The Importance Of A Decent Soundcard...

[BigBen 0]

Just thought I'd reiterate what most of us already know.

 

I've spent the last few months ripping all my CD's to a PC hard drive. Naturally, I've been using the built-in soundcard on this PC to listen to the lossless WAV rips and, eventually, the Ots encoded files using Ots AV. I had gotten used to the sound, which was pretty tiresome and uninteresting - even with the Ots processing.

 

Well today I have moved everything over to a modest sub-£200 second hand laptop with a modest, quite old, Creative SB Audigy 2 soundcard. The difference in the quality of output is simply amazing. I am using the same software (Ots) and the same speakers as before but it sounds like I've moved from a bathroom radio to a quality B&O living room system!

 

We say it all the time but anybody who is using a computer to DJ will notice a huge improvement in sound quality if they use a dedicated sound card instead of the built-in outputs. A quick scan on eBay shows most of the top quality cards (internal or external) are available for less than £100.

 

[danger mouse 0]

any links to the sound card would be helpful to have a look at the specs and price

[daryll 0]

Agree with Big Ben on this.

Primary device is .

 

Soundblaster X-fi surround 5-1

 

Around the £60 mark on ebay

 

With a backup of Soundblaster live 24 bit

 

Around the £25 mark on ebay.

 

 

Never let me down yet

 

 

Daryll

[notroubleclubber 0]

was gonna ask about this? Im currently using a soundblaster live 5.1 pci soundcard in a 2Ghz PC. i have the channels split using different drivers and using virtual dj. Been ok the last couple of times ive used it with decent enuf sound but could i get better quality going for something like a gigaport or another usb sound device?

 

[BigBen 0]

any links to the sound card would be helpful to have a look at the specs and price

I use two cheapish sound cards - one PCMCIA and one external. Both offer substantial improvement over the onboard sound on my laptop and on my PC. There are much better cards out there for much more money.

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

http://www.soundblaster.com/ISS/images/products/large/10769_1.png

Roughly costs £70.

 

Creative Sound Blaster Extigy (external)

http://www.techspot.com/reviews/hardware/extigy/3.gif

No longer available

 

 

was gonna ask about this? Im currently using a soundblaster live 5.1 pci soundcard in a 2Ghz PC. i have the channels split using different drivers and using virtual dj. Been ok the last couple of times ive used it with decent enuf sound but could i get better quality going for something like a gigaport or another usb sound device?

I think Nik uses the most expensive sound card out of any of us on here - the Edirol UA101. It costs about £350 but it does give him a lot of options connectivity-wise.

http://www.cherubini.com/open2b/var/catalog/b/2375.jpg

 

He swears by it.

 

Others swear by the built-in sound card on the Denon DN-HC4500.

 

Whatever you use you should notice a difference if you move from the onboard sound to a purpose built sound card whether it be PCMCIA, internal or external. That was the intention of this thread :Thumbup:

[notroubleclubber 0]

yeah i was using built in soundcard just for background music but found since using the pci soundblaster 5.1 card that it is alot better.Just wondered is it worth investing in a usb card or is my 5.1 card ok to use for mobile use permanently?

[BigBen 0]

yeah i was using built in soundcard just for background music but found since using the pci soundblaster 5.1 card that it is alot better.Just wondered is it worth investing in a usb card or is my 5.1 card ok to use for mobile use permanently?

I can't answer that without knowing a bit more about your set-up. Upgrading your sound card to a better one depends on a number of factors mostly to do with the quality of your existing gear and media. If you're using 128kbps MP3's along with entry-level, second-hand amplification and speakers with poor quality interconnects and cables...then upgrading the sound card isn't going to make much difference. However, as a starting point to improving the quality of your output it's probably a worthwhile investment.

[spirito 0]

I use Native Instruments Audio8 DJ soundcard. Cant fault it, its a serious bit of kit, not cheap though.

[Harford Hop 0]

Hi folks has anybody seen this any thoughts etc ?

http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/pro...p;product=15913

[mattmcc 0]

Hi folks has anybody seen this any thoughts etc ?

http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/pro...p;product=15913

 

Hi,

 

I use one along with the built in sound card on my mac book. Sound quality is okay but I find the connections a bit fiddly and for some reason (although I've used it regularly for 18 months) it just hasn't won me over in a big way. I think it's the built in sound enhancement features that I just don't need that put me off. It's not good enough for me to rant about but not bad enough for me to justify replacing it yet.

 

I did have an Edirol UA-1EX for a few gigs until I lost it (think it got nicked but can't prove it) and I much preferred this as it did the job without any fuss.

 

What I am quite excited about is trying this and the built in card as an agregated device on the Mac. Probably the world and their dog knows about this but I've just found out about it.

 

It means that I can start using Traktor through a mixer again. Traktor doesn't seem to like working with 2 different sound cards but this allows the two to appear as one for Traktor to use. Will be trying it on Saturday, with the old software ready to take over just in case.

 

Matt

[mattmcc 0]

 

 

What I am quite excited about is trying this and the built in card as an agregated device on the Mac. Probably the world and their dog knows about this but I've just found out about it.

 

It means that I can start using Traktor through a mixer again. Traktor doesn't seem to like working with 2 different sound cards but this allows the two to appear as one for Traktor to use. Will be trying it on Saturday, with the old software ready to take over just in case.

 

Matt

 

Quick update to say the aggregated device worked a treat. Not a problem all night.

[Noddy 0]

yeah i was using built in soundcard just for background music but found since using the pci soundblaster 5.1 card that it is alot better.Just wondered is it worth investing in a usb card or is my 5.1 card ok to use for mobile use permanently?

 

 

This may be a bit late in replying but might help someone in a similer situation.

 

I have been using two sound cards for a while now with PCDJ Red VRM. One is the SoundBlaster x-Fi notebook and the other is the Maya 44 USB. The soundblaster is a great little card, fits in the PC slot and does give you a very good quality sound. The only down side is there's only the one output from it which may or may not be a problem. Also depending on your PC you may have to buy a cheap adaptor to match it to your PC connections.

 

The Maya 44 gives me two pairs of outputs from a USB connection so that I can use two channals on the mixer. Again sound quality is very good just using the standard windows drivers.

 

I'm shortly upgrading to PCDJ Mobile and will be able to use the Maya's Asio drivers which should further enhance the sound quality.

 

I think the sound blaster cost about £60 whilst the Maya was about £85 but there's no real difference in the sound. Athough there's a vast difference over the internal sound card of the machine itself.