soundcards

i was tryin to decide what kind of soundcard i should get and i called up guitar center to see what they got and they told me i should buy the m-audio mobile pre usb. i was originally goin to just get the basic audiophile midi soundcard. what is the difference here when all i wanna do is transfer everything to computer and burn onto cd. what do you guys think.

Hi!

I'd get the Audiophile 2496. The only reason to get the Mobile Pre is if you need a truly mobile solution (it is fully powered from the computer's USB port). It is also not possible to record at more than 16-bit, 48kHz on the Mobile Pre, whereas the Audiophile supports 24-bit, 96kHz (perhaps not too big a point, considering the technicalities, IMHO).

Bottom line: if you have a "desktop" PC/Mac get the Audiophile or similar, if you have a laptop, get the Audiophile USB (or better yet; wait for the Firewire 410).

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Arne S.

thanx alot, and with the audiophile you can burn to cd after transfering to computer right cuz the dude told me you cant

Sure you can. You will of course need some kind of CD-burning software (like Nero Burning ROM), but apart from that, no problem.

For software, have a look at this: http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/

Cheers,

Arne S.

cuz the dude there told me something about how you cant burn onto cd if u are transfering thru midi. i think all this dude did was confuse me even more

Hi!

Just to clarify: if you want to burn your songs to CD you will have to record the actual sound coming from your MPC's audio outputs (not the MIDI connectors) into your computer thru your soundcard's audio inputs. Depending on the software and the soundcard, this can be anything from a straight stereo recording of your chosen song, to a multi-track recording of individual tracks (say, drums on one track, bass on another and so on).

If all you want is your finished songs on audio CDs, then you just record the stereo signal coming from your MPC to your computer using the appropriate software, and then burn your CD. As such, any soundcard will do the job, however, a better quality soundcard will yield better end results.

In case you didn't know: MIDI is just a communications standard between electronic music instruments and gear, it does not actually transfer any sound within its leads. Are we confused yet?

Good luck!

Arne S.

confused but i get the point. i would have to connect straight from mpc not using midi

It doesn't have midi, so please beware. Right now I'm looking at the M-Audio Quattro, which has MIDI and 1/4" ins and outs. Not bad. The M-Audio Ozone isn't a chump either. Basically has ins, outs, midi, and it's a controller. So, basically it's a midi controller and soundcard in one. Tend to pick all this stuff up while working at Guitar Center.