Hey,

I am ashamed to admit but i've been recording w/ an Audigy 2ZS. I need
a new soundcard w/ improved quality. Any recommendations? My budget is
under $200.

I ONLY record guitar. One track at a time..... So, I do not need
something w/ many inputs / outputs.

One question: will better soundcards provide better recording sound of
distortion? Or is this just a consequence of recording direct?

Thanks

wrote in message
oups.com

I am ashamed to admit but i've been recording w/ an
Audigy 2ZS.

Don't be ashamed, some of our more esteemed contributors
have been known to do a lot of work with a SoundBlaster. Not
the best cards in the world.

But, in the hands of someone who knows what they are
doing...

I need a new soundcard w/ improved quality.

So sez you. How many people have tried to convince you
otherwise in say the past 2 weeks?

Any recommendations? My budget is under $200.

I ONLY record guitar. One track at a time..... So, I do
not need something w/ many inputs / outputs.

Hey, if you've got $200 burning a hole in your pocket - run
right out and get a M-Audio 24192. I sometimes think of it
as a latter-day Card Deluxe with equal or better performance
for a lot less money.

One question: will better soundcards provide better
recording sound of distortion?

Yes, if the worser sound card was doing a bad job of
recording distortion.

Or is this just a consequence of recording direct?

Recording direct is a world unto itself.

There's at least one reason why a lot of recording is done
with microphones, despite all the slings and arrows of using
microphones. It has to do with getting a natural sound.

On 26 Oct 2005 06:56:56 -0700, wrote:

Hey,

I am ashamed to admit but i've been recording w/ an Audigy 2ZS. I need
a new soundcard w/ improved quality. Any recommendations? My budget is
under $200.

Echo MIA MIDI is my favorite in that price range.

I've installed maybe a half dozen and they all work great on a variety
of different machines. I've got one installation where the analog
balanced ins and outs are connected to 75 feet of cable each.

No hum, buzz, hiss even with all that cable. Can't ask for a better
I/O than that!

Julian

Echo MIA MIDI is my favorite in that price range.

I've installed maybe a half dozen and they all work great on a variety
of different machines. I've got one installation where the analog
balanced ins and outs are connected to 75 feet of cable each.

No hum, buzz, hiss even with all that cable. Can't ask for a better
I/O than that!

Julian


I like the MIA MIDI a lot too, I have them in all 3 of our
editing PC's and not a lick O' trouble. I also like the
mixer app for the MIA too.

I like the M-Audio 24192, I bought one recently for the
Pro Tools M-Powered, but i think the mixer app that comes
with it is not very useful.

You might want to consider the Emu 1212m. It has more features than
you've asked for (which is not a bad thing), but is in the same price
range and sounds great.

The Echo cards are good too. I've not used the M-Audio.

Dean

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:11:56 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com

I am ashamed to admit but i've been recording w/ an
Audigy 2ZS.

Don't be ashamed, some of our more esteemed contributors
have been known to do a lot of work with a SoundBlaster. Not
the best cards in the world.

But, in the hands of someone who knows what they are
doing...

I need a new soundcard w/ improved quality.

So sez you. How many people have tried to convince you
otherwise in say the past 2 weeks?

At least me, I only saw his two previous posts when I posted, then
I saw the earlier one where others had already given the answer I
gave, as well as more info. Is there a name for a poster who asks the
same question repeatedly and ignores the responses?


Any recommendations? My budget is under $200.

I ONLY record guitar. One track at a time..... So, I do
not need something w/ many inputs / outputs.

Hey, if you've got $200 burning a hole in your pocket - run
right out and get a M-Audio 24192. I sometimes think of it
as a latter-day Card Deluxe with equal or better performance
for a lot less money.

It's got twice the sampling rate, so it has to be twice as good,
right?


One question: will better soundcards provide better
recording sound of distortion?

Yes, if the worser sound card was doing a bad job of
recording distortion.

A more expensive soundcard may actually do better in this situation
because it will take a higher input before clipping, but a couple of
resistors and connectors wired as an attentuator will do the exact
same thing for $5 (at Radio Shack prices) instead of $199.
The even-better option is to spend that money on an SM-57 and a
cheap mic preamp or pre/mixer combo, and run the output into the
existing soundcard's line-in. I think someone may have even mentioned
this before...


Or is this just a consequence of recording direct?

Recording direct is a world unto itself.

There's at least one reason why a lot of recording is done
with microphones, despite all the slings and arrows of using
microphones. It has to do with getting a natural sound.


So what microphones did William Shakespear use?

"Julian" wrote in message

On 26 Oct 2005 06:56:56 -0700, wrote:

Hey,

I am ashamed to admit but i've been recording w/ an
Audigy 2ZS. I need a new soundcard w/ improved quality.
Any recommendations? My budget is under $200.

Echo MIA MIDI is my favorite in that price range.

I've installed maybe a half dozen and they all work great
on a variety of different machines. I've got one
installation where the analog balanced ins and outs are
connected to 75 feet of cable each.

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the MIA
family has single-ended analog I/O.

This contrasts with the M-Audio 24192 which appears to have
active balanced analog I/O, in and out. It also has about 10
dB less noise, FWIW.

Not to say that there's anything wrong with the sound of the
MIA.

