Make sure not to bang too close to 0db. Give it a few db of room to breathe or it will distort.

Always use the Line-In, never the Mic-In.

Turn off the darned "What You Hear" in the Windows Audio Mixer or your tracks will double when you record (I wish Creative would stop making that the default setting...)

And just don't tell anybody what card you're using, you may be surprised that they'll accept your work if they don't have the "snob factor" to turn your work away....

[G-Style]

wow, mega info...thanks a lot dude, i feel a lot better about being cheap

[ZZWave]

Hey all.
This is one of the most honest-info threads I have read in a long time. I am so tired of the SBLive put down scene. It is a very low cost solution, esp for beginners and intermediates. I started out a few years ago with them and still use a few on some machines.I recently picked one up for a backup(yes I will still continue to use them in the future) for $10. You just can't beat it for the price.No way.
And when TIM said:
And just don't tell anybody what card you're using, you may be surprised that they'll accept your work if they don't have the "snob factor" to turn your work away....

It made me chuckle, but maybe the best viable solution I ever read in an audio forum. Just make the music G-Style and the rest will follow. Peace..ZZWave

[XenosoniK]

I've been using it for a while now and still haven't upgraded. It sounds ok when you're starting out and it works. don't expect top-notch recordings and low latencies, though. but for all-around performance, it's a pretty good card. as for recording, use it until you can't stand the quality anymore. then you'll know you're growing as a recording artist.

-X

[Joe Hannigan]

<<And just don't tell anybody what card you're using, you may be surprised that they'll accept your work if they don't have the "snob factor" to turn your work away....>>

Tim, you SAID it. It's about the talent and what's in front of the mic, not the latest snobbiest esoteric piece of gear you own.

In the right hands, with the right engineer, that card will work just fine, for a long time to come, and it's something you can always keep around for future use....

WIth the prices of Computers coming down, it's easy to imagine you'll buy another one eventually, network a few of them, making dedicated workstations out of some; Maybe a CD burner station here, an editor there, a web-browser-office-machine over THERE.. <G>

With surround sound coming on the scene, you just might need another card for demo'ing additional outputs or seperate tracks for other purposes besides just stereo mixes. (It's not unheard of to run more than one sound card in a single computer, either.)

There's a lot of good things you'll always be able to do with that card....keep it around, even if you end up with a better every-day card for production, it's always good for SOMETHING. <G>