one of you will kick me

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syvors
Posts: 29
Joined: 15:38, 26 June 2005

one of you will kick me

Post by syvors »

I cant seem to find an answer to these two queastions. 1-Creative sound blaster x-fi sound cards seem to tell me (through what specs they give) that they offer a bunch of features,software,performance,etc.... but i dont hear of them being used for musician based pc's. Why not??? 2- What are they (pci sound card descritions) referring to by "dedicated computer" when they refer to running virtual instruments??? I feel pretty stupid asking these two queastions, but i honestly dont know the answers. Thanx to anyone that will reply.
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SammyJames
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Re: one of you will kick me

Post by SammyJames »

Syvors:

Question 1: Why don't more musicians use the Creative SoundBlaster cards for actual production?

Answer: Most pro musicians look with a leery eye on anything that is sold for gamers and for home PC enthusiasts. I haven't personally looked at the specs, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that latency is pretty bad on some of those cards. The Spectral PC that I own came with an on-board card that I NEVER use. It is an Intel Sound Studio card of some kind, and it offers about 40 ms of latency. (That is pretty, pretty bad...)

Question 2: What do they mean when they use the term "dedicated computer" for running VSTi and other software instruments?

Answer: They are talking about using a computer as your sound source. You can use more than one computer to record music with; for instance, you could use a PIII or P4 to run your Cubase or Sonar sequencer; then you could set up a physical SECOND computer to run all of your plug ins. This is the same method used by Muse Research in creating their "Receptor" product, although the Receptor integrates much more easily into your computer environment.

Personally, my "dedicated computer" is a Spectral with a dual-core processor and about 3 Gigs of RAM. I don't need to run a second computer, and it is a good thing too, because it would be a tremendous pain in the butt to have to deal with more than one computer on my desktop.

Finally, I would steer away from the EMU stuff. I think that most of it really is just overglorified SoundBlaster gear. If you want a good and cost-effective PCI card, get the M-Audio Delta Audiophile 192. I have one, and it works very well.

- Sammy

Good night, and good luck.
http://www.sammyjames.com

P.S. I'm not a cheerleader for M-Audio by any stretch. But the Audiophile 192 retails for under $200 US (probably about 150# / e) and it is a really solid piece of kit. I think that the EMU cards go for about the same price, maybe a bit more because some come with plug-in software. If you are crazy about the EMU software sampling, then you can prorbably always buy IT separately, but you can still use it, I believe, with the M-Audio stuff. I don't know that for a fact, so you'll have to do some research. (Or maybe I'll do some research -- I honestly want to know.)
syvors
Posts: 29
Joined: 15:38, 26 June 2005

SammyJames, thank you

Post by syvors »

I couldn't ask for a more complete response, and I see what you're saying about E-MU (I was looking at the 1212m) so I really apreciate your point !, and as far as the "dedicated computer" I just needed to know because I only have the money for a decent sound card (which you've mentioned), the "audiophile 192" which was also a preferred pick of mine, and now is the only pick of mine. Again,I thank you. P.S., I have a VAIOpc, with 1.5 gigs of ram, Atmosphere synth module, 200 gig hard drive, and Fantom X7. Im not extremely familiar with pc use with midi/instruments, but I think you already knew that...haha, but I'm wondering if what I have is sufficient ?
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SammyJames
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Sony Vaio is a good pick, actually!

Post by SammyJames »

I was seriously considering buying a Vaio myself. I may end up getting one eventually, maybe in a few months, to replace my Spectral. The specs on the Sony are pretty amazing, especially with the quiet-cool system and the build quality. I think that you will be able to do a lot with that computer. Just buy more RAM eventually when you can (you can ALWAYS use more RAM) and get the fastest RAM that is available for your PC. (RAM comes in several speeds, including 533, 667, and 800, I THINK it is FSB, but I forget now...) Anyway, the processor in the Vaio is probably pretty good (I believe that the desktops all had Pentium Ds in them, the last time that I looked) and they are probably up to the quad-core now, which is sick.

Anyway, whatever floats it for you, mate! Just read all of the specifications on any new product that you buy, and you are doing the right thing by asking around on the Internet. I'm not THE expert by any stretch, but I can always tell you what I know, or what I think that I know. The M-Audio card has been good so far, and I've owned it for about 8 months. Knock on wood -- it will probably help me to afford to buy something better eventually.

- Sammy

Good night, and good luck.
http://www.sammyjames.com
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