Re: [MMM] soundcards

Joseph --

Soon I'll be in the market for a new card also, as I'm planning an upgrade
to my machine. You mentioned the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I looked up this
card on Google, but can't find out directly if it's a "full duplex" card
or not.

I currently have a Storm Platinum card (aka Aureal Vortex). I can send
output to the card with an application, while simultaneously recording the
card's output in another application. Can you do that with the M-Audio
Audiophile 2496?

I need to do such recording sometimes with applications that cannot
directly save a WAV file to disk. With some VST hosts you can select an
option to send the output to disk, but there are other programs I sometimes
use that just send their output to the default audio card without any
options. To record those, I just fire up CoolEdit at the same time and have
CoolEdit capture the "Stereo Mixer" signal of the card. Works
beautifully... The card that came with my machine ("Sony Soundmax Digital
Audio") doesn't allow me to do that, which really sucks.

I'm looking for a card other than the now old Aureal Vortex which supports
the simultaneous record feature.

ALso, I notice in this review:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/maudioaudiophile/
it only rates the M-Audio card at 40Hz to 15kHz with line in/out, even at
high sample rates. That's not very good. Can other cards do better?

Rick

Rick,

{you wrote...}
>I need to do such recording sometimes with applications that cannot
>directly save a WAV file to disk. With some VST hosts you can select an
>option to send the output to disk, but there are other programs I sometimes
>use that just send their output to the default audio card without any
>options. To record those, I just fire up CoolEdit at the same time and have
>CoolEdit capture the "Stereo Mixer" signal of the card. Works
>beautifully...

Another very swell option is the "TapeIt" VST plug from SilverSpike:

http://www.silverspike.com/PlugIns/TapeIt/tapeit.html

Cheers,
Jon

Rick McGowan wrote:

> Soon I'll be in the market for a new card also, as I'm planning an upgrade > to my machine. You mentioned the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I looked up this > card on Google, but can't find out directly if it's a "full duplex" card > or not.

You didn't search for <<M-Audio Audiophile 2496 duplex>> then?

I'd expect all moderately priced sound cards to be full duplex these days. Ten years ago I remember a lot of them weren't, but the state of the art's improved a lot since then.

Graham

Joe/Rick,

{you wrote...}
>You mentioned the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I looked up this card on >Google, but can't find out directly if it's a "full duplex" card or not.

Go right to the M-Audio site:
http://tinyurl.com/3hnx5

>ALso, I notice in this review:
>http://www.digit-life.com/articles/maudioaudiophile/
>it only rates the M-Audio card at 40Hz to 15kHz with line in/out, even at
>high sample rates.

Well, their specs say "Dynamic Range: D/A 104.0dB (a-weighted), A/D 100.4dB (a-weighted); THD: less than 0.002%; Freq. Response: 22Hz - 22kHz, -0.4,-0.4dB

Cheers,
Jon

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Rick McGowan <rick@u...> wrote:

/makemicromusic/topicId_6121.html#6121

> Joseph --
>
> Soon I'll be in the market for a new card also, as I'm planning an
upgrade
> to my machine. You mentioned the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I looked
up this
> card on Google, but can't find out directly if it's a "full duplex"
card
> or not.
>

***Yes, it is 2 X 2 full duplex. Jon Szanto had the brilliant idea
that we might actually check the M-Audio website... :) Good call! :)

> I currently have a Storm Platinum card (aka Aureal Vortex). I can
send
> output to the card with an application, while simultaneously
recording the
> card's output in another application. Can you do that with the M-
Audio
> Audiophile 2496?
>

***I'm assuming that with two outputs this is possible... (??)

> I need to do such recording sometimes with applications that
cannot
> directly save a WAV file to disk. With some VST hosts you can
select an
> option to send the output to disk, but there are other programs I
sometimes
> use that just send their output to the default audio card without
any
> options. To record those, I just fire up CoolEdit at the same time
and have
> CoolEdit capture the "Stereo Mixer" signal of the card. Works
> beautifully... The card that came with my machine ("Sony Soundmax
Digital
> Audio") doesn't allow me to do that, which really sucks.
>
> I'm looking for a card other than the now old Aureal Vortex which
supports
> the simultaneous record feature.
>
> ALso, I notice in this review:
> http://www.digit-life.com/articles/maudioaudiophile/
> it only rates the M-Audio card at 40Hz to 15kHz with line in/out,
even at
> high sample rates. That's not very good. Can other cards do better?
>
>
***It says here 4x4, 24-bit/96khz, full-duplex recording interface
with MIDI I/O...

