anyone suggest a sound card for the PC

You can't go wrong with an M-AUDIO 2496

I picked up the SB Audigy 2 Platinum for around $150. Came with the Audigy Drive with 1/4" line-in jacks to be mounted right in the front of the PC. Sounds good, too.

Audigy's are NOT true 24-bit sound soundcards, and should not be used for home recording. Aside from the fact that Soundblaster has made it a habit to mislead consumers about their products, the simple fact is numerous cards out there outperform the SB's for a lot less money.

In fact, if you purchased a Sound Blaster card after March, 1999 you are entitled to file a claim for a 25% rebate of the purchase price as part of a class action suit brought against SB for their practice of selling 16-bit sound cards as 24-bit.

Regardless of ethics or any such aspect, I do enjoy my SB Audigy 2 Platinum. As for the rebate, that would imply that I still had or could get a sales receipt ;) I purchased the card very close to its initial release.

If all you're going to do is listen, then the Audigy is an ok card (still overpriced, but ok).

But if you're going to do recording, the Audigy is not a card to consider. The lack of true multi-channel 24-bit support will quickly require you to lower the quality of your recording to the level that you can HEAR THE DIFFERENCE.

But don't take my word for it .. hope over to the Cakewalk or Cubase forums and ask there if anyone would recommend a SB card for home recording. You'll get a lot of resounding "No way in hell" type responses.

And it's not 'cause these folks don't have budget constraints, but rather, precisely because they do have budget constraints. They're dedicated to producing the best sound for the least amount of money. Buying a SB card for home recording purposes is throwing away the money you spent on the card, because the card can't be used for anything approaching serious home recording applications.

Heck, you'd be better off with a Turtle Beach card, at least you'd have true multi-channel 24-bit bus paths, even if it was only at 96kHZ insetad of 192kHz.

From the sounds of things, it really sounds like the question becomes what quality of recording do you hope to achieve and what is your home recording set up?

The reason I pose this is because with the SB Audigy 2 vs. any other card I've ever used (post the 8-bit ISA era), I've never had to record below-grade for any reason.

Like many others, I buy cheap guitar cables, my axe is nice, but isn't top-of-the-line, and I'm not recording an album to try to go platinum. I'm basically laying down a backing track here or there to practice improving or so that I don't forget ideas. My apartment isn't a sound-booth and I can't record at a high volume due to the 'neighbors factor'. I don't have a producer, mic. grips, and a tech to retune my guitar every time string tension is off by a thousandth of a percent.

I've come to terms that with my $1,500 computer and $150 sound card, I'm never going to be recording at the same quality as a multi-million dollar recording studio. If I planned on that type of quality, I'd have invested my $150 into a half hour of studio time rather than a sound card for my computer.

The Audigy 2 Platinum does exactly what I need it to do. I have suffered no loss of quality for the fact. I have yet to find another reasonably priced card that includes the nicety of the "Audigy Drive" that I can just pop my midi, digital, and 1/4" plugs into right on the front of the PC without having a butt-load of wire extensions coming from around the back of the PC. Unlike the original Audigy (which recorded at 16/48), the Audigy 2 does actually record at 24/96.

I just read a lengthy forum post over at Cakewalk's site indicating that the problems with the Audigy have been resolved with the Audigy 2.

If anyone can mention one, perhaps I'll take a look at that the next time I purchase a sound card.

Also, just did some research and discovered that the Audigy 2 Platinum is not included as part of the class-action. The card must be an Audigy ES, Audigy Platinum, Audigy Platinum eX, Audigy Gamer, Audigy MP3+, or an original Extigy external USB sound module purchased between March 28, 1999 and December 29, 2004. The award is a 25%-off coupon to your next Creative purchase (up to $62.50).[/url]

The reason I pose this is because with the SB Audigy 2 vs. any other card I've ever used (post the 8-bit ISA era), I've never had to record below-grade for any reason.

1). If you are doing multi-channel recording you MUST record below 24-bits per channel with the SB Audigy line because it doesn't do true 24-bit per channel audio.

2) I just named a card that doesn't do that that costs less than your SB Audigy, a Turtle Beach.
I've come to terms that with my $1,500 computer and $150 sound card, I'm never going to be recording at the same quality as a multi-million dollar recording studio. If I planned on that type of quality, I'd have invested my $150 into a half hour of studio time rather than a sound card for my computer.

While that is good advice for many, the reality is that you can get a pretty decent recording done with home audio equipment in a typical room. It takes a bit of know-how, and equipment that doesn't hamper you with technical limitations, but it can be done.
The Audigy 2 Platinum does exactly what I need it to do. I have suffered no loss of quality for the fact.

Yes you have. Your driver is interpolating 16-bit signals into 24-bit data rather than taking a straight 24-bit data read. You don't know you have, but you have. The lawsuit results are public record. This was proven in court. It's common knowledge to people who have been doing home recording for years.
I have yet to find another reasonably priced card that includes the nicety of the "Audigy Drive" that I can just pop my midi, digital, and 1/4" plugs into right on the front of the PC without having a butt-load of wire extensions coming from around the back of the PC.

