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#1
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Where have all the entry level synth cards gone?
I've been looking to replace my sound card and it's very difficult to
find a good all-purpose sound card these days. About four years ago I purchased a Creative Sound Blaster PCI512, for years this served me as a good all-purpose sound card. I use a single desktop to play games, surf the web, do work and as a hobby do MIDI sequencing. I found the PCI512 to be a good all around card that didn't cost too much (around $99 MSRP). One of my favorite features of this card was it's ability to support SoundFonts and I use SoundFonts will Cakewalk (and more recently Sonar) to do synth and sequencing. Then Windows XP Service Pack 2 came and this the PCI512 does not get along well the SP2. I contacted Creative support and they basicly told me I'm out of luck as no other drivers are planed for this "legacy" card. I refuse to remove SP2 and would rather go ahead and update my hardware. So I went shoping and... I found few sound cards that even have MIDI port on board. Creative has a stripped the game/MIDI adapter port off all their consumer and "prosumer" SB line. What's more, the SoundFont compatibility seems to be non-existant on the new cards. So I ended up paying $150 and buying the E-MU ProteuxX package (E-MU 404 card with EmulatorX (soft synth) lite edition). It's been a very painful three days trying to go through all the documentation and configure this card properly, what's more for a "entry level" proaudio card it's very unuser friendly. I have dozens of parameters I can tweak on each virtual instrument and I have a really solid GM set (and about a gig or so more virtual instruments) that sound great, but I'm not overall happy with the 404 soundcard. It's not idea for an all-purpose sound card, it has no synth capabilities at all, it has more ports than I'll ever need. ProtuesX (the name they've given to EmulatorX lite) is more than I will ever need. I do like the hardware effects processor on the 404, but overall I want something much simpler that just sound good. I'd like a solid GM bank, I'd like Yamaha XG support, I'd like a high level of compatibility the Cakewalks Sonar (I'm running version 2) and I really want the ability to extend the synth capabilities through SoundFonts or some similar technology (the E-MU card uses VSTs, which is fine although they aren't natively supported in Sonar 2) All ideas welcome! -Jeremy |
#2
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Hi Jeremy,
sometimes in life we have to "let go" of things. without getting in your business too much, i believe you have an unhealthy attachment to out-dated beginner soundset/soundcard stuff.... just let it go... be free! :-) take a look at the m-audio audiophile 24-96. $99 at musiciansfriend.com it is a great all around card to beat on and do audio and midi. it does Direct-X and VST and Gigasampler confidently. "general midi" "soundfont" "Yamaha XG"... I'd let go of any attachment to this stuff. a physician sometimes has to cut to heal. let it go man, let it go... just get your Sonar thang going, and then add some features to that nucleus as your time, energies and interests allow. |
#3
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#4
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EmulatorX is not a beginners product, It is a pretty advanced sampler.
I would return it and get for 150 bucks one of the audigy cards instead they have midi etc.. the 404 card is more complicated since it has one of those routable mixers etc. |
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