Recording hardware problem. What should I get for live concert recording?

[FishTankX]

Now I know people will think this is a poor choice, but I was looking at a phillips Rythmic edge. This will all be sent through a mixer first because we have one and can't afford 5 or 6 channel sound cards.

Will the rythmic edge do a good job of recording a live concert compared to say, an 8738 or AC97? And what does it match up to on creative's side in terms of sound quality? A Live! ? An Audigy?

 

[sharkeeper]

Remember, after the recording quality always goes downhill! Don't use a cheap consumer type card if you don't have to!

This works quite well

Cheers!

 

[FishTankX]

We're going to be doing analog recording, like, with line in or Mic in or such, so which card under 80$ would be best for that?

 

[dkozloski]

A good rule of thumb is to spend your money on the microphones if you're recording and spend you're money on the speakers if you're playing back. These are the serious weak links in the chain. No amount of money spent on a sound card can overcome a crappy mike, or a bad skeaker system.

 

[sharkeeper]

You would have to use a fairly crappy mic, mixer or monitor system to be weaker than 16 44.1!

That aside, you could probably get away with a TB SC. The problem is you're storing data digitally and the source is analogue. So what it boils down to is how accurate is the DAC running backwards on a cheap sound card? I guess what really determines the outcome is the environment the performance is in and the type of music. For example, if you were recording the Cincinnati Pop Orchestra I think you would be in for a disappointment! If this is a rock concert or rap performance then it really doesn't matter.

You would be surprised at what the signal may have passed through on some popular recordings! I guess this is why MP3's are so popular.

Cheers!