How are you gentlemen? I've got some boggles for you to ponder... 1. Are two sound cards okay for: playing (winamp, foobar) and authoring (acid, reason, audacity, jack, etc.)? (I'm running Windows and Linux across the Mexican border.) 2. The VIA Envy24 (specifically, the Chaintech AV-710): Is the line-in up to snuff to do analog recording? 3. Had a few bad experiences with Creative drivers, so how are they with Audigy? 4. Does Audigy really have 24-bit capability, playing and/or recording? 5. What were the beloved features of Winamp 2? 6. What kind of processor is on the Harold and Maudio Revolution card? Of course I can't use two sound cards at the same time... I'm thinking ahead for different feature-sets: 1. I'm a musician that records to analog and would like to line-in someday at the highest-fi to make WAVs for CDs; 2. I'd like to listen to DVD-Audio or SACD (I don't mind if it downsamples, I would just like quality better than my SB Live Value!); 3. I'd also like to output MP3s (optical, preferably) to my big stereo. (I was thinking FM transmitter at first... a cool thing if you've flat-mates.) 4. I do not play video games. Chess is a board game. What you say? Any recommendamations, advicism? I know I'm not going to get Apogee or Studer 16-bit+ recording quality (minimum, wage), but, as above, as long the music goes in-out in-out better than my SB Live -- which isn't really live at all -- then I'm all for it. Thank you ~Kness
1. Yes, I use a computer setup to DJ using 2 Soundcards: A Creative mp3 and a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. There can be complications when using 2 of the same card, but as long as you use two different ones, there shouldn't be any problems. Even on my main computer I have a SB Audigy, and the Advance Audio crap onboard. 2. A sound card, especially a $40 one from a bad company like VIA, will nowhere be near the quality required to do good analog recordings. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that the line in quality of cards are of MUCH lower quality than the audio output. You need at least an Audigy or Audigy 2. I use Pro Tools, but thats probably overkill if you're just doing basic recording. If not, you can pick up a MBOX with Pro Tools 6.3 for under $500. 3. I've used my Audigy for about 2 or 3 years now, on several machines using 2k pro and XP pro. Never had a problem. Mine is even a used OEM one from ebay, and it works great. 4. Honestly couldn't tell ya. Like I said, I use Pro Tools hardware to record, so I don't use the Audigy for anything more than video editing and playing mp3s. 5. The beauty of winamp 2 and winamp 5 is that there features of winamp are endless. If you can think of something you want, chances are there's a plugin for it. You can find thousands at winamp.com You might want to check out Winamp 5 first though, it took the power and look from 2, and added many new features, like playlisting and cataloging. You can play video files, get internet radio and tv channels, all kinds of crap. There are output plugins, crossfading plugins, dj setup plugins, visual plugins, the list is endless. Its just the best player out there. 6. No clue. 1. If you're a musician and want a good sounding setup, invest in Pro Tools. Consumer audio cards don't compare to professional audio hardware. For $500, a 2 channel in/out 24bit USB box with the industry standard audio editing program, its a bargain. 2. You can't play SACDs on computers, unfortuntely. You can only read the regular CD track. 3. The Audigy has coax digital out, but you can pick up a cheap optical card. There's a creative external one for $40. 4. Never played chess, so not gonna argue with ya there. Peace, Eric.
if the Harold and Maudio card you're referring to is made by M-Audio, I wouldn't suggest getting it. Several months ago Digidesign, the makers of Pro Tools, bought out M-Audio, so all their hardware will soon be unsupported.
