What sound card?

[BritishMurderBoy]

I'm off to uni in a months time and have go the funds for a laptop..

but in order to make this a worth while purchase i thought i'd get a nice sound card so that i can use pretty much any music software that can get thrown at me..

ie. any live software or FS etc..

so what sort of ports am i looking for? male phono's? optical lines?

cheers in advance

dan

[Jimfish]

what roughly are you looking for?

do you need lots of outputs? do you need digital connectors?

[Patrick DSP]

i just got rid of my m-audio delta 1010lt
for the m-audio ozone keyboard/sound card

one sound card for use with my desktop and laptop.
2 ins 2 outs 96khz 24-bit 2ms latency
usb keyboard controler and soundcard $500 canadian

not bad, eh??

[BritishMurderBoy]

thats the problem mate i dont really know what im looking for?

i know i want to be able to use music software alongside my mates dexs/efx box and drum machine

i want to be able to get the basis for a live set.. drums loops from fruity et al.

im sorry i can't be of more help, my knowledge is limited.. thats why i came to u guys :lol:

[spiralx]

If it's a laptop, can you even get any of the better soundcards? Most laptops have their sound card built into the motherboard AFAIK.

[Jimfish]

you can use:
PCMCIA
usb/usb2
firewire


you need to find out if yer lappy has usb2 or firewire for a start.
Patricks suggestion is a good'un if you just need simple connections.

If you need lots of outputs for mapping different sounds into a mixer there is a new firewire maudio with 8outs coming out any time now.. i cant rememer if it £250 or £350..

ZM?

[BritishMurderBoy]

i have been looking at this piece of hardware:

http://uk.europe.creative.com/estore/product.asp?prod=301&page=6

[BritishMurderBoy]

ok i get what you saying jim and from the looks for things im going to be starting simple..

8 outs is more than i would need, my laptop would be running firewrie and usb 1.1...

althought if you think it is necessesary usb 2.0 is easily added in...

[BritishMurderBoy]

If it's a laptop, can you even get any of the better soundcards? Most laptops have their sound card built into the motherboard AFAIK.

you cna get external soundcards like the one in the link i gave you.. they run throught you usb and firewire ports..

[BritishMurderBoy]

i just got rid of my m-audio delta 1010lt
for the m-audio ozone keyboard/sound card

one sound card for use with my desktop and laptop.
2 ins 2 outs 96khz 24-bit 2ms latency
usb keyboard controler and soundcard $500 canadian

not bad, eh??

patrick, in terms of audio outs/ins what does the ozone offer that the creative extigy doesn't because i can't tell the difference?

[Jimfish]

extigy is proper shite! dont buy it... i know it looks tempting but the latency is evil on it!
id go with DSP's suggestion

[BritishMurderBoy]

when you say latency you mean the time in takes to process an action between the in and out?

[Jimfish]

its quite complicated, but you dont need to worry about what it means so much if you avoid the extigy :wink:

[BritishMurderBoy]

the thing is price...

150 quid for the extigy was v. tempting but 500 quid is completely out of my price bracket and im afraid will be for quite a long time.. also it seems i'd be getting a lot more than i am actually looking for at the momment...

is there anything else you can suggest under the 200 pound mark?

[Jimfish]

thats $500 canadian tho not sterling

[Jimfish]

the echno indigo is rock solid latency and 2 very good quality minijack outputs for £100

this is great quality for the price - im gonna buy one myself right this minute in fact..

[Jimfish]

the ozone (DSP's one) is £250

that will give you soooooooooooooo much stuff for the money..

25 key keyboard
16 controller knobs
midi in/out
low latency operation
XLR mic input
headphone out
2 ins/outs on 1/4 inch connectors


please dont buy an extigy you will be damaging yourself!

save a bit and get thie ozone, as far as i can see for your purposes it is really the best value by a mile

[BritishMurderBoy]

unless canada has gone into a serious recession that is still too much..

but cheers for the advice so far, ill just have to keep looking i supose


if you come across anything be sure to let me know..

[Jimfish]

im gonna order a few bits so i'll have a browse through digtial village for ya...

saying that you could just give em a call and tell em you arent sure exactly what you need but you know how much money you got..
they will be happy just to chat to you with some advice... call the east london branch as the boys are well in the know

[BritishMurderBoy]

im gonna order a few bits so i'll have a browse through digtial village for ya...

saying that you could just give em a call and tell em you arent sure exactly what you need but you know how much money you got..
they will be happy just to chat to you with some advice... call the east london branch as the boys are well in the know

looking at the M-Audio website the Audiophile USB interface looks like potential buy.. it would probably cost around £160 which is within my budget.. views on this piece of kit?

will do mate..

cheers for all the help at such short notice.. i will let you know how things go...

