Sound Blaster Audigy ES

n-Track Studio Discussion Forum
#1
#2

I am looking at getting a sound blaster audigy es sound card for some recordings and was wondering if this is a good or bad thing.
I know there is a lot better boards out there but i am on a budget.
Does anyone use one of these or can tell me how this will go.
I have been using n-track for a while now but i have previosly been recording on a digital recorder and then importing the files into n-track for mixing and i have only been using an onboard sound chip but this doesn’t support 24 bit but know i am looking at maybe recording some tracks in n-track.
My recordings are not for commercial use but simply as a hobby of recording some tracks for myself and some friends so would this card be sufficient.

And how much better would this card be than my Ac97 codec sound max.
Would there be a noticable difference.

#3

I’m also the home hobbyist that uses my PC to surf the web, play music, etc. Last year I bought an Audigy to upgrade my on-board sound card. Works great for the price.

#4

I have the SoundMax onboard one of my machines. It is fairly noisy. The SB should be an improvement. Another bonus is the SB card will allow you to foray into SoundFonts if you decide to do so. The SoundMax cards are hanging on to the DLS sound font format which are kinda hard to find and usually poorer quality versus sf or sf2 format sound fonts.

TG

#5

Hi,a specialist recording card might be a better bet and many have fallen in price recently, e.g M-audio audiophile 2 channels in,
M-audio Delta 44 for 4 channels in, the new EMU cards, Echo cards. You could still use your onboard sound for games etc.
Specialist cards do less than a Sound blaster but they generally do it better.

Nick

#6

Thank you for the replies.

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I’m also the home hobbyist that uses my PC to surf the web, play music, etc. Last year I bought an Audigy to upgrade my on-board sound card. Works great for the price.

Just the answer i wanted to hear so thank you valrecorder.

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I have the SoundMax onboard one of my machines. It is fairly noisy. The SB should be an improvement. Another bonus is the SB card will allow you to foray into SoundFonts if you decide to do so. The SoundMax cards are hanging on to the DLS sound font format which are kinda hard to find and usually poorer quality versus sf or sf2 format sound fonts.

Yes i did notice a lot of noise in mine and that was mainly what i wanted to eliminate so i think i am on the right track then gtr4him.Thanks

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Hi,a specialist recording card might be a better bet and many have fallen in price recently, e.g M-audio audiophile 2 channels in,
M-audio Delta 44 for 4 channels in, the new EMU cards, Echo cards. You could still use your onboard sound for games etc.
Specialist cards do less than a Sound blaster but they generally do it better.

So you took the user name that i wanted. :;):
Thanks nick ,I think i will go with the sound blaster as it comes in just under my budget being on special at my local p.c shop and by going with the others i think it will do all that i need.
Thank You.
#7

You won’t be disspointed.

It’s a very good card for the money.

(Yes, the Delta44 is a better (more pro) card, but bang for buck the SB’s are very good.)

And as TG pointed out, you’ll have very good midi functions as well. This card will keep you happy for a long time.

(Only reason I upgraded from my SB Live! was because I needed more inputs, and we had the Delta1010LT on special over here, at a price I couldn’t refuse.)

Happy recording !

W.

#8

Wihan Stemmet
Thanks for your reply.
I have ordered one and will hopefully get it by the end of the week.
I had no idea if these cards would be even work or be good enough but i seemed to have made the right choice so thanks for the reassurance.
Nick

#9

Just btw - I don’t know much about other people’s setup, but Lord Terrin (a forum member from long ago - at least in forum terms) just posted on this forum about a question he have about a pre. There he mentions that he only has a SBLive5.1 to record with.
He’s posted a tune in the review forum that he recorded.
You can get an idea what can be done with a SB card, and that one can record at maximum 16bit 48kHz…

#10
Quote (nicka @ April 18 2005,00:40)
I am looking at getting a sound blaster audigy es sound card for some recordings and was wondering if this is a good or bad thing.
I have the exact soundcard (Audigy ES) that I bought for around $30. It's a no-frills 16bit Audigy 1 with not much bundled with it, but the low price is the main attraction. I am using the KX Project drivers with it.

Quote (nicka @ April 18 2005,00:40)
And how much better would this card be than my Ac97 codec sound max.Would there be a noticable difference.
As already mentioned by the others, any decent PCI soundcard is way better than an integrated audio solution, especially when it comes to the noise ratio.