[godchuanz]

I am thinking of getting a USB sound card to record my band's jams.
We already have our own studio with instruments mic-ed up into the main mixer. I am thinking of using a computer (my laptop) to record the mixdown sounds, and engineer the effects from there.
The laptop does not come with acceptable recording hardware, so now I am actually considering buying a USB sound card with proper recording capablities.
Heard good things about the M-Audio USB, but thinking of getting more opinions before actually going out to buy anything.

Considerations:
- Good quality recording (no tin-can sounds, empty bass)
- Good playback quality (for monitoring/editing purposes)
- Transportable (will be using with the laptop)
- Priced reasonably (not willing to pay >$200)

What do you guys think I should get? Has anyone ever done any professional recording with computer sound cards?

 

[NightWoundsTime]

Probably the M-audio USB will be your best bet. I know GSFerrari tried one on his laptop and returned it since the sound wsn't up to his preference, but it still seems to be the best USB option out there. Any other offerings I've seen are a lot more expensive.

 

[GlowWorm]

Seems to be a common trend, one of the main reasons why alot of smaller recording studios are going out of business.

 

[godchuanz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightWoundsTime Probably the M-audio USB will be your best bet. I know GSFerrari tried one on his laptop and returned it since the sound wsn't up to his preference, but it still seems to be the best USB option out there. Any other offerings I've seen are a lot more expensive.

Quite disappointed to hear that...
Do you think that a Creative SB Audigy/Audigy2/Extigy/whatever that uses USB port will be a better solution?
I have had poor sound recordings of bass guitars with my old PCI SB Live! card, so I am not really willing to try out the Creative line of products. But, is there just any possibility that the newer cards are better for recordings?

 

[godchuanz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlowWorm Seems to be a common trend, one of the main reasons why alot of smaller recording studios are going out of business.

Yea

Why bother paying the professional studios when you can DIY. It's more fulfilling, and costs less in the long run.
I am willing to "invest" quite a bit into the band. It makes me happy to see things done professionally, at amateur costs and techniques.

 

[dallasstar]

I recommend firewire rather than USB (unless it is USB2, and not 1.1).

 

[godchuanz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallasstar I recommend firewire rather than USB (unless it is USB2, and not 1.1).

I won't mind firewire, as long as the prices are not too high. I have USB2.0 ports on my laptop as well. So, what would you recommend?

More questions:
I believe most of these external sound cards record the sounds directly into the computer. Will there be lags, skips, distortion etc. due to speed problems? Can the card actually transfer data fast enough onto the hard disk to prevent skipping? Does it also require a lot of CPU resources to process sounds from an external soundcard?

 

[lan]

At this budget you don't have much choice. There's the M-Audio Audiophile Firewire which you could find discounted for about $200. I recommend Firewire since USB uses more CPU power. You usually won't find more than stereo inputs in this price range and they won't be balanced. I don't know if that's a problem since you're using a mixer for mixdown. I don't know what software is in models less than $200.

There shouldn't be skipping on the computer if your computer is not doing anything else and the harddrive defraged. I recommend recording to a separate partition.

 

[godchuanz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan At this budget you don't have much choice. There's the M-Audio Audiophile Firewire which you could find discounted for about $200. I recommend Firewire since USB uses more CPU power. You usually won't find more than stereo inputs in this price range and they won't be balanced. I don't know if that's a problem since you're using a mixer for mixdown. I don't know what software is in models less than $200. There shouldn't be skipping on the computer if your computer is not doing anything else and the harddrive defraged. I recommend recording to a separate partition.

Firewire uses less CPU power than USB??? Why? Isn't the only difference the transfer rates? Or does the Firewire card come with an onboard processor and cache?

I understand that at this budget, it'll be most likely just stereo inputs and no fanciful 5-channel, 7-channel stuff. That is fine. What is meant by "balanced"?
Regarding software, any sound recorder that allows recording into wave file formats for edditing/mastering purposes will be fine.

 

[dallasstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by godchuanz Firewire uses less CPU power than USB??? Why? Isn't the only difference the transfer rates? Or does the Firewire card come with an onboard processor and cache? I understand that at this budget, it'll be most likely just stereo inputs and no fanciful 5-channel, 7-channel stuff. That is fine. What is meant by "balanced"? Regarding software, any sound recorder that allows recording into wave file formats for edditing/mastering purposes will be fine.

Ignore the CPU stuff. The main incentive to use firewire is this:

As you stated in your previous post, you had doubts that the computer would be able to keep up with such immense data transfers over a simple wire. Firewire can handle FAR more data per second than USB 1.1 (M Audio does not have USB 2 products at the moment

). Thus, if you want worry free recording, use firewire.

 

[godchuanz]

Since I am only gonna need one line input, and maybe 2 in rare cases, I think I might just go ahead with the M-audio Fast Track USB:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...SB-main-1.html

Anyone has any idea how good this thing might be?

 

[ReasonablyLucid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan At this budget you don't have much choice. There's the M-Audio Audiophile Firewire

I have that excact one and sounds very good. I have never tested out the recording capabilites of it though. I comes with a rather extensive software control pannel that lets you control a lot about the inputs/outputs.

Firewire does use less cpu power than usb mostly because of the processor on the firewire part of things. USB is normally handled by the southbridge chip on a motherboard with software buffering and such.
Firewire is also faster than usb2.0 for sustained transfer rates (not burst though but its not beat by much).

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by godchuanz What is meant by "balanced"?

Just a quick google search, http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/ba...-balanced.html

You get lower noise and hotter signal which gives you better quality in a longer run of cable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by godchuanz Since I am only gonna need one line input, and maybe 2 in rare cases, I think I might just go ahead with the M-audio Fast Track USB: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...SB-main-1.html

You said you need one line input but this has NONE. It's made for hooking up instruments not your mixer board.

 

[godchuanz]

From the description of the site, the soundcard supports a line in, instrument in, and a mic in. There is a switch to instrument/line in. Both have different gains and some technical specifications I don't really fully understand.

Is it gonna be bad for the recordings?

 

[godchuanz]

These are the listed specs of the card:


Input (Line setting)
------------------

Max Input +2.3dBV (1.3 Vrms)
Signal to Noise Ratio -98dB @ 48kHz (a-weighted)
Dynamic Range 98dB @ 48kHz (a-weighted)
THD + N 0.0045%, 1kHz, -1dBFS @ 48kHz
Frequency Response -0.35 / +0.01 dB, 22Hz to 22kHz @ 48kHz
Input Impedance 20K Ohms (bal.), 10K Ohms (unbal.)



Line Outputs
------------

Max Output +2dBV (1.2 Vrms)
Signal to Noise Ratio -105dB @ 48kHz (a-weighted)
Dynamic Range 105dB @ 48kHz (a-weighted)
THD + N 0.0039%, 1kHz, -1dBFS @ 48kHz
Frequency Response -0.15 / +0.03dB, 22Hz to 22kHz @ 48kHz
Crosstalk -100dB, 1kHz, channel-to-channel
Output Impedance 240 Ohms




I am quite an idiot when it comes to these technical stuff. Based on these, do you guys think it is a card worth getting?
Read up on the balanced recording thing. Supposedly, only good professional cards support balanced recording due to high costs.
I see that this card supports it, or at least the impedance specs imply so.