Inexpensive External USB sound card

johnbl wrote on 1/14/2004, 1:48 PM

Im running a dell 360 workstation 2.8 p4 with 1 g ram. I have the generic sound card integrated with the motherboard and when doing voice overs the quality is fair -poor. Im looking for an external USB (dont want to open up the case) that is inexpensive that will give me better voice over quality. I guess I need ASIO driver included with it according to the other recent post to get real time fx response. I dont need the sound card for any other purpose really. This is for amateur hobby work. Thanks JOHN I posted this on the audio topic side also, but wanted to post here because of wider participation.

Comments

Jsnkc wrote on 1/14/2004, 1:52 PM

I use the Sound Blaster Audigy and I get great results. Not sure if it is really cheap though. I think I paid like $200 for it, but that was when it first came out so they might be cheaper now.

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/14/2004, 1:53 PM

If it's just voice overs, you'll love the Audiophile from M-Audio. They are sort of the kings of USB audio cards. You'd do better with a Firewire card, but they will cost you more money.

farss wrote on 1/14/2004, 2:47 PM

I got the M-Audio Firewire 410 for $399 from Sweetwater and it's pretty damn nice, going from 30dB S/N to better than 85 dB S/N on line inputs, man what a difference!

I've tried the mic inputs only with a ME66 and the gain seems a bit low but the mic maybe dodgy as well. Need to try it with a known good mic before I really comment.

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/14/2004, 2:58 PM

Yup, the 410 is what I was referring to as a Firewire card. USB has latency issues due to how it shares resources. Firewire is better welcome

24Peter wrote on 1/14/2004, 7:47 PM

Have you heard of the iMic? $39
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/

johnmeyer wrote on 1/14/2004, 9:49 PM

The iMic is pretty low-end, not only because of it's price, but because it apparently takes line level audio and knocks it down to mic levels and then re-amplifies (at least I think that is what I read).

The Edirol products are a substantial step up from the iMic, but still may not be good enough for your purposes. Take a look here:

Edirol Audio Products

SatanJr wrote on 1/14/2004, 10:30 PM

I picked of something called a Griffin IMIC. Its USB, 24/96 and it only costs like $25. Sounds great, really clean, much better than my internal soundblaster.

I highly reccomend it.

TorS wrote on 1/15/2004, 12:13 AM

Tom's Hardware Guide has compared the SB Audigy Platinum with Terratec's DBX 6fire 24/96.
Tom's link

Here's a short quote: "... the user whose sole desire is a high-performance card for digital recording and for working in 24 bits/ 96 kHz should choose the DMX 6Fire 24/96"
They also mention the M-audio Delta 410 (favourably) but it was not part of the test.

I have a cheap Terratec and a Delta 66 card and have developed great faith in both companies. Probably a Terratec card will be among your best deals because they (in market terms) are on the way up. Technically they are at the top. The have a Firewire card too, but if you want cheap I think you'll have to open your box.
Tor

taliesin wrote on 1/15/2004, 12:27 AM

I use the Tascam US-122 for this purpose. XLR-inputs, ASIO, direct-monitoring, external, USB.

Marco

plasmavideo wrote on 1/15/2004, 1:09 PM

Check out some professional choices at www.bswonline.com. The folks at Broadcast Supply Worldwide are great to deal with. We have been buying from them for quite a while. They carry some of the items mentioned in this thread as well as some others.