Sound cards – difference between USB PCI MIDI etc

What the difference between USB PCI MIDI with respect to sound cards?

Is MIDI going out as USB coming in or are they not related? I'm new as hell so don't kill me.

I want to get M-audio audiophile 2496 or delta 44 or 66
but I am now looking at an external / mobile sound card, should I even bother?

I need a sound card for producing and also for recording – do these sound cards have a regular in and out like normal sound cards? I heard that audiophile USB does not have that feature.

Any help is greatly appreciated – thank you

Advice to you... read up heavily on the basics of recording sound and producing before you spend the heaps of cash on a pro sound card for your computer.

quick suggestion:
Don't get the delta 66 unless you need that many inputs for recording. Stick with the 44 if it has all you need. A good way to tell if you could make a decent choice shopping for sound cards is to read the product's feature list and spec sheet. If you understand 98% of the stuff on those, you can shop successfully.


here's the definitions you should begin with..

MIDI = Music instrument digital interface. It's used for synthesizers and midi-controlled devices to be controlled by your computer which outputs binary midi signal to the instruments telling them what to play and how. MIDI uses a 5pin connector, and needs one cord for each IN, OUT, and THRU (THRU is a copy of the OUT signal).

USB = Universal Serial Bus. Used for in and out simultaneously from your computer to any USB device. Newer synths and sound card will use USB, or USB 2.0 (faster), or IEEE1394/Firewire (even faster and becoming more common because of it's speed).

PCI = (I'm not 100% sure of the acronym, but i think it's -->) Personal Computer Interface. This is a port inside your computer that holds PCI-based cards, which could be sound cards, video cards, USB-cards, Firewire cards, etc.


I suggest in this case that you read up on not only sound recording, but also advanced computer terminology and technologies.
Refer to http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=152236 as well, before you go any further with asking questions b/c reading up may help you a whole lot more.

___________________

'-.SgtFoo.-'
My SoundCloud

as a newbie, you do not need a top of the range sound card. I know, im a newbie myself. You can download the ASIO4ALL drivers and they will effectively make your shitty gaming sound card into a pro audio one, to a certain degree anyway.

concentrate on making the music, not the hardware when your beginning. IF your still 100% commited to production after a time period you deem appropriate (1 year?) then splash your cash and beautify bluffington.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtFoo Advice to you... read up heavily on the basics of recording sound and producing before you spend the heaps of cash on a pro sound card for your computer. quick suggestion: Don't get the delta 66 unless you need that many inputs for recording. Stick with the 44 if it has all you need. A good way to tell if you could make a decent choice shopping for sound cards is to read the product's feature list and spec sheet. If you understand 98% of the stuff on those, you can shop successfully. here's the definitions you should begin with.. MIDI = Music instrument digital interface. It's used for synthesizers and midi-controlled devices to be controlled by your computer which outputs binary midi signal to the instruments telling them what to play and how. MIDI uses a 5pin connector, and needs one cord for each IN, OUT, and THRU (THRU is a copy of the OUT signal). USB = Universal Serial Bus. Used for in and out simultaneously from your computer to any USB device. Newer synths and sound card will use USB, or USB 2.0 (faster), or IEEE1394/Firewire (even faster and becoming more common because of it's speed). PCI = (I'm not 100% sure of the acronym, but i think it's -->) Personal Computer Interface. This is a port inside your computer that holds PCI-based cards, which could be sound cards, video cards, USB-cards, Firewire cards, etc. I suggest in this case that you read up on not only sound recording, but also advanced computer terminology and technologies. Refer to http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=152236 as well, before you go any further with asking questions b/c reading up may help you a whole lot more.

Thanks for all the info - and the link.
I wanna be able to hook my synth up to it. Someone suggested I get a MIDI to USB adapter and go in through my USB port

is that advisible or should I get a sound card with a MIDI I/O?
because it seems that the delta 44 and 66 dont have USB input or MIDI input or even RCA. The audiophile which is more cost effective seems to have a cable adapter of RCA and MIDI.

