On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 06:47:45 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

It's rather like using a Winmodem instead of a proper hardware one I
suppose.

Don't knock Winmodem-type modems, they are about the only thing you can buy
these days.

For general use I guess they're OK. But hardware modems ARE still
easily available, and not expensive. I still install them in systems
intended for music use. I know a serious musician SHOULD disable
network cars, modem and anything else unessential before starting a
session. But we don't always remember :-) And I'd rather an
incoming 'phone call didn't cause an audio glitch. It's not a big
problem, and might never happen. But the cost of a hardware modem is
so little more.....

"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the
the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

A/D conversion shouldn't take any processor time. Sample rate conversion,
various compression algorithms might if the sound card doesn't have on-board
DSP. But I think the biggest difference would be how much on-board buffering
is available, use of DMA, and how well written the drivers are, etc.

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the
the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

A/D conversion shouldn't take any processor time. Sample rate conversion,
various compression algorithms might if the sound card doesn't have on-board
DSP. But I think the biggest difference would be how much on-board buffering
is available, use of DMA, and how well written the drivers are, etc.

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the
the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

A/D conversion shouldn't take any processor time. Sample rate conversion,
various compression algorithms might if the sound card doesn't have on-board
DSP. But I think the biggest difference would be how much on-board buffering
is available, use of DMA, and how well written the drivers are, etc.

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the
the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

A/D conversion shouldn't take any processor time. Sample rate conversion,
various compression algorithms might if the sound card doesn't have on-board
DSP. But I think the biggest difference would be how much on-board buffering
is available, use of DMA, and how well written the drivers are, etc.

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
"JeffK" wrote ...
Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I ... started recording with my motherboard's built-in Line In.
I carefully avoided any activity which would distract the machine
from its recording. No typing while transcribing, etc. Still, the
results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal. I
thought it was unavoidable.

There are lots of "distractions" that have nothing to do with
the user interface. Did you actually determine what all you
actually had running? Try something like EndItAll to list (and
kill) all those useless processes.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card
... I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the
the
job.

You compared a sound "card" doing analog to digital conversion
("line in") to a different sound card doing digital (SPDIF) input.
Ever heard the expression "comparing apples to oranges"?

A/D conversion shouldn't take any processor time. Sample rate conversion,
various compression algorithms might if the sound card doesn't have on-board
DSP. But I think the biggest difference would be how much on-board buffering
is available, use of DMA, and how well written the drivers are, etc.

Which bells and whistles are you referring to?

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"Stu-R" wrote in message
...
I find big differences in quality when other devices/processes are
using computer resources. I do some audio-video editing and, in this
case, have found that the manufacturer (Creative Soundblaster Live!)
is right when he recommends that the video card bells and whistles be
turned off to allow those clock cycles to be available to the sound
card. When I set the video card up with all options turned off, the
audio is as good as one might want. Clarity and definition for choral
groups is great. But with all the video card options on, the drop in
sound quality is noticeable. Using a more potent video card reduces,
but doesn't eliminate this problem.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 22:51:35 GMT, "JeffK" wrote:

Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I bought a turntable with Line Out (Stanton STR8-80 specifically, it's
wonderful, but the model is not pertinent) and started recording with my
motherboard's built-in Line In. I carefully avoided any activity which
would
distract the machine from its recording. No typing while transcribing,
etc.
Still, the results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal.
I
thought it was unavoidable.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card for $99 so I
bought it. I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

Which bells and whistles are you referring to?

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"Stu-R" wrote in message
...
I find big differences in quality when other devices/processes are
using computer resources. I do some audio-video editing and, in this
case, have found that the manufacturer (Creative Soundblaster Live!)
is right when he recommends that the video card bells and whistles be
turned off to allow those clock cycles to be available to the sound
card. When I set the video card up with all options turned off, the
audio is as good as one might want. Clarity and definition for choral
groups is great. But with all the video card options on, the drop in
sound quality is noticeable. Using a more potent video card reduces,
but doesn't eliminate this problem.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 22:51:35 GMT, "JeffK" wrote:

Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I bought a turntable with Line Out (Stanton STR8-80 specifically, it's
wonderful, but the model is not pertinent) and started recording with my
motherboard's built-in Line In. I carefully avoided any activity which
would
distract the machine from its recording. No typing while transcribing,
etc.
Still, the results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal.
I
thought it was unavoidable.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card for $99 so I
bought it. I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

Which bells and whistles are you referring to?

