Audiophile 2496 sound card differences
Home > Home Recording Forum > Gear Gab > Audiophile 2496 sound card differences
Posted on Apr 07, 2003 07:01 pm
majorrcb
Member Since: Apr 07, 2003
Hello,
I notice that many of you swear by the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card. I am doing home recording using a pentium II 400 with 640 meg of RAM with 140 gig of hard drive space total. I have an Addonics Yamaha OPL3-SAX sound card mixing into a Peavey RQ-200 mixer powered by a Yamaha EMX 640 power amp, using SM58's for vocals and SM57's for instruments.
I am seriously interested in the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card but here's my question. Using my current sound card, my recordings sound pretty good. (1) How much difference will the 2496 make in my recording qualities and abilities? and (2)In what ways will the 2496 improve my recordings?
I don't mind investing in the card if I will be able to tell a marked difference over my current setup. I want really good recordings.
Thanks for your help.
majorrcb
[ Back to Top ]
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Apr 07, 2003 08:21 pm Could you possibly throw us a URL that contrains some spec's about your current soundcard.
In regards to your recording setup, I personally think you would gain the most benefit from investing in a decent quality Condensor microphone (eg: a Rode NT-1) which is roughly the same price as the 2496. This will give you a far superiour vocal sound and will do a great job on any mic'd acoustic instruments too.
jues.
Apr 07, 2003 09:54 pm I really don't know much about the sound card except that it uses the Yamaha OPL3-SAX windows driver and that it was built by Addonics. This card came from a used machine and I have no other information about it.
Sorry!
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Apr 08, 2003 05:40 am Well if I were you I would be inclined to get the condenser mic first unless you really feel that the soundcard is marring your recording, this could be because of:
o Excessive Background hiss
o Poor drivers leading to high latency in Cubase / Whichever DAW you are using (which one are you using btw?)
o Poor hardware leading to locked low sample rates (no 44.1Khz, 24bit)
o Poor AD converters leaving your recordings sound lifeless and dull
If you are suffering from any of these badly then yes - a new soundcard is definatly the way to go. However, you may wish to cosider the M-Audio Delta 44 which has 4 ins and 4 outs which will come in hand if you ever need to record a larger project in the future.
chao
jues.
Apr 08, 2003 10:16 am I used to have a new, top of the line gaming sound card, but when I switched to the Delta 44, I noticed a huge difference in sound quality and noise reduction while recording. And that's without a condenser microphone. I don't think you'll be able to take advantage of a good condenser microphone until you buy a good recording soundcard. You probably aren't even getting everything out of your SM57's and 58's that you could be. (I know I wasn't) Although I don't like to go against what Jues recommends, I do think that in this situation a new soundcard would be the thing to get first. If you're going to be recording a drum set any time soon, I would also recommend that you skip the Audiophile and go to a Delta 44, or Delta 66 because that way you'll be able to record more than one track at once. Of course, those cards don't have any MIDI connections while the Audiophile does. It's whatever you feel you need to get the job done. What recording software are you using?
Apr 08, 2003 10:24 am The Audiophile would be a huge improvement, the Yamaha card is not a recording card in any way.
It's a low/mid level gaming card that was used quite often as integrated chips on motherboards a few years back if I recall my days as a PC tech correctly.
The Audiophile would be a huge step forward in sound and performance.
Apr 08, 2003 03:01 pm This sound card is an older 16 bit 44.1khz only card. The card has considerable background hiss when no music is playing.
I do use midi a lot in my recording since I am a one-man band setup and only lay down one track at a time.
I am using n-tracks studio version 3.2 and Power Tracks Pro.
The sound card input volume has to be set really low in order to not clip the signal from my mixer.
However, when everything is fine tuned correctly, which takes some doing, the recording doesn't sound that bad.
I just want to know that a pro sound card will greatly improve my recordings.
