right now I have an m-audio 2496, krk rp5s, and I record at 44khz 16bit.

If i upgrade my soundcard to an audio interface, like motu 828mk2, will I still hear an improvement? Is it worth it?

quote:

Originally posted by beats and beeps will I still hear an improvement? Is it worth it?

For an improvement in "sound quality" only? No...
If you need more I/O or something though, obviously yes...

so soundcards dont actually add their own nuance/character to the sound? I've heard some people say they do.

What would bring me closer to hearing higher quality sound? Running cubase at a higher sampling rate? or getting better monitors?

quote:

Originally posted by beats and beeps ...and I record at 44khz 16bit.

Record in 24-bit instead and you'll get a huge improvement.
Your m-audio card should be able to handle that.

quote:

Originally posted by beats and beeps so soundcards dont actually add their own nuance/character to the sound? I've heard some people say they do. What would bring me closer to hearing higher quality sound? Running cubase at a higher sampling rate? or getting better monitors?

The ADC/DAC do make a difference on sound quality, it's just not worth paying THAT much for. It's only a big issue if youre recording a lot and doing mastering etc...

Sampling rate is not something you want to touch. Dithering down to 44 has potential to mess things up.

Spending the price of a MOTU on better monitors would give you much better returns. I can't imagine you getting very far with RP5s, sorry but that was a failure of a purchase!

Actually, exporting a project made in 44.1/16bit as a 96/32bit does make a difference.

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Can anyone say Apogee?

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/minime.php

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quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Actually, exporting a project made in 44.1/16bit as a 96/32bit does make a difference.

Hmmm, adding 16 zero's at the end of each 16 bit sample makes sonic difference? that's big news!

Heres one AD/DA interface i am drooling at: http://www.uaudio.com/products/digital/2192/index.html

hot!

quote:

Originally posted by antronx Hmmm, adding 16 zero's at the end of each 16 bit sample makes sonic difference? that's big news!

it makes a tiny difference, thats all.

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logically, the only difference may be there if you take a project made of 44.1Khz 16bit loops, add effects, eq-ing and other processing and then mix it down to 96khz 32bit. If you take a track that is 44.1khz 16 bit and convert it to 96Khz 32bit, then your just wasting zeros...

quote:

Originally posted by antronx logically, the only difference may be there if you take a project made of 44.1Khz 16bit loops, add effects, eq-ing and other processing and then mix it down to 96khz 32bit. If you take a track that is 44.1khz 16 bit and convert it to 96Khz 32bit, then your just wasting zeros...

That is what I meant.

Furthermore, mastering the 96khz file, and then export it down to 44.1 should improve the sound by a small margin.

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Last edited by Subtle on Jun-06-2007 at 06:14

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle That is what I meant. Furthermore, mastering the 96khz file, and then export it down to 44.1 should improve the sound by a small margin.

Make the math easier for your computer. Mix/edit/master in 88.2 kHz, 24bit. Then convert it for CD at 44.1 kHz, 16bit. It's as easy as dividing by 2! (wait... it is dividing by 2)

96 kHz is an improvment, but usually imprecievable. Most big sample rates today are just industry hype. Hardware companies love to be on the bleeding edge, and studio leaders feel like they need to have it.

You just don't though. The current max is 192kHz 24bit anyway these days (Rosetta 800 ), talk about department of redundancy department. Especially since most audio the average person will hear will just be in 44.1/16bit anyway. Add in the fact that most people will end up downloading a song compressed in someway (mp3 etc) what's the point anyway?

What you want, and what you need are two entirely different things.

But lets be honest with ourselves. If you can afford it... don't you want to have the ballen'st shit eva?... System 5-MC

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Last edited by wrzonance on Jun-06-2007 at 10:36