[ernzo]

Hi there!

I want to buy a decent sound card, and this are the best candidates i could find on this low, yet reasonable, price range..

I did read some reviews, and both julia@ and emu1212m seem quite outstanding.. but i did not find any good comparation with those and the m-audio delta44.

It seems that emu has better AD DA converters than juli@, but i guess thats not everything what counts, and it's only the meat (or the potatoes) in a soundcard.. both cards seem to perform quite well infront of the much praised LynxTwo

Also, none of them specify if their 1/4" inputs/outputs are mono or stereo.. (maybe this is a dumb question, and stereo is the norm, but they should make it clear)



My needs are quite simple:
2 Stereo outs, to plug my pc speakers and a hifi, consumer balanced (i guess)
1 stereo in, where i will plug instruments (moslty electric guitar and bass) in different ways (direct, direct from FX, direct from amp line out, from microphone..)

I would prefeer 1/8" plugs, as my wires are all 1/8", but all the cards on this spectrum seem to offer is 1/4"...

As far as brand goes, I really dont have any preference.. But i have to say that i felt quite seduced with the julia@ concept for a while now..

I dont need to have an external box to plug the things in (m-audio); and i dont like the way they pushed themselves into being the standart..

Also I dont trust USB, thats why i go for a PCI card;

I hate creative and their ****** drivers and user suport..

But all this dont matters much to me if the goods are delivered, whatever the brand..



An example of the music i would do with it: Secret Crystal Shards

I recorded this with a SoundBlaster Live! Digital 5.1, third party drivers (kx project)

Is not that i am completely unsatisfyed with the results, but perhaps a better sound card would give more space, vibrance and dynamism..



So what are your thoughts? Are the better DA AD converters from emu really that significant? is their driver suport respectable for a chance?

Is juli@ just as sexy as she seems to be? will she turn me down?

Should i just forget them and go with the orwellian big brother m-audio?

Alternatives?

Thnx in advanced

 

[rlpaul]

Electric guitar and bass are not line level out... I'd advise against plugging them in directly to any sound card.

 

[slowpogo]

I have owned both the 1212m and Juli@. The 1212m sounds a tad bit better, but its huge routing and dsp capabilities make it difficult to set up. The Juli@ is simply plug and play.

Both have 1/4" balanced outputs. One jack for the left channel, one for the right. So neither of them have "two stereo outputs" as you request..not analog anyway. Both cards have one set of analog outputs, and then digital outputs.

You will need an adapter to plug your computer speakers into either card, something that converts 1/8" stereo to dual mono 1/4"; this may be hard to find. The 1/4" outputs on these cards are made with studio equipment in mind, not consumer computer speakers. And similarly, "computer speakers" are made with on-board sound or Sound Blaster type cards in mind, not the cards you speak of. So maybe just plug your hi-fi stereo into the card, and then find a way to plug your speakers into the hi-fi, using its "aux out" or "tape monitor" if it has those.

rlpaul is right, plugging your guitars directly into the card will not really work. They need a preamp or something to bring them to line level...inputting them from your amp's line out would probably work, from the FX might work.

Look into the M-Audio Audiophile 192...it has a set of normal outputs, and then a set of "monitor outputs." I think you can basically use them as the "two stereo outputs" you want. And it's in the same class as Juli@. It uses the same converters, so it's really personal preference as to whether it's better/worse than Juli@. One review I read said it has a few db more of dynamic range than the Juli@, but almost nobody will be able to hear that.

Also look at the Auzentech line of cards...lots of people around here like them for listening, and they use 1/8" outputs, because they're geared more toward home theater and gamers. How many outputs they have I don't know. I think they're a little more expensive, but you woul save some $ going that route and not having to buy or build a bunch of adapters to plug your stuff in.

 

[Zorander]

Does the Juli@ have decent gaming support? One thing I hate about E-MU cards is their incompatibility with nearly all games. I have to turn off sound acceleration to get Assassin's Creed running, turn it back on to play Settlers VI and forget about being able to run C&C Generals at all. I'll see how it fares with Red Alert 3 once I get the game.

