[Looby]

i am looking at getting a new sound card and NEED something that will provide the clearest audio possible. i will be using this card for High End audio recording and Gaming(yeah odd combo whatever...) looking at:


#1 Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Elite Pro
http://www.creative.com/products/pro...ct=14064&nav=0

#2 Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
http://www.creative.com/products/pro...ct=15854&nav=0

i need a high sample rate and a high SNR

i was looking for a single 5.25 bay insert, which i could get with the fatal1ty card, but i have read better things about the elite pro which has the big box.

opinions? options?

if there is a better card out there please let me know i am willing to spend some money(starting my own in home recording studio) but i i have lots of other recording stuff to buy so... cheaper is better but i cant afford to sacrifice quality

[003]

X-fi's are by no means pro. If you need high quality recording and playback, check out the E-MU sound cards, and the higher end M-Audio sound cards. The ESI Juli@ is also worth a look. If you are looking for something really nice, check out the Lynx cards.

[Looby]

yeah... i am looking for a strictly sound card. i need something better than my choppy onboard audio to listen to the final recordings in "as clear as possible format"

i will be purchasing a firewire MOTU(Mark Of The Unicorn) 896 HD or the presonus firepod for the recording interface part.

i also want this to be a good gaming sound card and great for listening to music

i also need a good (powered) firewire-PCI card if u know of one

[003]

You can have two sound cards in your PC at once, AFAIK. An E-MU 1212M or 1280M for your high quality needs, and an X-fi for gaming.

[Looby]

i need 8 XLR inputs for drums and i need 7 of them recording at the same time and 8 outs

[003]

So are you saying you need a total of 23 xlr jacks? How were you planning on using an x-fi for that? I don't think it even has xlr jacks! I don't know of ANY sound card with that many, you are going to need to look into some kind of external breakout box, but I am not big into recording and that is about the extent of my knowledge. You are going to need to wait for somebody who knows more about recording, or go to a different forum for this.

[Looby]

im only using the card for audio playback i just need a VERY GOOD QUALITY SOUND

I AM purchasing THE MOTU 896HD firewire interface which has 8 XLR ins and 8 XLR outs

BTW where the **** did u get 23 out of curiosity??

[003]

Originally posted by Looby
i need 8 XLR inputs for drums and i need 7 of them recording at the same time and 8 outs

I interpreted this as you needing 8 inputs for drums, 7 more for recording and then at the same time 8 more outputs. Sorry as I said I don't know much about recording.

Why didn't you tell me you just want the very best quality playback? The easiest way to get that is a sound card that supports bit-perfect digital out (the x-fi does support this), and then get an external DAC. As to what external DAC you want to get, how much can you spend first of all? Second, do you want tube, solid state or hybrid, and third, what type of sound do you like?

[Looby]

DAC?? y would i need that? i belive the X-Fi has a DAC chip... the MOTU 896HD has all that stuff also(i belive) and runs all the audio through firewire and converts it all and stuff...

where can i find these external DAC things i have not been able to find anything except a CD player or something like it

i prefer tube over SS

i am looking for even cleans and deep distortions

my plan was just mic the half-stack i have to get my sound

money yeah thats an issue i will spend about:

#1 - $1000 ----- MOTU interface
#2 - $200-500 - Audio Editing Program (sonar 6)
#3 - $150-350 - Sound Card
#4 - $20-50 ---- Firewire card

and that was all of my plan... i am working my butt off to make enough money (i dont have enough yet) to start this up. i was hoping to spend no more than $2000 MAX!!! and i want to make sure i spend my money to get the best equiptment i can afford... of course!

[003]

The DAC is a major factor in sound quality. As you go up in sound quality for a sound card, the part that really gives the boost is the DAC, but consumer sound cards don't have very good DACs, as they are really just intended for listening to mp3s, playing games, and maybe watching moves. Not critical listening. While "pro" sound cards will have better playback quality than consumer cards, the major differences are in recording quality, as that is basically what pro cards are for. Getting a nice external DAC will have much better playback than any sound card.

Hmmmm.... A good tube DAC will be hard to find at that price, unless you would be willing to mod it. Here is the best I could find:
http://pacificvalve.us/LTDAC602.html

It will be a million times better than any sound card. Forget about the price. However, it is said to have somewhat rolled off treble, pacific valve also sells a modified version to address this but it is more expensive. Nevertheless, it will still blast any sound card out of the water even unmodded.

If you are willing to go solid state there are offerings that would fit much better into your pricerange.