Sound cards?

Hi there Floydians!

I want to buy a really good external sound card for my PC but I have no knowledge about them so, what would you recommend?

The thing is that I want to make a solo record. I've been working in this project for years and years while I was in other bands and I think that the time has come to do it. But, of course, I need a good sound card to make it sound as real as possible. I will play guitars (electric and Spanish), mandolin, live percussion, I will try to get a bass somewhere and try to get a couple of friends involved in singing (they've got really good voices). But pianos will also be very important and half of the songs will have orchestration. I will do this through a MIDI keyboard and I'm afraid that I will have to work out most of the drums in this way since I haven't got good microphones to record my drums live . Therefore, it is very important that the pianos, cellos, violins, etc. sound as real as possible. Also, I don't want to make a techno record or something like that. It's going to be pop, so I'm not interested in weird noises or effects, I just want a good quality for the instruments (though I know that nothing beats a string quartet playing live but... this is the only way I can do it).

So, any suggestions?

Don't really know much about recording music, and I don't really know how much you know about sound cards (but that fact that you know what they are means you know a bit) anyway I'd suggest looking for something from Creative, I know they have fancy models with all kinds of optical and midi inputs. Yeah, so I guess that wasn't much help, but good luck.

Thanks anyway. I've heard that Sound Blaster is the reference in the sound cards world but there are different types of Sound Blasters and I don't know if there can be something better specifically for the use I'm going to give it.

If you go on to the Creative web site they have recommendations for what type of sound card to use for music or gaming etc? However that's company hype and you would be better going to someone who actually uses it. You could also try a PC magazine like Computeractive

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/

they have a 'readers to the rescue' section where you can post a question and some knowledgeable person will give you a reply. On another note, I had a problems with a Creative product and they were far from helpful in getting the problem fixed. So much so, that I refuse to use any of their products. However you may have more luck, and as you say they are usually the best for sound products.

Thanks again! I'll try the link you have posted. You are quite right, I'd better check the information outside official sites.

maybe ask these guys here http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

but they probably know more about setups for video games and home theatre than recording.

A good place for independent reviews is http://www.neoseeker.com, especially if you have narrowed down your choices to a few products only.

Thanks to you all for your help, you have given me some very useful links to start my research I have also asked a colleague who has got a friend who knows something about all this. I will tell you the results as soon as I finish the research.

Well, my quest goes on. I've been given the addresses of some specialized shops in Barcelona and I will keep on looking for what I want there. Creative is still on top of the game with Sound Blaster. Their latest development is the Soundblaster X-Fi. There are several versions of this soundcard but, anyway, it is aimed to a more general market (specially the PC games one). The brand that seems to be more suitable to my needs is Terratec.

Hey Watered, checked out the Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS. It's at the top of Creative's market. It serves me very well.

All right, I'll check it out.

Oops just realized you wanted one for professional use. Audigy is perfect for personal entertainment. But if you wanna record, you gotta go with the X-Fi.


http://creative.com/products/product...&product=14064

Well, I want it to record music. I will also need some software (Cakewalk has got a programme called "Sonar" which seems quite interesting) and a MIDI keyboard to play the pianos, cellos and so on. I looked for that one, the Creative X Fi Elite Pro, but, still, I want to look a bit further and compare it with some others. I want to be very sure about what I'm buying.

Comparing is a good idea. Keep X-Fi on your list though, cause i've heard a lot of good things about it. Good luck!

The quest is over.

I have bought this and the "Oxygen 8" 25 Key MIDI controller. I will install the middle version of Cubase in my computer and I will start recording the songs that have been lurking in my head for years and years and years.

Thanks to all of you for your advice!