I guess that's higher than the review, right??

I also have an older SoundBlaster 128 that only lets me output one
application at a time. If I have Sibelius running, for instance, it
won't let me play back audio from the web.

Similarly, I have to actually start up Sibelius, and then *minimize*
it before opening SoundForge to record the audio output... or
Sibelius "hogs" the one output...

Thanks, Rick!

JP

Joe,

{you wrote...}
>I also have an older SoundBlaster 128 that only lets me output one
>application at a time. If I have Sibelius running, for instance, it
>won't let me play back audio from the web.
>
>Similarly, I have to actually start up Sibelius, and then *minimize*
>it before opening SoundForge to record the audio output... or
>Sibelius "hogs" the one output...

Neither of those is necessarily, or even probably, the fault of the sound card, but the OS and/or applications. Many applications want to have the sound output all to themselves, and streaming audio would be just one instance of this. If multiple audio out is something you want/need, then definitely look at the cards with multiple outs, as they will be coding the drivers to utilize those ports.

Cheers,
Jon

>{you wrote...}
>>I also have an older SoundBlaster 128 that only lets me output one
>>application at a time. If I have Sibelius running, for instance, it
>>won't let me play back audio from the web.
>>
>>Similarly, I have to actually start up Sibelius, and then *minimize*
>>it before opening SoundForge to record the audio output... or
>>Sibelius "hogs" the one output...
>
>Neither of those is necessarily, or even probably, the fault of the sound
>card, but the OS and/or applications. Many applications want to have the
>sound output all to themselves,

This is configurable in Sibelius, actually.

-Carl

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Jonathan M. Szanto"

/makemicromusic/topicId_6121.html#6128

<JSZANTO@A...> wrote:
> Joe,
>
> {you wrote...}
> >I also have an older SoundBlaster 128 that only lets me output one
> >application at a time. If I have Sibelius running, for instance,
it
> >won't let me play back audio from the web.
> >
> >Similarly, I have to actually start up Sibelius, and then
*minimize*
> >it before opening SoundForge to record the audio output... or
> >Sibelius "hogs" the one output...
>
> Neither of those is necessarily, or even probably, the fault of the
sound
> card, but the OS and/or applications. Many applications want to
have the
> sound output all to themselves, and streaming audio would be just
one
> instance of this. If multiple audio out is something you want/need,
then
> definitely look at the cards with multiple outs, as they will be
coding the
> drivers to utilize those ports.
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

***Thanks, Jon, for the explanation...

JP

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:

/makemicromusic/topicId_6121.html#6129

> >{you wrote...}
> >>I also have an older SoundBlaster 128 that only lets me output one
> >>application at a time. If I have Sibelius running, for instance,
it
> >>won't let me play back audio from the web.
> >>
> >>Similarly, I have to actually start up Sibelius, and then
*minimize*
> >>it before opening SoundForge to record the audio output... or
> >>Sibelius "hogs" the one output...
> >
> >Neither of those is necessarily, or even probably, the fault of
the sound
> >card, but the OS and/or applications. Many applications want to
have the
> >sound output all to themselves,
>
> This is configurable in Sibelius, actually.
>
> -Carl

***Hi Carl,

I see this "Play in Background" option now...

So what will happen if I select Sibelius owns MIDI devices *never.*

Does that mean, with that selection, that I can minimize Sibelius
while it is running and be on the SoundForge screen and Sibelius will
still play the piece while I am recording??

Thanks!

JP