[PLUG] SB Audigy Experiences ?

[Miller, Jeremy]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kyle Accardi [mailto:sandbox at pacifier.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 1:45 PM
> To: plug at lists.pdxlinux.org
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] SB Audigy Experiences ?
> 
> 
> Miller, Jeremy wrote:
> > Don't have an audigy, but I do have an SBLive Platinum.  
> Works fine (of
> > course) but I REALLY wish I'd done more research before I 
> bought it, because
> > there are a ton of cards that would have been better for 
> what I need.
> > 
> > What do you intend to use the card for?  Playing music?  
> Games?  Do you plan
> > on using it for any recording or midi work?
> 
> When I bought this system a few months ago, the plan was to include a 
> high-end card tbd.  As time went by, money dwindled, and I've had no 
> luck getting the on-board sound working.  Been using a cheaper SB in 
> the mp3 fileserver, but a PII-333 takes forever to rip a 2Gb wav 
> (24hrs, to be precise).  The new system did the same job in 2hrs.
> 
> Right now, all I am doing is occasional recording of radio 
> broadcasts, 
> which is fairly lo-fi.
>  I don't need mic pre-amps either (a Mackie 
> mixer does that very well.)

Quite. :)

>  Soon will be transferring lps to cd so 
> recording fidelity is ultimately important.

An SBLive is probably just fine for that... considering that it a one-time
transfer of an existing recording (rather than a live source that is going
to see a lot of manipulation).  An Audigy wouldn't buy you any benefit over
the Live for that, really.  But the SBLive would do the trick.  If you add
better interface later, it can still do midi/sampling duty.  (And system
sounds, and games and whatever else the pro card won't do.)

> I know the Live! card has been out for awhile and is fairly well 
> supported, and the oem price may be enough to tempt me until more 
> money shows up.

They ARE fairly cheap (<$40), and if you record at 16/48 it isn't that bad,
quality wise. That's what I've been using so far, and it's fine for that.  I
wish I'd gone OEM instead of the Platinum, though. It's not worth the extra
dough.  (BTW the advertised "24/96 DAC performance" of the Audigy drives me
nuts... it's DA only! Not AD! Just a tad misleading!)

To upgrade from that level takes semi-pro gear and can cost a pretty penny.
(Though some are actually less than the Platinum versions of SB stuff.)
Here's a few I know off the top of my head, to give an idea of the market,
from entry to pro-level.  (Prices pulled from bayviewproaudio.com)  Hope
this isn't overkill or OT, but I've been looking at this stuff a LOT just
the last few weeks.

I'm listing mainly 3 brands because I've looked into them before and they
have linux drivers.  (Many pro/semi-pro cards don't.)  ST Audio is the
cheapest, but not as good sound quality as the others.  RME is pretty
serious high-end gear.  M-Audio is a nice in-between.  Both M-Audio and RME
alsa appear to be pretty supportive of linux drivers, and advertise (and
link to ALSA) from their websites.


16/48 Stereo (SB's weren't listed at bayview.  Prices from bestbuy.com...
could do much better.)
-----------------------
$70	SB Live
$100	SB Audigy
$200	SB Audigy Platinum


24/96 Stereo
-----------------------
$175	ST Audio DSP24 Value
$179	M-Audio Audiophile 2496
$189	TerraTec EWX 24/96


24/96 Multiple Channel
-------------------------
$199  Midiman Delta 410 (4in/10out - sortof... 2 analog inputs, 2 digital)
$229	ST Audio DSP24 MKII (2in/out - upgradeable, see below)
$229	Midiman Delta 44 (4in/4out - all analog on breakout box)
$289	ST Audio DS2000 (8in/out breakout box - requires DSP24 MKII)
$299	Midiman Delta 66 (6in/out - 4 analog on same breakout box as 44, 2
digital)
$379	Midiman Delta 1010LT (10in/out - 8 analog)
$439	ST Audio DSP2000 CPort (8in/out - DSP24 + DS2000)
$599	Midiman Delta 1010 (10in/out - 8 analog all on 19" rackmount
breakout).
  |-- I see these brand new from Ebay retailers for $500-520 all the time.
$260	RME Hammerfall DSP Interface (PCI card, requires Multiface or
Digiface)
$315	RME Hammerfall DSP Interface (Cardbus for laptops, requires
Multiface or Digiface)
$575	RME Digiface (3 ADAT, 1 SPDIF on breakout - requires PCI or Cardbus
interface)
$725	RME Multiface (8in/out analog, 1 ADAT, 1 SPDIF on breakout -
requires PCI or Cardbus interface)
$985	RME Multiface Package (Multiface + Hammerfall DSP - PCI version)

... and up.  (Say, a complete RME Digiface system plus $thousands for
standalone AD/DA converters or a digital mixer, and so on.  If you're at
this level you're probably spending more than that on fancy microphones and
preamps anyway! :)

Jeremy


> Cheers,
> Kyle
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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