Recommendations for Notebook Sound Card

[rw120555]

My son has both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop has a soundblaster audigy card in it, and he does a lot of recording with it down in our basement. He wants to use the laptop for recording in other locations, with a microphone, e.g. record somebody playing a piano. Will the laptop record ok, or would he see big gains in quality and performance if he got something like the soundblaster extigy usb device? Also, he has all this software with the desktop, but on the laptop he is just using the built-in Winxp stuff -- would better software affect recording quality or does it not matter that much (he can always transfer the .wav files over to the desktop).

I know nothing about this stuff, so thanks for any thoughts.

 

[BoomAM]

If hes willing to kart around another peripheral with the notebook, then the only addon sound card for notebooks, is the SoundBlaster Extigy. Theres probably more, but the Extigy is support be be quite good, and you can use it as a DVD decoder for your TV.

 

[rw120555]

Thanks BoomAM. To continue to show my ignorance, would something like the Extigy affect the quality of his recordings, or does it just affect the quality of playback?

 

[sathyan]

My brother uses an Onkyo <onkyousa.com> USB sound card with his Winbook. It has line-level, optical, and coaxial ins/outs. It cost around $120 as I recall (don't know the model number). Sounds really good for music (not a gaming card) quite an improvement over the built-in AC97.

If you are recording from a microphone I strongly recommend using a quality XLR microphone hooked to a mixer and then take the line-level out of that mixer to your sound card. The mic in on sound cards is suitable for web-meetings but lacks the fidelity musical recordings require.

Software-wise I recommend Syntrillium's CoolEdit 2000 ($60) but High Criteria's TotalRecorder ($11) is a decent budget option if you do not intend to edit. Of course, record to WAV and compress after editing.

 

[BoomAM]

Some good suggestions there sathyan, but i think that it would be best to stick to a big brand for this type of thing. Because If he decides to get the Extigy, then it`ll be easyier to solve any compatibilites with Software than another piece, of not so well known hardware.
If i recall right, the Extigy comes with alot of Audio recording/mixing/playback software, that could come in handy. The Extigy would be a good option cos of the wealth on connections, that`ll allow him to connect and current and future audio devices to it. If he uses the laptop for limited gaming/music, then theres another point for the Extigy, All Creative soundcards support all or most of the audio gaming APIs, and CMSS to upmix sterio to 4/5.1 sound.

In the end it all comes down to budget and personal preferences. Check out both the Extigy and the one mentioned by sathyan, and see which is best for your needs.

 

[rw120555]

Thanks again guys. He has used Cooledit Pro (version 1.1 I think) -- how does Cooledit 2000 compare to Cooledit Pro 1.1 and the current 2.0? I know the 2.0 version costs $249, which is more than I would want to spend for him, but $60 for Cooledit 2000 would be ok (especially if it is more or less comparable to the 1.1 version).

Budget is certainly an issue, but I don't want to waste $100 on something when he really needs something that costs $300. We might just give him some money to save up for what he really needs.

 

[BoomAM]

As ive said, i think that the Extigy comes with some software that might suit your needs. Sure, he`ll probably have to learn a new software suite, but if its saving you some money, then theres nout wrong with that. Check what software comes with the solution you pick. It`ll probably be listed on the website for the particular product.