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...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

[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...