The outboard mobile audiophile seems to have all these inputs but I read its garbage. however the audiophile firewire has the goods too, but mucho expensivo

can I hook up a midi synth to the delta 44 66 and or audiophile 2496?
I'll prolly go for the A2496 because its cheaper and may do everything I want it to do

quote:

Originally posted by Mossy as a newbie, you do not need a top of the range sound card. I know, im a newbie myself. You can download the ASIO4ALL drivers and they will effectively make your shitty gaming sound card into a pro audio one, to a certain degree anyway. concentrate on making the music, not the hardware when your beginning. IF your still 100% commited to production after a time period you deem appropriate (1 year?) then splash your cash and beautify bluffington.

Very good advice - thank you

Audio phile 2496 include of MIDI which u can consider of. Delta 4/4 and 6/6 do not come with MIDI interface. perhaps you would like to consider USB Midi Sport 2 X 2? Or rather FIREWIRE 410 depending on ur budget.

___________________
Lets !!!

Production Site
-=:::Currently in the stage of new tune:::=-

A quick word of advice: DO NOT get the Audiophile USB - It's barely 1/10 what the Audiophile PCI is..

___________________
Youtube || Soundcloud || Synth Patch Banks

quote:

Originally posted by alanzo A quick word of advice: DO NOT get the Audiophile USB - It's barely 1/10 what the Audiophile PCI is..

yeah thanks - thats exactly what I heard about that one too.

I'm going to go for the audiophile 2496 for now. I have a roland JP8000 - would I just hook it straight into the audio card via MIDI connection?

quote:

Originally posted by trancehed99 yeah thanks - thats exactly what I heard about that one too. I'm going to go for the audiophile 2496 for now. I have a roland JP8000 - would I just hook it straight into the audio card via MIDI connection?

To send and receive MIDI data, yes. But I believe the JP8000 has 1/4" outputs and the audiophile has RCA inputs. So you're goign to need a 1/4" to RCA cable for the audio.

___________________
Youtube || Soundcloud || Synth Patch Banks

quote:

Originally posted by alanzo To send and receive MIDI data, yes. But I believe the JP8000 has 1/4" outputs and the audiophile has RCA inputs. So you're goign to need a 1/4" to RCA cable for the audio.

Yes ROland Jp8000 had audio output of 1/4" Jack. U need to get the convertor to plug to ur 2496 audiophile.

Then ur MIDI of JP8000 can plug it to ur audio phile 2496 as they had MIDI connectors also.

___________________
Lets !!!

Production Site
-=:::Currently in the stage of new tune:::=-

quote:

Originally posted by alanzo To send and receive MIDI data, yes. But I believe the JP8000 has 1/4" outputs and the audiophile has RCA inputs. So you're goign to need a 1/4" to RCA cable for the audio.

quote:

Originally posted by josh Yes ROland Jp8000 had audio output of 1/4" Jack. U need to get the convertor to plug to ur 2496 audiophile. Then ur MIDI of JP8000 can plug it to ur audio phile 2496 as they had MIDI connectors also.

Thanks to both of you, thats what I was hoping to hear. I'm going to get some sort of adapter for the 1/4 to RCA. What kind of configuring should I expect to hook it up to REASON? Or should I use Cakewalk or Logic? Can I expect it to be an easy operation or will I be messing around with it for a while to get sounds through my computer?

Is using the MIDI I/O necessary for production today, or are there other methods?

thanks so much for your assistance

I used MIDI because I aint a real keyboardist. I can change the notes, delete the notes, add the notes on the piano roll. Which works alot for me.

Lets say for the bassline note as you look ard the thread, each beat consist of 1-4 notes of bassline. But to me, my finger cant play that fast so what I can do is to use MIDI to take a pencil and draw the bassline. to do the velocity. modulation, pitch etc... whatever you can see on ur piano roll.

There are alot of usage on MIDI depending on how you wanted to use. U can actually use MIDI on REASON, Logic, Cubase SX etc.. just made sure you set the setting of the Drivers as M AUDIO ASIO. Which the latency is much better with getting near of 0 latency.

It be much easier on MIDI if you can play in time on keyboard. But if you recorded on wave, theres one wrong note been played, you had to re record everything. Midi can use do the editing straight away, after which U can rec again to wave once u confirm the sound, the notes.

That's what I'm actually doing for. Hope it helps. Correct me if I'm mistaken.

___________________
Lets !!!

Production Site
-=:::Currently in the stage of new tune:::=-