I've got an Emu 1212, and while I love how it sounds (I like the sound of my
1212 a lot better than the sound of my M-Audio Audiophile 2496), I do find
that the Emu drivers are pretty damn twitchy. I've had some issues with them
in Windows, and with Sonar 3 Producer -- crashes, odd behaviour, drop-outs
and crackles, etc. I've been able to work around most of the problems, but
FWIW I find the M-Audio drivers a lot more stable and easier to use, and my
Audiophile is still a pretty nice sounding card.


"drichard" wrote in message
oups.com...
You might want to consider the Emu 1212m. It has more features than
you've asked for (which is not a bad thing), but is in the same price
range and sounds great.

The Echo cards are good too. I've not used the M-Audio.

Dean

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:38:06 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the MIA
family has single-ended analog I/O.

I didn't know that.

Julian

Julian wrote in
news
On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:38:06 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the MIA
family has single-ended analog I/O.

I didn't know that.

Julian

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Di.../Mia/index.php

says different

Forty Winks wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the MIA
family has single-ended analog I/O.

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Di.../Mia/index.php
says different

No it doesn't. Arny says "single-ended" outputs, the spec sheet says
"balanced" outputs. They mean different things. It's like I say it's
blue and you say it's wet.

"Forty Winks" wrote in message

Julian wrote in
news
On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:38:06 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the
MIA family has single-ended analog I/O.

I didn't know that.

Julian

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Di.../Mia/index.php

says different.

To be specific it says:

a.. 2 balanced ¼" analog inputs with 106dB (A-weighted)
dynamic range
a..
a.. 2 balanced ¼" analog outputs with 106dB (A-weighted)
dynamic range

The outputs turn out to be *impedance balanced*, which
means that one terminal of each output is simply a resistor
running to ground. This output terminal does not provide a
signal.

I call this a single-ended output.

In contrast each output of the AP 24192 has two active
terminals, each bearing the opposite polarity signal of the
other. Each terminal of each output provides a signal.

I would call this a double-ended output.

Since the AP24192 has both main outputs and monitor outputs
the inputs and outputs end up being quite a bit of
circuitry. It's all implemented with NE 5532s.

Pretty much ditto for the inputs.

"Arny Krueger" wrote in newsrOdnSEWRPwRNv7eRVn-
:

"Forty Winks" wrote in message

Julian wrote in
news
On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:38:06 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the
MIA family has single-ended analog I/O.

I didn't know that.

Julian

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Di.../Mia/index.php

says different.

To be specific it says:

a.. 2 balanced ¼" analog inputs with 106dB (A-weighted)
dynamic range
a..
a.. 2 balanced ¼" analog outputs with 106dB (A-weighted)
dynamic range

The outputs turn out to be *impedance balanced*, which
means that one terminal of each output is simply a resistor
running to ground. This output terminal does not provide a
signal.

I call this a single-ended output.

In contrast each output of the AP 24192 has two active
terminals, each bearing the opposite polarity signal of the
other. Each terminal of each output provides a signal.

I would call this a double-ended output.

Since the AP24192 has both main outputs and monitor outputs
the inputs and outputs end up being quite a bit of
circuitry. It's all implemented with NE 5532s.

Pretty much ditto for the inputs.



Ok, sorry - my bad.

"Mike Rivers" wrote in news:1130604495.465958.146090
@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:


Forty Winks wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA MIDI
since the plain old MIA which I own an example of, the MIA
family has single-ended analog I/O.

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Di.../Mia/index.php
says different

No it doesn't. Arny says "single-ended" outputs, the spec sheet says
"balanced" outputs. They mean different things. It's like I say it's
blue and you say it's wet.


My bad - misread Arny's post.

"Forty Winks" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in
newsrOdnSEWRPwRNv7eRVn- :

"Forty Winks" wrote in message

Julian wrote in
news
On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:38:06 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

Unless they changed the analog portions of the MIA
MIDI since the plain old MIA which I own an example
of, the MIA family has single-ended analog I/O.

I didn't know that.

Julian

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Di.../Mia/index.php

says different.

To be specific it says:

a.. 2 balanced ¼" analog inputs with 106dB (A-weighted)
dynamic range
a..
a.. 2 balanced ¼" analog outputs with 106dB (A-weighted)
dynamic range

The outputs turn out to be *impedance balanced*, which
means that one terminal of each output is simply a
resistor running to ground. This output terminal does
not provide a signal.

I call this a single-ended output.

In contrast each output of the AP 24192 has two active
terminals, each bearing the opposite polarity signal of
the other. Each terminal of each output provides a
signal.

I would call this a double-ended output.

Since the AP24192 has both main outputs and monitor
outputs the inputs and outputs end up being quite a bit
of circuitry. It's all implemented with NE 5532s.

Pretty much ditto for the inputs.

Ok, sorry - my bad.

Really, a good question. There's some fine distinctions in
the words that are commonly used, which various vendors have
been IMO taking advantage of for years. Like calling a TRS
jack a "balanced jack" when the ring terminal is connected
to a resistor, ground or air.

I've always had good luck with the M-Audio Delta series. I started on
a Delta 44 and now have the 1010. Good results with both. I don't
know how the 44 differs from the other M-Audio products mentioned in
other posts though.

Delta 44 is still under $200 I believe.

max