new soundcard that I can use for recording?

[Hexer]

alright, I want to do some demo-recordings. I want good quality (as far as this is possible with me making it ) but I dont want to spend really much money on recording-equipment (I wont have time to get REALLY deep into recording and all that)

now I think I should really get a decent soundcard for recording (or should I just stick with my standard onboard PC sound-thing???). what do you think of the following modells:

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_artikel-163447.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_emu_1212m_digitalaudiosystem_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_emu_0404_digital_audio_system_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_artikel-170154.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_hoontech_dsp24_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_artikel-173979.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_artikel-170812.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_m-audio_delta_audiophile_2496_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_m-audio_delta_1010lt_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_marian_marc_2_prodinfo.html


are any of those any good? are they what I want? what would you suggest me to get?

(and thanks to anyone who looked through all of this!!)

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Two questions: what is your budget? and what equipment do you already have (ie mics/ preamps etc)?

 

[david411]

quite simple, buy a Sound Blaster EX off ebay, I got a refurb off ebay for like 75$, i recorded my bands demo with it and it sounds great, all you need is an RCA cable to go from you mixer into the soundcard (its external, its got MIDI, S/PDIF, Optical, Firewire, everything) get this thing its a very cost effective way of recording, of course you dont have preamps so your the sound going into ur card is all mixed (it means you wont be able to have a seperate track for say every mic on the drum kit, itll all be mixed) but seriously, those fine tweaks will cost you thousands of dollars where this is cheap as hell.

 

[Hexer]

I wont be recording drums, I plan to use some sort of drum-machine (I have an idea of buying DFH2).

I have a shure SM58 (when you remove the grill, its pretty much the same as a SM57, right?).
preamps? well, I have a Behringer tube ultragain MIC200

budget? hmmmm...... I'd say I want to spend 200€ MAX (less if possible) for the card

 

[Kazrog]

You might want to check out the Line 6 TonePort. Good value for the money for home recording:

http://www.line6.com/toneport/

What you need is an audio interface, not a standard PC sound card.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

If you go with the emu1212 you won't regret it. It's one of those things that has room for expandability if you want to add an ADAT later on you can get up to 12 channels of input which is pretty good considering how inexpensive it is.

 

[Hexer]

toneport seems like a good idea, too. would you recommend UX1 or UX2?

is it good for all the double-tracking stuff and so on?

I'll probably record pretty much all by myself (maybe with a little help from a friend who is a bass-player)

 

[Nitronium Blood]

Hmm... the Toneport supports Model Packs.

Interesting.

 

[Seizure.]

i just installed my 1212m and it says the dsp effects are not compatible with the pc.. what the fuck?!

 

[Seizure.]

and am i supposed to run my monitors through the 2 outs?

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

and am i supposed to run my monitors through the 2 outs?

That's what I do

 

[Seizure.]

ok, and what if i would like to run it as a mastering chain?

 

[Hexer]

ok, will the Toneport work just fine for my guitar (maybe bass) and vocal recordings with my PCs onboard sound?

again: UX1 or UX2?

 

[chadsxe]

If you go with the emu1212 you won't regret it. It's one of those things that has room for expandability if you want to add an ADAT later on you can get up to 12 channels of input which is pretty good considering how inexpensive it is.

The verdict is mixed on this one......there have been plenty of succesful stories with the EMU (SoundBlaster) line but on the same note it seems that every good thing I hear about it I also hear something bad....the way I see it why bother....get a product that has very few if any negative marks against it.....maybe something like the M-audio audiophile....really cheap and serves the purpose really well....

 

[chadsxe]

ok, will the Toneport work just fine for my guitar (maybe bass) and vocal recordings with my PCs onboard sound?

again: UX1 or UX2?

Your onboard sound card is going to sound like crap....

 

[Hexer]

chadsxe: I thought along those lines, too.

hm, Audiophile looks cool, but there seem to be quite a few different modells:
M-AUDIO DELTA AUDIOPHILE 2496 (88&#8364
M-AUDIO Delta Audiophile 192 (168&#8364
an USB-interface, a FireWire-interface....

well, the 88€-version has Cinch-I/Os, so it seems thats not the way to go for me, right?
the 168€-card has 6,3mm I/Os, looks more suitable

so if I got everything right, my recording-setup would look as follows with the audiophile: guitar -> amp -> mic -> Behringer MIC200 -> Audiophile (or the same without guitar and amp for vocals)

will I NEED anything else for now?

do you think I could get some OK-sounding recordings with this setup (I also plan to get DFH2 for drum-tracks)?

EDIT: as I dont own any decent monitors, I do mixing/mastering-stuff with my headphones. would those (and the normal PC-speakers for non-recording-applications) be connected to the audiophile in some way (how?) or would I use my onboard-souncard for this? sorry, I'm a noob with these things...

 

[chadsxe]

chadsxe: I thought along those lines, too.

hm, Audiophile looks cool, but there seem to be quite a few different modells:
M-AUDIO DELTA AUDIOPHILE 2496 (88€)
M-AUDIO Delta Audiophile 192 (168€)
an USB-interface, a FireWire-interface....

well, the 88€-version has Cinch-I/Os, so it seems thats not the way to go for me, right?
the 168€-card has 6,3mm I/Os, looks more suitable

so if I got everything right, my recording-setup would look as follows with the audiophile: guitar -> amp -> mic -> Behringer MIC200 -> Audiophile (or the same without guitar and amp for vocals)

will I NEED anything else for now?

do you think I could get some OK-sounding recordings with this setup (I also plan to get DFH2 for drum-tracks)?

Are you sure you will be only recording 1 track at a time.....

 

[Hexer]

Are you sure you will be only recording 1 track at a time.....

well, you can never be 100% shure....
so far, all I plan to record is my project-stuff where I'll do guitars, vocals and keys myself (drums programmed) and may have a friend do the bass-parts, so I think here I'll only be recording 1 track at a time. never had the need for more than 1 track at a time so far...

dunno if I'll ever do something else in my "home-studio"


why do you ask?

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

why do you ask?

If you need to expand later. Get something with ADAT just in case.

 

[Hexer]

ok, now what is ADAT? (did I mention that I'm a noob?? )

I dont find the term ADAT in the description of the Audiophile...

I mean: what I'm planning to do at the moment is doing some recordings for my project (maybe a few other projects in the future) with my PC thats here in my room (along with guitar amp, keyboard, .......).
If I want to expand my home-recording (like recording a whole band or real drums or something) shouldnt I get a new system for recording and maybe put a special recording-room or something in the house?

is there anything else I may want to do that I didnt think about so far?