[dudlew]

I am looking for a cheap soundcard for a budget studio. I would like it to replace my sound blaster Aduigy sound card totally, so it would be used for game and the like as well, but only in a stereo environment, as I am not that serious a gamer.

I would like to spend around $80, but if needs be I can reach around $150.

I have considered the Sonica, the 0404, The Audigy2, the Audiophile 2496.


Oh one other stipulation, I would like it to be a USB2.0 card if possible, so its isolated from the noise inside the pc. Would this work well with me wanting to record vocals? or would I have more latency than a pci card?

Thanks for your help

D

 

[lan]

The Sonica doesn't have recording capabilities. The Audigy 2 isn't hi fidelity. None of the soundcards you mentioned are USB2.

Emu 0404 is probably your best bet although it's a PCI card. I wouldn't worry about noise from inside the computer. In any case, you'll need a mic preamp and mic of course to record vocals.

Latency for just recording 1 stream isn't too demanding.

 

[ixeo]

M-Audio Audiophile USB or Firewire if you really want to go external. else, the EMU cards are a no brainer.