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"Stu-R" wrote in message
...
I find big differences in quality when other devices/processes are
using computer resources. I do some audio-video editing and, in this
case, have found that the manufacturer (Creative Soundblaster Live!)
is right when he recommends that the video card bells and whistles be
turned off to allow those clock cycles to be available to the sound
card. When I set the video card up with all options turned off, the
audio is as good as one might want. Clarity and definition for choral
groups is great. But with all the video card options on, the drop in
sound quality is noticeable. Using a more potent video card reduces,
but doesn't eliminate this problem.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 22:51:35 GMT, "JeffK" wrote:

Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I bought a turntable with Line Out (Stanton STR8-80 specifically, it's
wonderful, but the model is not pertinent) and started recording with my
motherboard's built-in Line In. I carefully avoided any activity which
would
distract the machine from its recording. No typing while transcribing,
etc.
Still, the results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal.
I
thought it was unavoidable.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card for $99 so I
bought it. I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

Which bells and whistles are you referring to?

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"Stu-R" wrote in message
...
I find big differences in quality when other devices/processes are
using computer resources. I do some audio-video editing and, in this
case, have found that the manufacturer (Creative Soundblaster Live!)
is right when he recommends that the video card bells and whistles be
turned off to allow those clock cycles to be available to the sound
card. When I set the video card up with all options turned off, the
audio is as good as one might want. Clarity and definition for choral
groups is great. But with all the video card options on, the drop in
sound quality is noticeable. Using a more potent video card reduces,
but doesn't eliminate this problem.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 22:51:35 GMT, "JeffK" wrote:

Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I bought a turntable with Line Out (Stanton STR8-80 specifically, it's
wonderful, but the model is not pertinent) and started recording with my
motherboard's built-in Line In. I carefully avoided any activity which
would
distract the machine from its recording. No typing while transcribing,
etc.
Still, the results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal.
I
thought it was unavoidable.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card for $99 so I
bought it. I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.

Which bells and whistles are you referring to?

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"Stu-R" wrote in message
...
I find big differences in quality when other devices/processes are
using computer resources. I do some audio-video editing and, in this
case, have found that the manufacturer (Creative Soundblaster Live!)
is right when he recommends that the video card bells and whistles be
turned off to allow those clock cycles to be available to the sound
card. When I set the video card up with all options turned off, the
audio is as good as one might want. Clarity and definition for choral
groups is great. But with all the video card options on, the drop in
sound quality is noticeable. Using a more potent video card reduces,
but doesn't eliminate this problem.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 22:51:35 GMT, "JeffK" wrote:

Hello, all, just wanted to share a little success story for posterity.
In the past, I believed sound cards were low-resource, low-attention,
low-priority hardware. Sounds require little resources

I bought a turntable with Line Out (Stanton STR8-80 specifically, it's
wonderful, but the model is not pertinent) and started recording with my
motherboard's built-in Line In. I carefully avoided any activity which
would
distract the machine from its recording. No typing while transcribing,
etc.
Still, the results had occasional hiccups. Not horrible but not optimal.
I
thought it was unavoidable.

Musicians Friend offered the M-Audio Delta 410 sound card for $99 so I
bought it. I wanted to test the SPDIF out on my turntable and DVD player.
And my "affordable" trigger has a $100 setting.

OK, here's where I discover soundcards ARE different.

I recorded a dozen LPs this weekend to my computer, while web surfing,
emailing and working on the company VPN.

No hiccups. No gaps. The sound card is obviously handling more of the the
job.