I need an audiocard

[Fierce Critter]

I have some $ put away for a sweet pair of boots.

And my TV is, once again, acting up.

But I'm thinking I should skip both of those and buy an audio card for my computer.

Right now, in order to add vocals to anything I create on the computer through FruityLoops, Qbase or anything else, I have to use the soundcard mic inputs. This requires MASSIVE tweaking of the final track, including removing - manually - instances of hiss, popping, cracking, etc. and EXCESSIVE problems in volume levels.

I have an eMachine, and I think I can add more to it. I dunno. I'd have to give you the specs, which aren't in front of me at the moment.

Anyone got one you want to sell cheap? If not, can you make a recommendation on one I should shop for?

Thanks!

[Draco1958]

I have some $ put away for a sweet pair of boots.

And my TV is, once again, acting up.

But I'm thinking I should skip both of those and buy an audio card for my computer.

Right now, in order to add vocals to anything I create on the computer through FruityLoops, Qbase or anything else, I have to use the soundcard mic inputs. This requires MASSIVE tweaking of the final track, including removing - manually - instances of hiss, popping, cracking, etc. and EXCESSIVE problems in volume levels.

I have an eMachine, and I think I can add more to it. I dunno. I'd have to give you the specs, which aren't in front of me at the moment.

Anyone got one you want to sell cheap? If not, can you make a recommendation on one I should shop for?

Thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So I guess your current soundcard is dying? I always recommend Soundblaster cards. I'll look around, might have a spare, one never knows with all the spare parts my buddy and I end up with.

[Fierce Critter]

Not a sound card. An audio card.

Enables direct input of mics & other audio components without the problems associated with soundcards.

I'm not the right person to give a definition, but that's the gist of them.

[Draco1958]

Talking to a friend who does sound mixing at a bar for the performers and does some on the PC. He can't even figure out the difference. All we can think of is that you want an audio/video capture card to use for sound recording. Otherwise he says a good quality sound card should work. Wish I could be of more help but I don't know the difference. But at least I am trying.

[Draco1958]

Closest I can find to what could work is the Creative X-Fi extreme music that starts at $129. Here's the link. It comes with it's own software that looks good.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.a...8&product=14066

[Blackmail]

yes the Mbox is along the lines of what she is looking for but it is pricey.

I had the Mbox but sold it, now I use the M-Audio fast track which does most of what the Mbox did but not quite as good.

Fierce I do think the M-Audio fast track is the cheapest you're gonna get - you're gonna need speakers/monitors also though if you don't already have them. Th

e fast track does have a mic pre-amp so that is good.

I just checked on non-usb/firewire cards - meaning the kind you install directly into your pc - and most do not have a mic pre amp. The cheapest one that did was $199.

the fast track can be purchased at guitar center or best buy, the retail is $99 but maybe at guitar center you can do better. The only thing is that it got poor reviews by many people. Like I said, I own it, it does the job, but I had drivers problems initially and there is some occasional feedback during monitoring. I have yet to hook up a mic to it so I don't know about sound quality yet.

There is also the Edirol UA-1X USB Audio Interface for $79 but I know nothing about it.

So in conclusion:

Edirol UA-1x USB $79 pros: Will get music into your computer for cheap cons: Does not have mic pre input - thus you have to find a 1/4 input adaptor and I am not sure if you lose sound quality that way.

M-Audio fast track $99 pros: works fine for me. Cheap. cons: got poor reviews, occasional distortion problems.

M-Audio mobile pre $149 pros: Seemingly does everything well. cons Not sure, not enough info.

Edirol PCR-1 25-Note USB MIDI Keyboard Controller 24/96 Audio Interface $149 pros Interesting. It is a USB synth/keyboard controller with built in audo card/interface. cons: I know nothing about this. No mic pre's? The keyboard only has 25 keys but you can change octaves fairly simply.

Tascam US-122 $199 pros: Seemingly does everything. Comes with cubase-lite software. Has midi to USB convertor built in. cons: may be out of your price range.

Digidesign M-Box $250 pros: This is the best budget priced box on the market and has no major faults. Excellent mic inputs that rival the far more expensive mic pre's. Comes with Pro Tools software and also works with ASIO drivers so it will work with cubase/cakewalk/logic etc. cons: No midi input.

Digidesign M-Box 2 $450 I have not used this but mbox 1's price has dropped since this came out.

[The_Dark]

You could go with a Creative card if you get the right one. A Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro is designed with the musician in mind... They are $389 on newegg.com

[Merlyn]

How about that one here?

You might find something suitable on that website.

[Fierce Critter]

Thanks, all. But it looks like that "extra" $$ is going towards a bankruptcy lawyer.

Thanks, anyway.

[Blackmail]

Thanks, all. But it looks like that "extra" $$ is going towards a bankruptcy lawyer.

Thanks, anyway.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

well you can always borrow mine and use it, it's that I use it alot too so they'd have to be short intervals.

[Fierce Critter]

Looking like the bankruptcy isn't necessary right at this moment. So I followed up on the suggestions here. Some are too pricey - I'm looking at spending about $80 max. I had hoped it would be a lot cheaper.

Gonna keep looking. Maybe I can find something suggested above elsewhere cheaper. Thusfar, the best I've found on ebay was the fast-track for about $90.

I really don't need anything very complex. I simply need more amplification of my microphone. I'm fine using virtual instruments, so I don't even really need to plug in a keyboard. Is there anything more simple I can search on?

The deal with just plugging my mic into the soundcard is there's no amplification. You can use a "mic boost", but it just ends up in that awful HISSSSSSSSSSSSSs you get when you're pushing something beyond what it's supposed to do. Thus my having to manually remove hiss. It's not the mic and it's not the cable or connections. It's just extremely volume-poor.

[Fierce Critter]

What do you think of this one? My intent is to use a mic. But my Mic sounds good on my guitar amp, and I thought this might work.

M-Audio Jam Lab

Everything else goes way up in price from there.

Still have to search other websites, though.

EDIT: upon further reading, it looks like that one won't work.

I also found this one, which I'm only bringing up in case I can search out a used one for a good price:

Maya44 USB

[CatsEyeOfTheWiccan]

I have some $ put away for a sweet pair of boots.

And my TV is, once again, acting up.

But I'm thinking I should skip both of those and buy an audio card for my computer.

Right now, in order to add vocals to anything I create on the computer through FruityLoops, Qbase or anything else, I have to use the soundcard mic inputs. This requires MASSIVE tweaking of the final track, including removing - manually - instances of hiss, popping, cracking, etc. and EXCESSIVE problems in volume levels.

I have an eMachine, and I think I can add more to it. I dunno. I'd have to give you the specs, which aren't in front of me at the moment.

Anyone got one you want to sell cheap? If not, can you make a recommendation on one I should shop for?

Thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I might have sound card for you is Sound Blaster 16bit or 32bit..have check..I let you know when go through my spair computer parts.

-CatsEye

[Fierce Critter]

I might have sound card for you is Sound Blaster 16bit or 32bit..have check..I let you know when go through my spair computer parts.

-CatsEye 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, but if you check out the rest of the discussion, we determined that's not what I need. I appreciate the offer though.