PC recording

[Gogetta]

Hi,

I am looking to start recording music on my pc using cubase. I've done some research on soundcards and it seems to me that m-audio, e-mu and echo have the features I need.

I'm looking at the:-

Echo Gina3G
http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/PCI/Gina3G/index.php
E-mu 1616
http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?category=505&subcategory=491&product=15163
M-audio Delta 44
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta44.html

Has anyone tried these cards? If so, which one is best?

Or is there better cards out there that I've missed? If someone could suggest a better card that would be great.

I am looking to record:-
Guitar, which uses an analog jack
Bass guitar, which is also uses an analog jack
Microphone, which are analog but use XLR or jack
Keyboard, which uses an analog jack but with the smaller size
Electronic drum kit, which uses MIDI and analog

So, basically I need at least 2 1/4 inch jack analog inputs, 2 smaller analog jacks, and MIDI. Also I need a breakout box, as seen with the 3 i mentioned.

Thanks a lot,
Ben

[bujuben]

hi,

i use cubase myself but have not used any of the soundcards you mention.

I use an Alesis mulitimix 8 firewire for all my recordings and its perfect for my needs which are much the same as yours apart from the midi side of things.

To be honest i dont think this forum is the best place to get an answer, if you haven't already, you should go to the Sound on Sound forum which can be found here http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/postl ... oard=PCMus (http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=PCMus)

The link i've provided is the link direct to the PC music section which is the one you'll be needing, and people there will be more than happy to help you out plus their knowledge when it comes to things like this is second to none.

Anyway you should sign up there and while waiting for a reply you could have a look at the reviews section and i'm pretty sure you'll find reviews of all those cards.

Hope that was of some help.

Bujuben

[bujuben]

well i'm sure glad i tried to help you out.........

[Gogetta]

Hi,

Sorry I took a while to reply.

Do you get any latency using firewire? I have an usb effects pedal which allows you to record via usb, but the latency i get using it is unbearable. I guess that firewire is better because of the speed that firewire provides.

anyway, thanks for your advice. I'm gonna go sign up on sound on sound now.

Thanks again,
Ben

[bujuben]

SPAM

[Mechanics Fan]

Indeed, I reported it last night.

[Gogetta]

Sorry for being a newbie... but how is this thread spam?

because i linked 3 websites?

[bujuben]

its not this thread thats spam, it was a post that has since been deleted which had nothing to do with your topic.

I work at about 5 miliseconds latency which i dont even notice anyway.

If i were you though i'd spend about £20 on a firewire card with a Texas Instruments chipset as thats what most soundcards made for music production as most stable with, but if you do go down the firewire route its best to check what they recommend.

[Gogetta]

ah right, sorry.

I haven't got firewire unfortuatly. A lot of people are recommending it though.

This is my thread on sound on sound: http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=669220&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#669220

Getting a good amount of response :).

[Justiemusica]

Hi there,
I used to use an M-Audio card and breakout box, ok for my 1st album (on iTunes) but lacking flexible connectibity.
I now use the Alesis firewire mixer; more plugs than you can shake a stick at; what you don't get with a sound card; http://www.alesis.com/multimix12firewire
Maybe this smaller one (also firewire would be better) http://www.alesis.com/multimix8firewire (http://www.alesis.com/multimix8firewire)
Some ideas for you...
Ciao, Justie

[Axxerz]

I've been using a simple M-Audio Audiophile delta (24/96), if you're burning to CD then the 48KHZ recording is fine. My previous card was a terratec but was unstable with windows XP. I record Guitar, Bass, Mic, also Midi keyboards and now electronic drums (Yamaha DTXplorer). Rather than going for a specific card with breakout box and inputs for everything I use a 4 track mixer that plugs directly into the M-Audio stereo inputs for guitars and microphone (has XLR connection and phantom power for the mic).
You can get a lot more expensive kit, but I've managed to get some decent quality recording using this set-up (using Sonar Cakewalk Producer for recording the tracks). I think any good quality card is fine as long as you're getting a good audio input to your PC recording SW (for analogue equipment such as electric guitars) - also never had any latency problems with the midi keyboard.