Up to My Nether Parts in Sound Cards and Not A One of Them Works in Windows 7
Like other PC accessories soundcards become "obsolescent" when manufacturers decide not to upgrade the software. That's happened to all but one of my once impressive collection of sound cards, including the mobo-down sound chipset -- for crying out loud, the mobo is less than two years old! The one PCI card for which I could find a Windows 7 driver is missing the critical, custom cord-extension that allows you to plug anything into the card.
So basically I need to buy a new sound card and I'm looking for recommendations. I'd prefer a FireWire or USB external box, but I probably could free up a PCI slot. This card is not for SR-input, although it would be used for output (playback). I don't play games but I do input old tapes, CDs and even LPs, clean them up in a sound editor, and then write them out to new CDs, so something better than a cheapie card would be desired.
TIA,
Bruce
You Have Lots of Choices
We haven't been able to find a USB Soundcard ~ http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/ca... that doesn't work in Windows 7 64-bit and 32-bit. Most Windows USB soundcards utilize generic drivers that have been around since Windows 98SE. Andrea Electronics PureAudio, Buddy 6G, VXI half duplex and full-duplex USB soundcards to name just a few.
Lunis - Nuance NaturallySpeaking Gold Certified BBB Accredited Speech Recognition/Microphone Solutions Provider & Founder of TheMicrophoneStore.com
Lunis, Thank you. If you
Lunis,
Thank you. If you want high-quality music recording and playback, then you do need drivers. Some of the high-line external FireWire (for example, Behringer) and USB boxes I've been looking at don't yet have W7 let alone 64-bit drivers. However, M-Audio seems to one of the enduring makers that provide a full range of drivers. The problem is they are professionally oriented so they use 1/4" connectors rather than 1/8 -- except maybe for this bottom-of-the-line unit: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit.html.
Bruce
BruceCyr wrote: If you want
If you want high-quality music recording and playback, then you do need drivers. Some of the high-line external FireWire (for example, Behringer) and USB boxes I've been looking at don't yet have W7 let alone 64-bit drivers. However, M-Audio seems to one of the enduring makers that provide a full range of drivers. The problem is they are professionally oriented so they use 1/4" connectors rather than 1/8 -- except maybe for this bottom-of-the-line unit: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit.html.
We understand your question about needing high quality audio for tape recordings.
We use the M-Audio MobilePre USB with our Court Recorder and some of our high end conference recording systems. We checked and there are Windows 7 32 and 64 bit drivers. The unit has stereo 1/8" microphone inputs. We use one of our handheld microphone sound card cables (XLR to 1/8" male) in several system configurations we supply. We have a large stock of cables (1/4" Balanced/Unbalanced, XLR Female/Male} that have sound card 1/8" males on one end.
--
Marty Markoe, eMicrophones, Inc.
Marty, Thanks, that's right
Marty,
Thanks, that's right on the money!
Bruce
Soundcards
Bruce,
First, if you're talking about a desktop, I wouldn't go with any external soundcard. Your best bet for sound cards is to go to the least expensive Creative Labs Sound Blaster. Creative Labs has been compatible almost instantaneously with every version of Windows whenever it has been released. All of their sound cards as far back as the original Sound Blaster live are currently Windows 7 compatible. All you have to do is to search for an appropriate card from Creative Labs and they'll tell you whether or not it's: (1) available, and (2) Windows 7 compatible. SoundBlaster sound cards have always been the best of the best. Since you're only going to use it for playback (i.e., I assume that you're using a USB SoundPod for SR), you can't go wrong. The cheap soundcards come and go and are seldom properly updated to new releases of Windows. If you buy one of these, you're buying a pig in a poke. SoundBlaster sound cards have always been and always will be, unless Creative Labs goes out of business which is highly unlikely, your best bet.
Chuck Runquist
Owner, GEMCCON - The Choice of Intelligence
Speech Recognition Consulting and Training
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
Chuck, I think you're right
Chuck,
I think you're right that Creative has better continuity than any other soundcard maker, although its more oriented towards gamers than the music recording cards I've favored. Still, it might be worth giving up bit of quality on recording depth and SNR to get something that's more resistant to manufacturer obsolescence.
Bruce
Thanks for the suggestions
Thanks for the suggestions by three of the most knowledgeable members of this forum. I deceided to hedge my bets:
The M-Audio Transit for our notebooks (at least that's the cover story for the household comptroller:-)
The SB X-Fi Xtreme for my desktop machine
Truth is I've had my eye on the Transit for a while.
Bruce