M-AUDIO MobilePre. Has a true pre-amp inputs for standard mic cords and 1/4" jacks, seperate channel gain controls, is a USB interface to the computer and can be had for $50 cheaper than your $150 SB. Or look at the Edirol UA-25 USB interface. It also has two analog input channels (1/4" / XLR combo jacks), digital input, USB, live monitoring, and built-in limiter, for about the same price as your SB, but is another USB card so you can move it between computers.

Cards of better quality for around the same money which would need a patch cable include the E-MU 0404, the M-AUDIO Delta 410, the Terratec Phase 28, or the lowerend RME Hammerfall cards. All of which can be had for $150 and all of which don't result in degraded recording quality. Sure they require you to run a patch cable because they don't have the "Audigy Drive" but in exchange you get true 24-bit multichannel operations, a lot lower latency, and the ability to do significantly better home recording usually for less money.

Again, don't take my word for it. Go to the Cakewalk or Cubase forums and ask.

SoundBlasters are not good sound cards for the money. They don't work as advertised. They will degrade your recording because they interpolate to 24-bits multichannel rather than actually being 24-bit multichannel. You can hear the difference.

The newer, post-lawsuit SB's are much better than they were a few years ago, but I still wouldn't trust the company. They are still over-priced for what you get. You are paying for brand recognition over substance.

I made some edits on the earlier post, but didn't catch you in time...

The Audigy 2 does actual 24-bit recording. I think that you are still refering to the original Audigy. The original Audigy played back at 24 but recorded at 16. The Audigy 2 can do both at 24/96. The Audigy 2 is not part of the lawsuit as it does exactly what it is described to do.

The conclusion by two separate testers on the Cakewalk forums is that there is virtually no audible difference between the M-Audio Audiophile 192 and the Audigy 2.

Thank you very much for the info, though, about the alternate cards. I will certainly check them out!

There may well be a difference with the Audigy 2 and if it is not in fact part of the lawsuit, then I'll retract what I said about it's capabilities.

However, that said, I wouldn't today go for an internal card in the $100-$200 range other than an E-MU or M-AUDIO. Both of which offer very good value for the money and are excellent performing cards (they favorably compare to $300 RME Hammerfall cards!).

If the ability to just "plug in" is important (for example if you aren't cabling a room for your mixing board) I'd go with one of the many USB devices out there with built pre-amps and limiters. They are very good value for the money. You will have to fiddle with the drivers a bit more to overcome latency inherent in the USB interface, but once you get the settings right you're golden, and you can move the sound card between computers, take it to friends houses, etc.

Gotta agree with king, Sound Disasters (many people at a home recording forum I go to call them this) are not designed for quality recording. I have a M-Audio 2496, which cost me $100, which is cheaper that the SB platinum. SB's are great for movies and games, but when you want to get quality recordings, you don't want to use them, they are not designed to do so(even though they may say they are on the box).

Generally when I purchase PC components, I try to buy higher-end (though not bank-breaking) components. I will certainly keep these in mind. I do get nervous trying components by manufacturers I haven't used before. Namely because I don't know all manufacturers and have been burned buying equipment from manufacturers I didn't know (namely CD-R/W drives, speakers, etc.)

Let it be known that initially, I purchased the SBA2 for games. I just found that it does what I need it to do for recording.

That said... you could give me a million dollar studio and it still won't make me play any better :) Thus, I'm not distributing my material.

Thanks, a lot for the info, though. As I get more serious about playing, I will look into these things.

An external USB interface with two microphone jacks and two instrument jacks would be ideal, doesn't cost two much and will give a better sound than most of the middle-budget soundcards. So check it out. Something like the Tascam U128 or something.

If the ability to just "plug in" is important (for example if you aren't cabling a room for your mixing board) I'd go with one of the many USB devices out there with built pre-amps and limiters.

kingpatzer,

I was looking at the M-AUDIO MobilePre for $150. I want to stop using my laptop's soundcard. I have a Behringer mixer (UB 1222FX PRO) so, would the M-AUDIO MobilePre be the best buy for me? I don't need all the bells and whistles because I have a mixer, right?

Tracker,

For a laptop and an external mixer I'd look at a couple different USB options:

The M-AUDIO MobilePre or the Edirol UA-20 would both be perfect for you needs.

The Edirol has been hampered by problems of adding noise to the mix, and might be not worth the headache. It does however have on-board MIDI that the MobilePre is lacking.

I personally have a MobilePre and I love it, and for MIDI I use the M-AUDIO USB MIDIsport that I picked up someplace used for $25.

If your budget has headroom, look at the Tascam US-122 USB. It's a very capable little box and a lot of people swear by it.

Since you have the mixer already, what you are really looking for is a good solid consolidation point. The MobilePre is definitely that and a bit more. IF you need MIDI on the computer side, you'll probably want to add either the MIDISport or look at the Eridol or Tascam. But if you are doing MIDI in front of the mixer, and all you need is the sound processor, the MobilePre will be a very good choice.

The ONLY thing I don't like about it is I can't control the left and right output channels seperately. Otherwise, I've had no complaints. But because you have the mixer in front, you can fix any balance problems there.

Now .. if only This would come down in price about $150 . . .