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| quote: | Originally posted by G-Con
Complicated but I think I get it. Thanks for the post. Something I've always wondered. Does having a better soundcard actually improve the sound quality of any given production or merely sound better on my own setup.
If i was to save up and upgrade from the delta 44 to the e-mu 1616, would it actually give me better produced sound or just sound better to me, but not make a difference once played on other systems? |
It depends. If you are using only softsynths it means that everything is digital and no conversion is necessary. Meaning that you won't be using the Analogue to Digital convertors. You will only use the Digital to Analogue convertors.
Basically you produce your music digitally and the DA convertor converts the digital signal to an analogue signal which then hits the output of your soundcard. Your soundcard output then sends this very small electrical signal to your amplifier or whatever. That amplifies the signal (makes it much bigger) and send it to to a tranducer (your loudspeaker) and you hear sound.
So the DA convertor in your soundcard does have an impact on the sound you hear. It won't have an impact on the sound you record though.
The AD convertor is used when you record an analogue signal through the analogue inputs on your soundcard. That does have an impact on the sound you record.
Even if you have a digital hardware synth (i.e. Access Virus C) you will output using the analogue outs on the Virus. The Virus has a DAC which converts its digital output to analogue. Then it travels along the wire to your soundcard input where the AD convertor turns it back to digital.
If you record things like guitars, hardware synths, analogue synths, microphones you want the best AD convertors you can get. If you are recording instrument/microphone level devices you also want the best preamps you can get as you need to apply between 40 and 60 decibels of gain to get the signal up to line level.
An Apogee Rosetta 200 is only a 2 in/2 out soundcard but its convertors are amazing. Apogees preamps also kick all kinds of ass. Thats why their stuff is so expensive.
As for digital in/outs. It doesn't matter. Digital signal transfer is always 100% perfect, bit for bit and sample for sample. As long as the codec bit depth and samplerate stays the same.
The 1616M has better convertors than those in my Delta 1010. But I was recording at a higher samplerate on the 1616 (192khz on the 1616M. 96khz on the 1010). And I was using the neutrik (preamped) input on the 1616M. Whereas on the 1010 I'm used to using a D.I. and a cheap audiobuddy preamp.
I don't know if this is the convertors or the preamps but my guitar sounds better recorded through the 1616M. Moneywise the 1616M is really very good. And the drivers are really not that bad. They used to be horrendous but they seem much better now. At least they were a couple of months ago. I don't know if they regressed now or something.
Last edited by Derivative on Mar-29-2007 at 12:46
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