sound cards

[Fred19137]

I have been looking for something that would be able to duo as a device that helps my computer process audio as well as an interface that helps facilitate recording. I recently found this device during my search.

M-Audio Delta 1010-LT PCI Digital Audio System

Maybe I am naive, but I am not sure exactly what sound cards do. So I will give examples of problems I am hoping to fix.

When I play around with FL Studio (a program that allows you to make music), after the song becomes reasonably complex the processor cannot keep up, and the sound becomes clicky. I was thinking that a sound card like this would fix the problem.

Also I would like to record from multiple inputs/ play music with multiple outputs.

Can anyone clarify these topics for me?
Thank you for your time.

--Fred

 

[Dave W]

When I play around with FL Studio (a program that allows you to make music), after the song becomes reasonably complex the processor cannot keep up, and the sound becomes clicky. I was thinking that a sound card like this would fix the problem.

That is an issue with computer processing power and memory. No interface would help. Getting a faster processor and adding memory will.

Also I would like to record from multiple inputs/ play music with multiple outputs.

That depends on the interface you get. You can get a simple one with a single input, or you can get one that has a ton of inputs/outputs of all different types.

 

[Fred19137]

thank you. I am trying to read up on all this stuff and it is not really clear what sound cards exactly do. thank you so much

 

[Dave W]

thank you. I am trying to read up on all this stuff and it is not really clear what sound cards exactly do. thank you so much

Interfaces (what you're referring to as sound cards) are just a way to convert an analog signal into a digital signal. That's it. They are generally going to give you better sound quality. They can also have many built in features to make things like mixing or routing much easier. They can have 1/4", XLR, 1/8", and digital ins/outs. Obviously, 1/4" and XLR are fairly standard for music.

A sound card (a real sound card) is a piece of hardware (PCI card, PCI Express, etc) that gets installed into your computer and gives you better sound. It would be a similar equivalent to using your TV's built in speakers VS. using a 5.1 stereo system. They generally do not have 1/4" or XLR ins/outs (with some exceptions).

 

[Charling]

Interfaces (what you're referring to as sound cards) are just a way to convert an analog signal into a digital signal. That's it. They are generally going to give you better sound quality. They can also have many built in features to make things like mixing or routing much easier. They can have 1/4", XLR, 1/8", and digital ins/outs. Obviously, 1/4" and XLR are fairly standard for music.

A sound card (a real sound card) is a piece of hardware (PCI card, PCI Express, etc) that gets installed into your computer and gives you better sound. It would be a similar equivalent to using your TV's built in speakers VS. using a 5.1 stereo system. They generally do not have 1/4" or XLR ins/outs (with some exceptions).

I would respectfully disagree with the semantics there. An interface is just a soundcard in a box. The only difference is the format with which it connects to the computer (firewire/USB/PCIe etc) but with soundcards/interfaces being designed to work flawlessly with the transfer protocol they are based around its not a cause for concern which you choose. Ie if a soundcard is designed to work fine for USB you wouldn't see any marked improvement by making a version that connected to the computer via PCIe.

Even the lowly PCIe soundcard the maudio delta 1010 has xlr and digital inputs, and the phone line ins it provides differ only from 1/4" ins in the connector they use. Also any basic interface comes with a routing panel no less complex than a PCIe one. The best soundcards are 'interfaces', a Prism or Metric Halo ULN8 (firewire) for example. Only with devices like pro tools core and accel cards do the 'soundcards' installed in the computer do anything different from those in an interface box, and with them its just a case of onboard DSP (which many external interfaces have as well!)

 

[Ric5]

M-audio is the way to go for recording.

Most sound cards very good at playback but not good at importing music. M-audio is very good at importing music into your computer.

 

[Fred19137]

thank you bssgod0dmw

 

[ejmy]

Try changing the buffer value (putting it little higher) in the preferences, usually under tools. Sometimes the default value is asking too much for your processor.

 

[Dave W]

I would respectfully disagree with the semantics there.

You're 100% correct, but go and search "sound card" on any well known music stores website and you will either be:

A: shown 0 results
B: Brought to the interface page

The reason why I point it out, is most people refer to them as interfaces. If you're doing research you're probably going to find a ton of conflicting info if you're only searching for "sound cards"

 

[oerk]

Try changing the buffer value (putting it little higher) in the preferences, usually under tools. Sometimes the default value is asking too much for your processor.

Provided you're using an ASIO driver. If you don't, all bets are off.

OP, are you using your onboard sound card? If yes, try installing ASIO4ALL and change your sound card settings in FL Studio to ASIO. Then increase the buffer (latency) value until the clicks go away.

