Ableton Forum

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

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.

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.

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.)

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

Or the other way around.

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.

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!!!