Hey,

I am doing home recording w/ my PC and SONAR. I sent the output from
my guitar amplfier into the line in of my PC.

I currently have a Creative Audigy 2ZS and according to the spec it
says it can record in 24 bit, 96Hz Sample Rate.

Is it worth upgrading my soundcard to improve the quality? For
example, people recommended me the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 which I saw
has the same spec about the bit rate / sample rate.

So, do I really need to upgrade if both cards support the same spec?
Are there other differences? I think my soundcard now has good
recording quality, could it be better?

Thanks for the input.

wrote:

I am doing home recording w/ my PC and SONAR. I sent the output from
my guitar amplfier into the line in of my PC.

I currently have a Creative Audigy 2ZS

So, do I really need to upgrade if both cards support the same spec?
Are there other differences? I think my soundcard now has good
recording quality, could it be better?

It can always be better. That's what pro audio is all about. Nobody
around here would consider an Audigy to be a high quality card, and
yes, the M-Audio Audiophile is probably better. But replacing what you
have with another modestly inexpensive card won't change your life,
particularly if you're recording direct from an amplifier. How are you
doing that, by the way? Does your amplifier have a line output? Are you
using a microphone? Or clipping on to the speaker leads?

I am connection the headphone out from my amp into the line in of the
PC.

I am connection the headphone out from my amp into the line in of the
PC.

In theory, 24 bit, 96kHz is better than the human ear can perceive.
However in reality there can be differences in the soundcards such as
the linearity of the amps, quality of the A/D converters on the
soundcard, and its sensitivity to electromagnetic interference.

Probably the M-Audio is made of slightly higher quality components,
overall. Also, it natively supports 44.1kHz sample rate (no software
resampling needed), which is something I'm not sure of in the Audigy
(maybe the model you have already supports it. The EMU10k1 based Audigy
and SB-live cards were internally locked to 48kHz).

Neither the Audigy or the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 have balanced
in/outputs, which solves noise picked up by the cables from/to the
card. Cards such as the Echo Mia/Gina/Layla do have balanced I/O and
have very low noise, but are in a different price class than the
M-Audio cards.

wrote in message
oups.com

I am doing home recording w/ my PC and SONAR. I sent the
output from my guitar amplfier into the line in of my PC.

I currently have a Creative Audigy 2ZS and according to
the spec it says it can record in 24 bit, 96Hz Sample
Rate.

24/96 operation is not a guarantee of improved sound
quality.

Is it worth upgrading my soundcard to improve the
quality?

I'm trying to figure out what kind of recording that you're
doing. No microphones at all? No vocals? No recording of a
live acoustical environment? This sounds like a recipe for
very 1 dimensional, sterile sound.

For example, people recommended me the M-Audio
Audiophile 2496 which I saw has the same spec about the
bit rate / sample rate.

Good recording is not about good specs, its about tone and
sound quality.

So, do I really need to upgrade if both cards support the
same spec? Are there other differences? I think my
soundcard now has good recording quality, could it be
better?

The larger question is could your recordings sound better.
That's a more complex question, but in most cases people
don't want to listen to specs, they want to listen to music.

In article . com,
says...

Neither the Audigy or the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 have balanced
in/outputs, which solves noise picked up by the cables from/to the
card.

only magnetic interference. If there is no interference, there will be no
difference. If there's a giant transformer beside the cable running from the
mixer and soundcard, balanced would be a good idea, otherwise it likely won't
make a difference. RF interference is blocked by shielding, which is the same
for balanced and unbalanced cables.