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Apr 09, 2003 10:12 am Sounds to me that a new soundcard would be a very wise purchase then, especially if you are having to put up with excessive background noise.
It now depends on wether you want a 2 x 2 interface with MIDI or a 4 x 4 interface with no MIDI (however you can still hang onto your old card and use that soley for MIDI work.)
jues.
Apr 09, 2003 03:31 pm Thanks jues
The background noise in this card sounds somewhat like white noise. Although it's fairly easy to eliminate with noise reduction, it would be nice not to have to deal with it at all.
I didn't realize that the noise was excessive until I began reading about the M Audio cards with -100dB noise.
Another question comes to mind now. If I am only mixing down tracks within the software with the mixdown feature, is it worth the extra $100 or so that the 4x4 card cost for the features it offers? I use the mixdown feature and then burn to completed wav file to CD.
Since we've got such good dialogue going I remembered another question I've been wanting to ask someone. I have a 768 x 1024 LCD KDS Rad5 monitor on my system. When I set the software to record, I get a buzzing noise that amounts to about -50db that I have determined is coming from the monitor. When I turn off the monitor the noise stops but I can't record without the monitor running. I've been using noise reduction to remove the sound print but I was wondering if there is a way to eliminate the noise before it get recorded. I know it's not uncommon for CRT's to be noisy but I thought that LCD's were not supposed to emit noise.
majorcb
Apr 09, 2003 05:16 pm man, i *always* have to turn my monitor off to record guitar or microphones. The noise and crap in my room is so bad sometimes i run my mic/guitar cables and headphones into my bathroom (right around the corner) and give myself enough "preroll" or whatever to hit record and get in there and sit down on the producer's chair.
my 17" ViewSonic M70B kicks out enough emissions that my meter's jump to about -50dB. I thought I'd take advantage of it so the other day I sampled my monitor degaussing :O)
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Apr 09, 2003 07:11 pm Yeah monitors can give out a lot of noise in the form of electomagnetic interference.
I am afraid there is no easy solution to this and your best bet is to move your monitor away from any audio cables and the soundcard itself.
In regards to using noise reduction - you really shouldn't use that as a standard practice - noise reduction algorythms, no matter how good, will always degrade the original signal that you are recording. I would say definatly get a new soundcard.
As for the benefits of having 4 channels of I/O (input / output) over 2, well - it will allow you to record 4 things onto seperate tracks in your software as opposed to 2, and also, it will let you output instruments to 2 different sets of stereo pairs - great if you are using Direct Monitoring of the Inputs via ASIO.
If you only intend to record up to 2 sources at any one time then I would say go for the 2496 - however, if you feel you may need a bit more scope in the future then get the Delta 44 and keep your Yammaha soundcard soley for MIDI duties.
jues.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 09, 2003 10:33 pm Jamie, when you get a little extra cash, look for a used multi channel snake. I use a 150' 16 + 4 with all balanced lines. It will reach everywhere in this house, and out of this house. So no room is unaccesable to be used. The upstairs bathroom has a nice stone tile floor and make a great little vocal room for that added bit of verb, also works for acuostic guitar.
Apr 09, 2003 11:01 pm good idea Noize, i never concidered using something like that outside of a live performance situation where you're setting up in a diff place every night. I guess a snake would be useful anywhere you need to get several signals back and forth from two points.
what a good price on about 50' of.. i dunno.. 8 channels of 1/4"?
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 09, 2003 11:27 pm Yup, not only can I route 16 mics back into this room, but I can also route 4 seperate sets of cans for the musicians to hear. In reality, when I build me next house, the whole thing will be wired for multiple XLR and 1/4" balanced through out the house. I love using the whole place for recording. A full drum kit sounds awsome just outside the kitchen.
Price on 50' 8 channel, not sure, but the last one I saw used went for about $45.00 at music go round. Its hard to find all 1/4" though, they are usually combo set ups. But I have seen all 1/4" before.
