please help

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is the right spot to post this, but i couldn't find a better place.

recently my computer has been playing up and the signs are there that it is time to get a new computer (its about 5 years old).
I have been using an Audigy Platinum soundcard and have recently been trying to work out what soundcard i should get.

I will predominantly need it for music recording - i currently use sonar 4, although will want to ocassionally play music, movies and games.
To me it seems i need something pretty standard - but then maybe many of the new features on the new soundcards would come in handy.
I've also wondered maybe i should keep my current soundcard and put the money into extra ram etc... but i'm sure somebody will be able to tell that thats a silly idea.
Obviously I wanted something that is compatible with KX as it has impressed me so far, and i don't even use ASIO!
Another preference i would have is if it were possible to have an external soundcard so that I could use it with Mum's laptop and be able to have a portable studio as it were. Don't know if this is possible.

Any help greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

dj_stick

kX does not support any external soundcards

however if you have a laptop, an Audigy 2 ZS Notebook might be a nice addition

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phetamine

I would keep the audigy personally. It's got the same 10k2 chip as newer cards that are supported by kx, and if you ever do want to record multiple tracks simultaneously (with asio) then you have the most possible inputs with that card.

If KX is the way you wanna go, spend the extra money on more ram!

jiiteepee

Maybe the USB solution is the best choice for you (or do you have firewire controller on both, PC and laptop?).

How much are you willing to put your money into this investment?

You can leave the present card for games and get either USB or FireWire audio device for your DAW.

USB: Many good possibilities @ 100$-200$
Also, there is coming out two USB2 devices from E-MU, 0202 (~130$) and 0404 (~200$) ~6/2006. Especially the 0404 looks promising by the specs - http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2888

FireWire: Many good possibilities @ 200$ - 300$
If you need lot of I/O's then Hercules FW 16/12 has quite good price/quality ratio.

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Audio-Interfaces--2418
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/rec?g=rec&s=computer


jiitee

JohnN

If that's still so, you've pretty much answered your question.
Check out the CL / kX compatibility list http://kb.kxproject.lugosoft.com/list.html

As for what to spend your "spare" money on, we'd need to know more of your specs.
Maybe some out-board gear?

Also, have you thought of just upgrading your current PC? Or even just re-installing?

BR
JN

__________________
AMD 64 skt 939 4000+, 2G DDR, XFX6800GT, 80G + 200G, Audigy2 Value, IKEA room

please help

Thanx everyone for your replies... given me much to think about!

dj_stick: unfortunate that kx doesn't support external soundcards. It is not a massive priority... but it saves moving the whole family computer to the other end of the house to where the piano is!! I have a decent roland digital piano, but there really is nothing like the real thing!
I had a look at the Audigy 2 ZS Notebook. It looks pretty flexible... i guess if i went for that option i'd have to decide if using kx or having an external soundcard is more of a priority.

phetamine: It's comforting to hear that it could be a good option to stick with the Audigy card i currently have. At the moment i have only one input for audio (guitar, mics, piano) on the front of the card and haven't been able to use the ones at the back at the same time. I was thinking that by getting a new card i might get one that is better suited to this... but you suggest that i should persist with the Audigy Platinum and find a way to use the rear inputs as well as the external inputs if i want to record more than 1 audio track at once?? Is this doable? Certainly the idea of extra money to spend on ram is enticing!!

jiiteepee: In terms of money i'm willing to put into this, I'm from Australia so i think my figure will be worth much less that say US money.. I'm a student, but recording music is what i like doing so i'm prepared to spend a fair bit if its worth it. Having said that for what i need, in my current setup soundfonts and vst effects are slowing the computer down dramatically and causing it to crash so ram might be more of a priority (On the home computer there is 512 SDR ram). So getting back to where i started i guess around the $500-600 (maybe $200-300 US) i'd be prepared to pay for a soundcard if it was really worth it. Obviously if i can keep my current one tho...
Thanx for those links - like the look of that USB one (I think a friend has a similar one but has had a lot of trouble with midi). In terms of the best solution.. The Laptop is new (maybe 5mths old) and i'm hopefully going to be getting a new computer so that would be new as well. They would both then have USB, i'm not as familiar with firewire so not sure if i can answer your question about that.


JohnN: Sorry i wasn't sure what you meant with the first part.. I'm not set on something that is compatible with KX but it has been reliable and it has been designed to get the most out of the card. Maybe I just don't wanna change, maybe I shouldn't worry about kx seeing as i don't use many of the features (such as ASIO) but i think i prob will down the track.
In terms of the status of the family computer, it is about 5 years old. 180GB, 512 SDR ram... i'm not sure what specifications you want.. just ask and i'll give them. I have enquired about upgrading the computer (eg ram) but have been told that due to the age of the motherboard it is no longer compatible with the newer parts and so would cost more than it is worth. Sorry of my ignorance of the terminology but wat did you mean by "outboard gear"? If you mean racks or effects units I don't use any - i record straight into the line in, put effects on through the computer and jus export as wave or whatever. I've prob interpreted what you meant totally wrong but I tried!
I have had to reformat the computer at least 3 times in the last 6mths. Friends of mine who are better with computers than I said that if i have reformated that many times in a short space of time then it is likely that the computer is dying and its time for a new one. Obviously if I didn't have to get a new one it would save a lot of $$$ which is always a good thing!

Thanx again everyone. Eagerly await replies

jiiteepee

#1:
Hmm... Do you mean an "USB card w/ MIDI I/O" w/ the 'similiar one'? Do you have a similiar card (Audigy Platinum) w/ say M-Audio 1010 (doesn't both cards are PCI and have an external unit)? As I did already mention, these E-MU USB audio devices becomes released around June this year (maybe in July) so the 'similiar one' just can't mean these models.

#2:
If your Audigy Plat. does not have IEEE 1394 controller onboard and your PC is older than 1 - 2 year then you propably need to buy a FireWire controller card to get FW devices connected. Laptops (normally, even quite ol' ones) do have a FireWire controller onboard, but it don't necessary be a good one.

The USB connection (even USB 2.0) is not as good as FireWire when connecting an external audio device --> especially USB 2.0 transfers are said to consume a lot of CPU power (especially, if you use external USB storages simultaenously too) --> your old PC may not be powerful enough to work w/ USB 2.0 least when you have bigger music projects running --> USB 1.1 may then be too slow too. FireWire don't consume CPU.

jiitee

JohnN

But your 1st post said:-

Now, you're just trying to confuse an old man like me...


Sorry if mis-read, but I thought that you did wish to stay with kX, so then you'll need a card from that list.

You got what I meant by out-board gear, but, maybe like me, you've been chased into a corner of your home by wife and kids and have to have everything "virtual"; I know I do!

Your PC does sound ready for change if you've rebuilt that often, even if you're running Win 98.
Maybe we should ask why it's so unstable.
I was gonna suggest that it's the harddrive, but 180G can't be that old, can it?

I would guess at a minimum of motherboard, CPU (what do you currently have?), memory and perhaps a Power Supply.
Something like $300 - $400 worth?

As for the specs, I think the CPU is probably most important (after the soundcard, obviously!), especially if you are using real-time software generated fx.
Any softsynths?
More memory will keep things smoother with lots of applications.

BR
JN

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AMD 64 skt 939 4000+, 2G DDR, XFX6800GT, 80G + 200G, Audigy2 Value, IKEA room