[anx]

i heard connecting your soundcard with USB was a bad idea. id rather use a PCM slot or a firewire

unless, is there a big difference with USB2?

[BritishMurderBoy]

all the afore mentioned products use USB and both jim and patrick seem quite confident that they work successfully..

firewire is an option for me however..

does anyone know anything about the Audiophile USB interface?

also while were on the subject i am also looking at purchasing some powered speakers.. nothing too loud between 100 and 200 RMS

is this a wise idea? or is there something better out there?

[MARKEG]

save and go for the ozone for sure you won't regret it.

[dj vorny]

yes iv just bought the m audio ,o zone and its realy good ,i managed to blag a bargain at my local shop and picked one up for £210 in my opinion these are excellent .midi keybord ,16 knob controll ,loads of other stuff like phantom power ,i dont know , :shock: but its wicked :lol: :lol: :twisted: :evil:

[Patrick DSP]

usb2 is faster than firewire those olld myths about usb audio were mainly about usb1.1 and the first few usb soundcards.

my ozone is rock solid, and i can't wait till i get my laptop properly set up to do some real live pa's

-p.dsp

[RichieV]

PCI just seems way more stable tho
I have had bad experience with USB

[Jimfish]

there aint no pci in a laptop dude..

yes, if you ring Digital village you can allways haggle a few quid off...
if you really want to get it cheap start a price war between them and turnkey. I had them faxing thier lowest prices to each other untill eventually Turnkey gave in and i got my Old echo Gina (couple of years back) for £300 instead of £360

OZONE
OZONE
OZONE

[BritishMurderBoy]

ok i think you lot are all agreeded on the interface..

what about some new powered speakers? should i be convinced that M - Audio's BX5 range is the perfect partner or is there something better out there..

[EmotionComplex]

ive orderd a pair of bx8's, excellent monitors for the cash 8)

[anx]

get events!!!

i have the 20/20 v2's and they are solid!

[Patrick DSP]

mackie hr824's if you can.

[Jimfish]

I DONT THINK HE HAD GOT THE CASH BY THE SOUND OF IT...

oops, soory about the caps..

How much $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ have you got??

[Patrick DSP]

and where do you live too?

and when are you planing to not be home so we can rob you...

[John Vella]

Yeah Patrick got rid of his Delta 10/10 and sold it to me....

It's great if you know you are getting a mixing console and want lots of outputs....

I can have up to 8 seperate channels on my board designated to their own sound.

-jOHNNY

P.S Its funny.... Alot of DSPs former gear can be found spread out all over different Toronto Techno people's homes. (including me and Philth) :)

[Jimfish]

god, you fukin canadians.. you're everywhere!

[BritishMurderBoy]

well i'd be i'd be willing to spend 200-300 on the speakers.. bare in mind i dont really want too much power as at the momment its not nesessary.. i just want some solid build qualities that i can hook up direct to the interface i end up buying...

[BritishMurderBoy]

reckon ill get the Alesis mk2

they look like just the ticket and i can get em for 200 just the same as a creative 5.1 setup or something like that

[Patrick DSP]

yeah that's a good buy

those were my first studio monitors ever (well the mk1's)

...


johnny has those now.

lol

[BritishMurderBoy]

haha i like the way your running a "pass on service"

its like younger brothers and clothes..

yeah there nice and digital village have offered me a really good deal for both piece of equipment..

it should all be waiting for me when i get back from reading festival..

cheers for your help lads

dan

[miromiric.]

sincei bought mk2s our production got way cleaner and better. its a good buy, recommended by miroslav!

[BritishMurderBoy]

sincei bought mk2s our production got way cleaner and better. its a good buy, recommended by miroslav!

thats all the recommendation i need :lol:

[The Overfiend]

So which way is the way to go? Ozone?

[BritishMurderBoy]

yeah seems to be from what everyone has said on this board....

[The Overfiend]

An all-in-one keyboard, MIDI control surface, mic preamp, USB audio interface and USB MIDI interface that's no bigger than a laptop.

Ok so this will replace a soundcard?
Or I am reading wrong here?

[DJZeMig_L]

Nope U r right..

Just don't expect anything brilliant with Latency and stuff... But should b more than enought 4 most work!!

Z