Syntrillium Backup Forums :: View topic - About sound cards and terrible Sound distort

Jesy · Posts: 1

hello all

i have wonder,
how do sound card make a diffrent on recording ?
i mean my freind have a decent audigy Sound card
and i have only SB Live! and i really cant find the
diffrences on ur recording. allso - what mixer help?
if i will record when im passing on a somple mixer
or i recored directly to the computer (Microphone)

About the distort:
first of all this problem usealy appear when i have a masive channels
work, if i try to record mic or guitar (on the right levels) i getting
some annoying distort on the channle i have record. when i Reinstall CEP the problem solved for a week or two and come back agin. what can i do about it?

ozpeter · Location: Australia Posts: 3200

Hi Jesy,

There are indeed differences between sound cards but to hear them you might have to listen very carefully, and knowing what to listen for, and on good monitoring equipment. Both the cards you mention are Creative brand cards and many here feel that none of their soundcards are really 'pro' quality. Search the forum for their names and you will see many previous threads where they are mentioned.

A mixer might help to improve the quality of your recordings because you should be able to connect it to your soundcard's "line" input, instead of the "mic" input. Mic inputs on non-pro-quality soundcards can often degrade the sound - in particular they can add background noise, like hiss. I'd suggest you borrow a mixer from a friend and try to make a recording you can compare with your present method of connection.

For advice on how to set the windows mixer, see the thread "Setting the windows mixer" on the "tips and tricks" forum here. Experiment with the record level in order to avoid overload which will cause distortion. Also, when mixing several tracks together you may need to reduce the overall or individual level using the Cool Edit mixer (press Alt 2).

- Ozpeter