how much of a difference do u hear

keventhomas · Post by **keventhomas** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:30 pm

right now im using a soundblaster card, not much better than a stock card.

can i still produce quality tracks with this card, or is it a MUST to upgrade to a 24 bit soundcard for a truely professional sounding mixdown?

how much of a difference (if any) will getting a 24 bit soundcard make to my mixdowns?

u guys have been helping me out tremendously with all these tips, tricks, comments in this forum!

this is my second home now!

-keven

jazz_e_bob · Post by **jazz_e_bob** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:25 am

You can get great quality results. Even limited to 16 bits.

Don't forget - the analog inputs and outputs of the card are pretty average but the internal sound data remains the same.

This means that your mixdown will sound better on a good CD player than it did on your PC. It also means that anything you record using your PC sound card will be only of average sound quality.

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:57 am

it depends on wether or not you are recording sounds in or not really.

sound card "quality" has nothing to do with a mixdown.

you can mixdown on a computer with no soundcard.

if you are using mostly softsynths for example then even the adc's on your soundcard don't matter.

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:56 am

But your ears will love you if you uppgrade to a "real" card, even a budget one.

I just bought a low end MAYA44. Only EUR 100, a decent budget card with 2 stereo in/out and built in mic pre amp.

The difference to my old soundblaster is very noticeable and I can also run with 5 msecs latency without any problems.

(If you don't need the 4 channel I/O and mic pre amp, there are probably better choices in the same price range.)

mr-e · Post by **mr-e** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:40 pm

maybe real monitors would be a better upgrade.
There's no point sending a perfect signal to an amp/speakers that color your sound.

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:37 pm

Or the other way around.

jazz_e_bob · Post by **jazz_e_bob** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:07 pm

The soundblaster is fine. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by upgrades. They will never end. Concentrate on honing your musical skills and making great tunes.

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:55 am

jazz_e_bob wrote:

The soundblaster is fine.
Don't allow yourself to be distracted by upgrades. They will never end. Concentrate on honing your musical skills and making great tunes. Smile

i second that, even keeping in mind that any soundblaster card is far away from being in any ways fine, they are the worst cards on the planet for music making / recording.

but, however. i second also the suggestion to invest first into a really decent set of monitors, thay are essential for the rest of your music making career, and you want be able to hear how bad soundblaster really is, without a decent set of monitors. monitors FIRST, absolutely!!! they are the MOST important item of your entire gear, nothing else you have is worth a penny... if don't *HEAR* it!!!