The Sound Card Thread.

I've seen a large number of members(myself included) ask questions about sound cards. So I figured instead of having a number of threads all pertaining to sound cards to have one thread would be more practical.
If this thread survives and the admind/mods are pleased with it, the feel free to sticky it.

 

I guess since I started the thread, I'll post the first question.
For 5.1 speaker systems, It is to my knowleged that one has to use an external sound card to utilize the 5.1 surround features.
My question is this: Does one require a USB connected sound card or do these pcmia cards works as well. Are there any other forms of sound cards that work as well?
I just want to be able to clear a few fuzy details on this matter and to anyone who can help, I thank you in advance.

 

If you want better quality for the money, get yourself M-Audio Professional-level equipment. M-Audio is used by pretty everyone that knows a good amount about audio producing, recording, and playback. Their lowest end stuff, is better than anything that Creative can pull out of their butts.

For instance, this is better than their Audigy ZS and X-Fi... and it fits in the middle of your palm.

(Get yourself an external USB or Firewire soundcard.)

M-Audio professional mobile audio products

You might want to get a professional device from M-Audio.. definitely past the quality of anything that Creative has to offer.

M-AUDIO Transit (USB interface) - $70-100

( Picture of front and back)
- mobile 24-bit/96kHz USB audio
- 1/8” stereo analog/optical digital input
- 1/8” stereo line/headphone output
- TOSlink optical digital output allows AC3 and DTS pass-through
- line/optical input accommodates self-powered stereo microphones
- includes 3.5mm (male) to TOSlink (female) adapter
- DOES NOT NEED EXTERNAL POWER

Read review for M-Audio Transit (audoMIDI.com)
Read review for M-Audio Transit (AudioReview.com)

Hope this helps,

-Gophn

P.S. I work with professional recording artists and producers... its M-AUDIO all the way for them, Creative is too weak for them.

SIDE NOTE: Its a shame that not too many poeple know about audio. Whoever can answer this simple question, I would say.. knows something about audio:
Who (what company) is, or should I say was, the direct competitor to Creative (during that Sound Blaster era)?

 

Well, it helps in some ways, but it doesn't quite answer my question.
I wanted to know all the different options(ie:methods of getting 5.1 surround sound from an intergated laptop sound card) available for using 5.1 on a laptop.

 

ya also about that question does the software audigy from dell have 5.1?

 

I have the software audigy from dell and as far as I can tell the answer to your question is no it does not. From what I can tell, it only supports 2.1 and headphones.

 

SIDE NOTE: Its a shame that not too many poeple know about audio. Whoever can answer this simple question, I would say.. knows something about audio:
Who (what company) is, or should I say was, the direct competitor to Creative (during that Sound Blaster era)?[/QUOTE]

I'm going to guess Turtle Beach.

 

By the way...I am trying to make my Pro Tools/Sonar setup mobile using my laptop. I have a core duo HP laptop and I was trying to figure out which portable sound card I could use. The Transit sounds perfect with one small glitch for me. I do all my programming and recording using plug-ins like Spectrasonics Stylus RMX and Trilogy, Izotope Ozone, Native Instruments plugs etc. I write all the parts using a keyboard that is connected via MIDI. Any suggestions on how I could easily connect from MIDI to USB on the computer or through some other port without having to upgrade to the Fasttrack Pro? Thanks.

 

Thanks for the Tip,

Do external sound cards help those of us that just download music?
Do headphones sound better?
Great thread hope it keeps going, as this is an important topic.

 

I'm confused...does the M-Audio Transit work for 5.1? It looks like it just has a stero headphone jack and a line in port.

 

I'm going to guess Turtle Beach.[/QUOTE]

Close, but no...

Let me add a hint: Creative made "Sound Blasters". Turtle Beach sold different sound cards from which chip manfacturer that gave Creative serious competition and showed how crappy they really were.

 

Yes, the sound quality for playback is definitely noticable if you use good headphones or good speakers.

Look at the Optical output... that is the 5.1 that you might be asking about.

 

hi all,

based on your recommendations, I have bought a M Audio Transit USB for my laptop for use with hifi speakers and a gaming headset.

However, I have a problem with the driver installation.

The driver CD tells me to install the driver (file version 6.0.1.2, 1.83mb installer), restart the laptop and connect the transit via usb then it will complete the installation.

When I connect the transit it is detected and asks me to install the drivers, which I thought I already installed. The drivers have not been tested with XP so I get that yellow "untested" driver warning. It then freezes and the drivers are not installed correctly.

Do I have an old driver or something? I checked the m audio site I'm unsure whether the driver there is older than the one on my CD.


