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    Dell sound card upgrade question!

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by nmoody765, Jul 26, 2010.

  1. nmoody765

    nmoody765 Newbie

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    Hey everyone!

    I have a Dell Vostro 1520 laptop with the basic sound card in it and I've been getting into some home recording.
    This may just be a really short and simple answer, but is it possible to upgrade my sound card?
    I wanted something like a Creative Sound Blaster...or anything with 24 bit/96KHz

    If not, does anyone know anything about good usb audio interfaces?
     
    nmoody765, Jul 26, 2010
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  2. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    look at the many USB sound cards available. I am partial to TurtleBeach. You're going to need to ID which of your USB ports are on the primary internal hub and avoid connecting additional devices.

    recording/digitizing hardware is pretty standardized. You will first want to find recording software that does the job for you and then look at the hardware it supports (instead of the other way around).
     
    newsposter, Jul 26, 2010
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  3. nmoody765

    nmoody765 Newbie

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    Thanks!
    I have Magix Music Maker 16 Premium, and right now I am using M-audio's fast track...which I'm not impressed with...

    Oh, and I also just found the Creative Labs PCMCIA Sound Blaster. Any thoughts on that?
     
    nmoody765, Jul 26, 2010
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  4. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    Creative Labs has a reputation for doing everything in software with heavy compression and, ah, 'optimization' with no way of capturing an unaltered audio stream. People Who Care about Audio seem to stay away from CL products. YMMV though.

    USB sound devices are pretty cheap, running from $30 to $50 or so. Why not buy a handful from a place like Newegg, try them all out side by side for a month minus 3 days, and send back the ones you aren't happy with.

    There are a lot of opinions on this stuff at the avsforum.
     
    newsposter, Jul 26, 2010
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  5. nmoody765

    nmoody765 Newbie

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    I'll look into it, Thanks for your help!
     
    nmoody765, Jul 26, 2010
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