#Sound Cards
13 messages in this thread
Does anybody have any opinion on the latest crop of sound cards…
I am interested in MIDI, compatability, and local sound production, and the new
Sound Blaster 16 ASP seems to fit the bill. Is there another version of this
card which is only the Sound Blaster 16?
Any opinions on this versus other cards in terms of price, value, bundled
software, etc?
-Mike.
It is my understanding that the Turtle Beach card is STILL the best! ken
But a LOT of money!
Anyone try the MediaVision Studio product? … Has quite an array of features
including "all format" compatibility, voice recongnition and sythization (great
for proofreading proposals!!). Yamaha 20 voice synth … etc.
Ang
I've heard that the straight SB16 is noisier than the PAS16, but have seen (and
bought) the SB16ASP as being quieter (than the SB 16). Plus, you can add a
daughtercard (WaveBlaster) which adds the same digital samples chips that the
Tutrle Beach card has.
Dave
David:
The daughterboard for the SoundBlaster 16ASP uses EXACTLY the same chips as the
Turtle Beach Multisound? How much does Creative Labs charge for this
daughterboard? I might consider upgrading from my SB Pro to the 16ASP if the
price is right.
BTW, I've got a Turtle Beach Multisound on order for the office…I let you all
know how it works out.
Jeff Hester
Michael,
There are no card(S) plural…..If you've ever actually "heard" the Turtle
Beach Systems Multisound card as well as understand their professional
background in MIDI plus the fact they use the E-MU Protus Chip ( not sure of
the spelling here 🙂 ) Then you would know the ONLY card on the market that
gives professional results not game results with a 16bit rateing…is the
Multisound card.
If you wanna play games get a cheap SB card if your Serious about production
quality Sound the ONLY Choice is the Turtle Beach Card.
I Own and Sell these cards and have done so since they first came out two years
ago. They have a forum section on the Multimedia Vendors Forum and you may
contact them directly at (717) – 843-6916 They have an 800 number also but I
don't seem to have it handy at the moment so ask for it when you call…. you
will be calling them back.
They also have Turtle Tools which is a software package that works with:
Control Midi, Digital Audio, CD Audio all from Windows as well as WAVE for
Windows a very good Sound Editor with many newly added special effects
functions and its also super fast at processing WAVE files for things like
Backwards Masking and other effects.
If your Serious about sound, sound editing and/or happen to be a musician,
there is no other choice. Even if your not a musician this is the best way to
go for sound bar-none!!! The Specs exceed the output specs on my Sony "Music"
CD Deck. Really!!
James M. Murphy
James Murphy Consulting
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54301
(414) 435-7345 Direct
(414) 437-3898 Technical Support/to Book Training
James,
Yes, the Multisound is a quality card, not the ONLY card. There are many second
tier companys that produce low to mid priced solutions in wave table synthesis
and 16-bit audio and more new ones on the way. Many of these co. use chipsets
produced by long time pro. synthesizer companys such as Kurzweil, Ensoniq,
Crystal, … and so on. In fact, Creative Labs, who produce the Sound Blaster
16, offer a E-MU 4MB Wave table add-on for $249 (list). (Creative Labs by the
way, aquired E-MU about 3 months ago.) Some might want to shop for a card with
wave table synthesis as well as a DSP to handle the LARGE amounts of data being
processed when working with 16-bit audio. Hopefully just some helpful advice.
KM
Kurt,
<<<There are many second tier companys that produce low to mid priced
solutions>>>
My point…Exactly! I'm not interested in Low to mid prices Quality.
<<<(Creative Labs by the way, aquired E-MU about 3 months ago.>>>
Geeee….. I wonder what gave them that Idea! <BG>
Kurt you wouldn't happen to have ever Heard these two Sound Cards Side By Side
have you?
James
<<<Does anybody have any <<<opinion>>> on the latest crop of
sound cards… I am interested in MIDI, <<<compatability>>>,
and local sound production", and the new Sound Blaster 16 ASP
seems to fit the bill. Is there another version of this card
which is only the Sound Blaster 16? Any opinions on this versus
other cards in terms of <<<price, value, bundled software, etc"?>>>
Micheal Bahr>>>
James,
Hi, I'm sort of new to the forum and I see that my reply to you should
have been a reply to Michael Bahr's message/question. At least I thought
it was a fair reply (did Michael say "professional"?).
Agreed, the Multisound has been rated #1 in numerous reviews…..
(and for a good reason -Professional Digital Audio -Synthesis)
I was just pointing out that there ARE alternatives when many
manufacturers are producing high quality sound cards at a lower cost.
There are many NEW chipset designs that will compete with the more
expensive boards and many are now doing that. Kurzweil-Mass Audio,
Ensoniq-Soundscape, Sierra-Aria, Yamaha-OPL-4, Roland-Sound Canvas,
etc… are/will be available with a variety of options for digital
audio, DSP/no DSP, SCSI interface, compatibility, software bundles.
I am not as familiar with the digital audio spec/quality comparison
as I am with the synthesis. Question? What spec differentiates between
professional digital audio and non-professional digital audio?
16-bit? 44Khz? SNR?
Maybe we should be in the Multimed forum with this thread?<g>
KM
Kurt,
<<< Question? What spec differentiates between
professional digital audio and non-professional digital audio?
16-bit? 44Khz? SNR? >>>
Turtle Beach has a forum section on the Multimedia vendors forum…If Ya'
Reeeeeaally wanna get into it, I would suggest you talk directly to Turtle
Beach. These Guys are absolute experts on sound.
To answer your question 16Bit… you gotta be kidding… these guys were the
_first_ 16 bit card.
Digital Audio Sample Rates -44.1kHz, 22.05kHz, 11.025kHz
Resolution 16 and 8 bit
Audio channels Stereo or Mono
Audio Converters A/D: 64x oversoampled sigma-delta, 16 bit
D/A: 8x interpolating filter
64x oversampled sigma-delta, 18 bit
You asked about the SNR, OK…
signal to Noise-
-91 dB (A Weighted)
-87 dB (Unweighted)
There is much Much MUCH more, however you've really got to HEAR this card to
appreciate it…it's phenominal!!
If Ya Gotta Record in CD Stereo Quality..Its There!
Oh Ya'…. Ask for Jon V. on the Turtle Beach Forum he'll point Ya!
LaTER Kurt.<g>
James M. Murphy
Thanks James.
KM
Thanks, Kurt.
I am now the owner of a Sound Blaster Pro 16 ASP, hoping to upgrade to the MIDI
kit and Wave Blaster within the year (for exactly the same reasons you stated).
-Mike.