Sound cards

[digi98]

When do you really want to use a
sound card in the context of a 'dedicated'
PT setup?

The only time I can think of would be
if you mix down to a .wav file and
either burn your own audio CD and want
to immediately
listen back to the cd or the .wav file
with some other application (media player,
winamp, etc.) it via the sound card.
This might be more convenient than taking
it out and throwing it into a separate
audio cd player, but depending on what kind
of amp/speakers you are routing your
sound card output to, a sound card
is essentially just
another 'reference' to check your mix
in comparison to how it sounds as
routed from the digi001.

How are digi001 users routing the
output of their sound cards - i.e. pc speakers, back to mixers, poweramps,
into digi001?

When do you use your sound card or
on/board sound?

How do you rate sound cards
as a 'reference' test
compared to throwing in your home stereo,
car stereo?

[ReniuR]

As far as having to have a second card installed to hear your other audio...
I noticed one thing that made me happy. I run a dual boot of 98 se and 2000 professional, so 98 is just for protools use. I have a soudblaster awe 64, and it's completely disabled in 98. The digi card plays ALL the other audio as well! I hear everything thru the digi outputs, except audio direcly off a cd. this may encourage some of you out there doing different hardware profiles to get around this type of thing. Just play the bounced wav's thru winamp, or something...

I always just play it back thru the digi card when we're done by using winamp. other than that the best thing you can do to proof a mix and bounce is to play it over as many different sound systems as possible. A fact about home audio/video devices (especially T.V's and stereo equipment) that a lot of people don't know, is that the factory settings on them are generally set wrong.

Let me explain:

stereo equipment is generally set to have more bass than it really should have, and be warm sounding instead of an accurate reproduction of the sound. That is why studio grade monitors are so superior to home speakers. Sometimes, what sounds full and rich in the studio, can sound muffled and over-bassed in a home system.

T.V.'s are ALWAYS factory set incorrectly. Factories purposely set each television differently, but always incorrect. the only way to properly calibrate a T.V. or a computer monitor is to put a test pattern on it.

I hope this helps you out!

[ReniuR]

digi98: by the way, how is your system coming along? have you started building it? if so, what parts did you go with?

just curious...

[digi98]

Thanks to all for helpful tips.

While I still haven't really pushed
any limits of operations - plug-ins, etc.

I was able to get my old PII 233 on
Generic MicroCenter Powerspec
P6LX-A motherboard to
function (Plays Be There Demo,
records 8 tracks simultaneous 40 minutes
no problem)
with a $50 after rebate
IOMagic TNT 32M AGP video
card. Turns out most of my issues
appeared to be related to video card
compatibility issues.

I did throw in :
Audio Drive Maxtor 30G 7200 - $110
Iomega 12x8x32 CDRW $115
256M PC133 CS2 RAM $150

I came very close and may still
if and when I hit a brick wall to getting:

ASUS CUSL2 ~$150 (cool option cause it will
allow you to start with sufficient built in, later run 2 video outs if you get
2nd video card).
Intel D815EEAA would have been good option
too, has audio too except ASUS has more bios,temperature,clocking options I uncerstand.
PIII 866 ~$210. current best bang for buck
One interesting note I read on PIII was that
all are meant to be 1GHz, but are tested
and sorted to 'lesser' tiers.

I like the Antec 1030 case w/ 300W,
comes w/2 fans, also
from the standpoint of future SCSI
expandibility, accessibility ~$130
but it's pretty big, heavy so
Midsize- KS282+PP303X ~$100 is fine.

The other intriguing development
was this PlasterPC that Tiger Direct
was pedaling - 440BX Slot 1 motherboard,full
case,ps,SB Live Platinum (with front panel
jacks) for $149! $350 with PIII 900, 30G, 128M. Support from Tiger only, not Creative.

I posed a query on this somewhere
but didn't see
any responses yet.

Two final quandarys that stopped me from
purchase right now are essentially the
standard fear of obsolescence, stay ahead
of the curve v. go with known stable solution issues.

I. Status of Digi 'formal' support for cheaper AMD 1.5+G boards/VIA chipsets.

II. Status of Digi 'formal' support for P4
assuming they'll drop in price eventually.

I have learned a lot in the last 2 months
of research and owe a lot to the DUC community.

Now, about that mic, preamp, compressor,
plugin, analog board 'warmth' debate....

[digi98]

Ooops, misread, ignore $350 description
on BlasterPC above, $350 just covers BlasterPC system (case,ps,mb,sblive platinum)
plus PIII 900.

[ReniuR]

I would stay away from slot1 processors simply because if you ever want to change your motherboard, you'll have more options for a FC-PGA processor.

and it is true about them being pressed at the same speed and sold as what they perform at. I don't know what they actually intend them to be, I just said 1 gHz as an example.