 

[FallenAngel]

Most cards "for music" don't have any DirectX acceleration, it's not what they're meant for. Honestly though, big deal, you lose some effects and lose 5fps in games where you average over 80fps

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most cards "for music" don't have any DirectX acceleration, it's not what they're meant for. Honestly though, big deal, you lose some effects and lose 5fps in games where you average over 80fps

Well, with the E-MU, I am losing more than just frame rates. I lose (in no particular game time order) BGM, sound effects and speech. Tweaking the DirectX settings alleviate this problem with some, but not all, games and is inconvenient.

Short of reverting to my old Revo 7.1, I am looking at an alternative card that offers similar or higher level of SQ with decent support for games (i.e. no disappearing sound in the middle of games).

 

[progo]

Juli@ doesn't work well with games. Must be the drivers... at least I got some BSODs with certain games with Juli@ that didn't occur with the on-board integrated audio.

And for note, Juli@ does have normal RCA outs so you don't have to use 1/4" TRS plugs that are for balanced operation anyway.

 

[parrot5]

@Zorander, you may want to have 2 soundcards... One for gaming, the other for music. I have one for music, and the gaming soundcard for everything else. Just set Windows to use your gaming card as the default, and then your music applications set them to use your music-only soundcard, though I can understand that it's convenient only if you have an outboard DAC or AMP that connect them both together.

 

[Chri5peed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ernzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, none of them specify if their 1/4" inputs/outputs are mono or stereo.. (maybe this is a dumb question, and stereo is the norm, but they should make it clear)

No analogue audio outputs are stereo, well not these ones, i.e. The Red = Right.

Got the Juli@ myself, but I only use the optical-out[which is stereo!].

 

[ffrr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by progo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Juli@ doesn't work well with games. Must be the drivers... at least I got some BSODs with certain games with Juli@ that didn't occur with the on-board integrated audio. And for note, Juli@ does have normal RCA outs so you don't have to use 1/4" TRS plugs that are for balanced operation anyway.

I play games with the Juli@, no problems here....so that is probably more of a user error/computer problem than an issue with the card itself. I have no complaints whatsoever, sound quality is good, flexibility is great, and ..just plug and play. the Juli@ measured flatter than EMU with Rightmark.

ESI Pro Julia

 

[El_Doug]

At the same time as ffrr, I play games using a 1212m - have not had a single problem in ANY game. perhaps it is because I am using Vista?

both AC and Generals worked just fine for me, and i NEVER have to adjust any settings of any kind for any game


though I've never heard a Juli@, I can tell you that the 1212m sounds significantly better than both the Delta 192 and Delta 44. if you can put up with the trouble of getting it set up initially (the PatchMix DSP is a real pain the ass at first), you should be golden from then on - ive never had to mess with PatchMix for playback ever since.

until you can get a preamp for your guitars (the m-audio dmp3 is a good starter preamp), you should ONLY be using your amp's line-out. your effects and instruments both dont put out a high enough signal to be detected by the sound cards

 

[ernzo]

Thank you all for your comments!!

I didnt knew that pro or semi pro cards were all 1/4" mono...

But this is not a problem.. I am thinkin i could use the new card as a record only device, cause better recording quality is what i am really looking for...

And well, guitar is mainly a mono instrument.. if i ever need to use some stereo chorus, delay, reverb or whatever, i could plug two wires, and record two tracks at the same time..

I could still use my creative card as a regular playback device, or perhaps brige the new card to some of the internal plugs of the old one.. For what it is, it sounds quite nice actually..

If i ever need the extra crispness, i could always plug some headphones and a small signal amplifyer on the new card...


Regarding the direct line pluging of instruments, i meant mainly bass guitar... of course i have never owned a card of this level, and i couldnt imagine that the line level had to be higher...

But I did it sometimes, and i have heard of ppl doing it for quite serious purposes too... As my bass has active cicuitry (battery inside), sometimes using a couple of vst effects you can get nice sounds, and avoid the hassle of mic'ing or using a bass amp..

I havent decided what card to get yet... But your comments have been very helpful..