Also watch your CPU load in task manager. Higher latency values will give you lower CPU load. You'll want to stay under 50%.

A proper interface will probably help in this case, but not if your computer is too slow.

What are your hardware specs?

 

[darius8]

^^^ +1 everything above PLUS reduce the number of tracks in FL studios.
More tracks = More burden on your CPU and RAM.
P.S. turn off your anti virus software when recording.

 

[Charling]

You're 100% correct, but go and search "sound card" on any well known music stores website and you will either be:

A: shown 0 results
B: Brought to the interface page

The reason why I point it out, is most people refer to them as interfaces. If you're doing research you're probably going to find a ton of conflicting info if you're only searching for "sound cards"

Yeah thats true, the terminology has changed but the reason I mentioned it in the first place is I've seen more than one person post a question like 'I'm getting x problem with my interface, do I need a soundcard?' or similar. Just felt it was nice to clarify to stop people from getting confused and buying more things than they need!

 

[Dave W]

Yeah thats true, the terminology has changed but the reason I mentioned it in the first place is I've seen more than one person post a question like 'I'm getting x problem with my interface, do I need a soundcard?' or similar. Just felt it was nice to clarify to stop people from getting confused and buying more things than they need!

I think we're fighting for the same cause here...

That's why I explained what the difference was, and I thought that clearly showed that you only need one or the other. In the US, searching for a "sound card" on a stores website isn't going to bring up the products he wants.

 

[Charling]

I think we're fighting for the same cause here...

That's why I explained what the difference was, and I thought that clearly showed that you only need one or the other. In the US, searching for a "sound card" on a stores website isn't going to bring up the products he wants.

Yeah certainly fighting for the same cause

Remembering back to the other day I think it was just the differentiation of a 'proper' soundcard being one that goes in your computer being something I wanted to further clarify, and just make sure peeps knew that it was still the same as the one you buy in an interface, ie you only need one, and they both take care of the conversion of going into and out of a computer! Soundcard should probably be a term relegated to history but you still see it from time to time, enough to confuse some people!

 

[Dave W]

I wanted to further clarify, and just make sure peeps knew that it was still the same as the one you buy in an interface, ie you only need one, and they both take care of the conversion of going into and out of a computer

But a traditional soundcard like a plain jane Soundblaster isn't even remotely the same thing as an interface. There are no 1/4" ins/outs and no XLR ins/outs. No digital ins/outs. No routing capabilities.

Here's an example:
Soundcard (Soundblaster)

 

[Charling]

But a traditional soundcard like a plain jane Soundblaster isn't even remotely the same thing as an interface. There are no 1/4" ins/outs and no XLR ins/outs. No digital ins/outs. No routing capabilities.

Here's an example:
Soundcard (Soundblaster)

A soundblaster is just one of a great variety of traditional soundcards, for example my old PCIe 1010Lt (as the OP is talking about) has Spdif ins and outs, 2 xlrs in's (onboard preamps) and many phono I/O's that can be connected (as was the idea back then) to a desk to allow further connectivity via 1/4" and further preamps etc. This is fundamentally the same thing as an external interface, it has a clock, a routing panel and and A/D converter.

There was a time when lots of home and pro-sumer card came in the format of the delta 1010lt, if you went to a music store back then and asked for a soundcard it would be this sort of thing you are looking at, they probably wouldn't show you a soundblaster! Hence this is the comparison I am making, between the devices specifically designed for recording enthusiasts in the 'internal' and 'external' format. A soundblaster differs from the recording devices we are talking about because it wasn't designed for the task we are talking about!

That said, they don't record THAT badly, the A/D's were ok ish for the price and the era, and its only a case of a couple of adapters to plug into them. They DID come with digital ins and outs and even little mic preamps on some models. They also DID have a routing panel on some versions and they even had rudimentry DSP processing on some of them! Much fun, realtime computer based effects back then was quite a novelty! wouldn't reccomend one now tho

Its all semantics, the delta 1010lt IS an Audio Interface, it even says it in the manual! A modern Audio Interface IS a soundcard. Essentially audio interface is what it IS but soundcard is the part inside that does the work. I only went to clarify this because I've seen people get confused quite a few times before in both what they do and whether they need one of 'each'.

Ramble over

 

[darius8]

IMO, a "soundcard" is board with built-in synthesis chip to produce (emulate) instruments. An "interface is device that allows you to interact with the computer or allows you to transform one medium to another, analog-to-digital.
But this is my opinion.

 

[darius8]

Fred, look in here, theres a forum dedicated specifically for digital audio.
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