Any help with the driver installation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

arunz

 

Lame Windows XP feature to not detect/allow "unsigned" drivers. I have ran into that before. I recommend:
- go into System Properties, then Hardware tab, hit the Driver Signing button, then choose Ignore and hit OK.
- go into Safe Mode
- hook up your Transit USB
- and try to install your drivers again (Safe Mode is a good way to prevent crashes/freezes.)

here is the latest drive for the Transit:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.drivers&f=601&dl=yes

Tell us how it goes.
-Gophn

 

I use an Audio Advantage Micro, and love it.

 

Disabled the driver signing warning, restarted in safe mode, installed the driver from the CD , restarted normally, hooked up the transit usb according to the quick start guide. It said "found new hardware" and I clicked auto search for drivers. ( is it now searching for the installed drivers?)

Anyway, No error/freezing this time, and my audio is now routed out to my hifi speakers through the transit using a stereo cable! Sound quality is excellent. (I was previously using the headphone jack on my laptop to connect to my hifi speakers, using the realtek onboard sound, which is lacking to say the least)

thanks for the help gophn!

I suspect it was the driver warning which stopped a successfull installation.
I read somewhere that m audio has bad driver support for the transit...

I'm just playing around with the options now- I don't know if I can tell the difference between 16bit and 24 bit, or if it has an effect on fps when playing wow/css.

Do you know what "2in 2 out" refers to? (pic below of the options)

 

Glad to see that it worked for you.

For general use, I recommend to stick with 2 in/2 out 24-bit for best quality overall. If you have any issues, than use 16-bit. In any case, as you initially can tell, the sound quality is definitely better than on-board audio... and consumer level audio (Creative crap).

I believe that:
In = Transit is receiving audio (recording)
Out = Transit is sending audio (playback)
DD/DTS = for in/out using TOS-link/optical

-Gophn

 

That M-Audio looks nice, but I would want driver support for Vista.

 

There will be soon, the WinXP drivers already have been tested, and works on the Vista betas. The official driver release from M-Audio is coming very soon.

 

Side Note:
Question:
Who (what company) is, or should I say was, the direct competitor (in designing consumer-level audio) to Creative (during that Sound Blaster era)?

Answer:
A3D (Aureal 3D)
- the first to create 3D audio for PC gaming and their A3D was superior to Creative's EAX. They were forced into bankruptcy after their cash reserves were used up during their lawsuit with Creative... and yes, A3D won that battle, but lost due to lack of operation funds. Creative then bought the rest of A3D's assets and technology... which was incorporated in future Creative products. A sad end for a great company... but thats how it goes when a company gives serious competition to a giant in a market.

I still have 2 Aureal cards:
- Aureal Vortex
- Aureal Vortex 2 SuperQuad

Sadly the driver support for them have diminished, but they have taken care of my gaming and media needs well.
My disdain for monopolistic companies are not directed to the companies themselves, but rather the lack of innovation and creativity from having competition. Think about why I say this now within this thread.

Game On People,
-Gophn

 

Cool, hey what do you guys think of the Creative Xmod? http://reviews.cnet.com/Creative_Xmod/4505-3022_7-32105686.html?tag=pop
Making mp3s sound better sounds good.

 

Hi guys, I'm looking to setup our conference room laptop to be able to take meeting minutes. The meetings tend to be large (15-20 people), so we have 2 of these that we used with an old tape recorder.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ECM-CR12...YFYWY/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_b/103-3101770-1331813

However the laptop only has 1 mic in and 1 headphone out. So I'm looking for a external sound card that will work. I have yet to see any that have 2 mic in ports but some have a mic in and a line in. Through Google some people have said that I may need a pre-amp to run this kind of microphone through the line in.

Any help is appreciated,

Thanks - John

 

Does anyone know anything about TerraTec SoundSystem Aureon 5.1 USB MKII USB? i want to connect my 5.1 surround system, which uses 3 stereo jacks (3,5 mm), to my new lappy, and as i understand i need something external.

 

What do you guys think would be the most suitable for playing mainly mp3s?
M-Audio Mobile Pre USB
M-Audio Transit
TASCAM US-122
Creative Xmod

I list these because I've heard good things about them and they're available on ebay.

 

M-Audio and TASCAN devices are professional.
Creative will never step past the consumer-level products.

UPDATE: Creative will never step past the consumer-level products.... and become successful with that.

The Creative Xmod, read the reviews for it carefully, you will find out that it is missing an external adapter that is sold separately, and that it is not a mobile audio solution.

 

???
Creative has a professional level sound card line: E-MU

 

Got myself a M-Audio Transit! Works a treat! Now to get some good headphones. Like http://headphones.com.au/prod_one.php?productID=178#top