Pci Express Soundcard? Options

[pitza]

Hi I have an Acer aspire x3810 PC and I want to put in a better soundcard ie soundblaster to use for creating my own music recordings,problem is I only have PCI express slots ( 1-16 slot and 1-1slot) but most cards seem to be the older PSI connection type, any suggestions please?

[pilz971]

Hi I have an Acer aspire x3810 PC and I want to put in a better soundcard ie soundblaster to use for creating my own music recordings,problem is I only have PCI express slots ( 1-16 slot and 1-1slot) but most cards seem to be the older PSI connection type, any suggestions please?

Hi PITZA. Please step very carefully with your Acer and try to get some proper advive from a real PRO. I have an Acer Aspire T180 which I`ve had nought but audio hell with. I don`t know whether there`s just some little bug in the Aspire but I`ve been tearing my hair out. I even upgraded the mother board and processor and still the greif continues.

Maybe look at saving your pennies and buying an Audio tuned PC and save youreself the heart ache. Wish I had.

Best of luck brother.

[Berhu N°2]

an usb external soundcard?

[agundrum]

I'd say anyone of these cards listed at Musician's friend will do.

PCIe Audio Cards

You really do not want a SoundBlaster because its consumer grade and not really made for audio production. It has few inputs and what are there are horrendous (no 1/4" inputs, no XLRs for mics, etc). You have to do a lot of cable end converting to get it to work and then you are left with lots of stuff hanging out the back of your computer and lots of possibilities for a noisey signal.

Your budget will determine what you get. My preference would be an E-MU 1616M because of the audio dock. The audio dock gives you all the various types of inputs needed - 16 inputs/16 outputs plus MIDI I/O – everything from balanced analog and turntable inputs to ADAT and S/PDIF (switchable to AES/EBU). There are two Neutrix connectors which makes plugging in standard mic cables (XLRs) simple or you can plug a guitar cable (Hi-Z) directly into it. Also included are hardware based effects. So if you want to add a chorus, flange, or EQ to a channel input you can without it hogging up any computer resources.

For under $200 consider the E-MU 1212M PCIe or the E-MU 0404 PCIe. The thing about these are there is no audio dock and you will have cables hanging off the back of your system and will need to have easy access to the back of your system as well. This will be the case for any card only based audio system. This is why some kind of audio dock is preferred - easy accessibility.

PCI/PCIe is the high-end of audio interfaces. It plugs directly into the system board which means it has a direct link to the CPU bus and memory. This makes performance top-notch and latency practically non-existent.

USB is the low-end of audio interfaces. You see a lot of these because of the ease (most times but not always) of plug-and-play.

Firewire is a step below a card based system. But you have to be careful with firewire because there are two speeds - Firewire 400 and 800. Either is fine but the preference is 800 of course. You have to verify speeds with the manufacturer AND make sure the firewire connector in the computer is 400 or 800. If there is none then you'll needs to buy a PCI or PCIe card with Firewire on it and at this point get a card that is 800.

John