Need advice for sound card

[Kontil]

I work at the company for cd recording music. We plan to buy a new sound card for mixing the sound. Do you guys know which sound card is the best for mixing the sound.

 

[Goi]

What's your budget?

 

[Kontil]

The budget around US$ 5,000 but I also want to know the best sound card (price not considered). Thanks.

 

[powerMarkymark]

This member seems to think that the Maya is the new king of sound cards. Check out Beatles' thread.

 

[Goi]

$5000 is a lot of money to spend! And you wouldn't want to spend it on a card like the Maya. Beatles just said that it was a great card that sounded better than most consumer cards, but he also admitted that it isn't even as good as amateur/semi-pro cards like the M-Audio Audiophile 2496.
I can't think of a soundcard that costs remotely close to $5000, but the absolute best soundcard I know right now is the LynxStudio LynxTWO. It supports 24bit/192KHz format, and up to 200KHz sample rate. It comes in 3 different flavors, an "A" model with 4 input and 4 output, a "B" model with 2 input and 6 output, and a "C" model with 6 input and 2 output. All I/O are 24bit balanced analog I/O. Prices range from $995 to $1195, depending on which model you choose. Hell, with your budget you can take all 3!

Details at the LynxTWO page.
Reviews and measurements at PCAVTech

 

[bluemax]

Yes, skip ALL the gaming soundcards which SUCK at professional recording. Go straight to professional audio card companies like EgoSys, M-Audio and others. I'll make some links in a bit...

 

[pukemon]

Another option to consider (with that budget) is to completely bypass the PC and use a complete standalone hardware solution. For $4299 you could buy the Akai DPS24. Akai Pro page

 

[Kontil]

thank's guys... i'm not sure bout how many sound cards will be buy. I just being asked to search information bout the sound card for audio mixing. I appreciate for all ur information. Thanks a lot.

 

[bluemax]

A pro-sumer audio card doesn't need to cost more than $200-300 if you're only recording one stereo source. If you're doing multiple sources simultaneously (like several musicians) then you need bigger and better with more inputs.

 

[nortexoid]

that's right...it totally depends on the amount input sources you'll be using, and what type of connexion u require...analog, coax, toslink?

i mean, there's no single "best" audio card out there....

 

[Goi]

Well, if he wants certain features like 24/192 support, and good quality, flat frequency response, low THX, high SNR/dynamic range/channel separation, then $200-300 ain't gonna buy him one. It depends on the level of quality. I do however agree that beyond $300, the laws of diminishing returns set in pretty quickly.

 

[Kontil]

hm... actually what's information that i'll be needed to search the sound card that match my requirement? Actually i'm at the finance department... the production asked me to search the information for the sound card for mixing the audio.. so the sound card must have the quality for the cd-audio.

 

[Goi]

That's a very vague description. The CD format is just a 16bit/44.1KHz PCM audio format. If their requirements is just that, then all you need is a 10 year old SB16 or better. What you need to know is the features and specs they need, features such as input/output options, software/hardware compatibility, etc, and specs such as signal to noise ratio, THD, frequency response, jitter, etc...

 

[Kontil]

Really? I don't know if CD audio 'only' use a low specs... ^^
My product is the CD audio that you can buy at any disc stores... I don't think to create that CD only required such a 'low specs'.

 

[bluemax]

CD-audio (by definition) is 16-bit 44.1KHz which could be done on a SoundBlaster 16.
The problem is, for professional recording it needs to be clean, clean, CLEAN! That's something any gamer card WON'T do. Although Turtle Beach does tend to perform best of the "gamers" cards.

Go straight to the pro-audio cards and don't look back. It'll be $200+ but it'll be well spent since you won't be slapped upside the head by the person being recorded who says, "What the heck were you thinking? I sound terrible on this equipment!"


BTW, you need good microphones too.

 

[StrangeRanger]

If you want high quality, multi-channel capabilities, check these guys out. I've used their gear for a long time and love it.
Frontier Desgin Group

 

[Goi]

Kontil, yes it may be surprising, but by definition CD audio just means a PCM format with a word length of 16bits and a sampling rate of 44.1KHz. The original SB16 did just that, which is why it was claimed to be the first "CD-quality" computer soundcard available at its time. Many a Joe Consumer regard "CD-quality" sound to be the holy grail, but we all know its not true. While CD quality isn't that bad a format, there are better ones out there(DVD-A/SACD/some even prefer LP). The main problem with consumer CDs is that the recording, mixing and mastering process is done not to optimize its fidelity and sound quality, but to artificially increase the extreme frequencies and other "tricks" to make them sound better on Joe Consumer's CD walkman and boombox. Often this will sound like crap on any half decent sound system.

So my advice is, do our ears a big favor and get good equipment to do the recording

Another advice which I'm re-iterating here is that if you're spending so much money, skip sound cards completely and go with outboard mixers and HD recording. I've heard that Pro Tools is the HD recording system to get, but I'm not in the professional mixing/recording business, so I might be mistaken.

 

[Kontil]

I just ask the production department.. he said it should has capability of 4 db output and use USB (not universal serial bus) cable. What's that mean?