Which is the best Sound card for HDV editing? at DVinfo.net

Dan Mangos · December 27th, 2005, 11:55 PM

I am considering jumping into the world of HDV in 2006, with either
a Sony FX-1/Z1, or the Panasonic AVX 2000. I am not satisfied with my built in Realtek sound, and am considering purchasing a SoundBlaster. But the problem is, which one? In the early days of DV editing, some users were experiencing artification with an AWE 64, and I want to try and avoid those problems this time around. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Graham Hickling · December 28th, 2005, 12:19 AM

Friends don't let friend buy Soundblasters! (To be fair, that really applied far more to the AWEs and early Lives than to their current models.)

Creative is still prone to installing vast bloatware all over your system, but their cards do now support ASIO, which you want.

The M-Audio cards are a mid-priced alternative worth considering. Which model depends on whether you may want to be able to address 6 channel independently for 5.1 mixes.

For example: http://www.zzounds.com/item--THKMIMD662

Glenn Chan · December 28th, 2005, 02:10 AM

Something like the M-audio Revolution 5.1 or 7.1 might be more economical.

2- What Graham said about the Sound Blasters. Their new stuff is ok except for the bloatware... the sound card installs lots of unnecessary things onto your computer. Apparently the drivers are limited to a latency of about 10ms.

(I have experience with the SB Lives, the old ones which made your computer crash. The new Sound Blasters don't, but see comments above).

Peter Jefferson · December 28th, 2005, 08:43 AM

iev NEVER had a problem with SBlive cards...
i specifically bought these to replace my EMU sampler units and i havent regretted it one bit.. same engine, far more grunt at a fraction of the price..

on top of that, theyre native 48k, so the card doesnt have to downsample to 44.1, then upsample back to 48k, which saves ALOT of cpu power... expecially when rendering muxed files..

Then theres the built in FX engine i mainly use it for compression and maybe some chorus and reverbs all controlled via midi.
Ive gotten latenc down to 2ms using asio2 drivers in a standard Audigy

ive never had a problem with surround mixing, and using vegas, ive never had a problem configuring it for 5.1 surround editing.As for bloatware, u can jsut install teh mixer and the drivers and youll be fine..
You dont have to install all the gaming/mp3 crap that comes with it..

MAudio on teh other hand.. well ive had 3 clients go for MAudio as they were "recommended" for use with Vegas and theyve had nothing but problems. These were the external USB units...
since swithing them to a standard SBLive Audigy theyre problems went away...

John Hewat · January 2nd, 2006, 06:35 AM

How about the onboard 5.1 'High Definition' audio on some of the new motherboards? The ASUS A8N SLI models have what is supposed to be excellent onboard audio. Can anybody speak as to whether they're satisfactory/good/above par?

Graham Hickling · January 2nd, 2006, 09:50 AM

John, sorry can't comment on that board. However as a general observation, keep in mind the important distinction between "5.1 playback" and "6 separately addressable channels".

Many cards and onboard chips can do the first with excellent quality. But depending in the drivers it may not be possible for your NLE software to send separate audio streams to separate outputs, which then allows you to monitor in surround while editing. This is where "ASIO" drivers, etc, come in.

The audigy and m-audio cards etc etc have suitable drivers - some with better latencies than others. There are also a couple of freeware ASIO drivers on the web for certain of the cards/chipsets that don't come with ASIO from the manufacturer ("KX project" for earlier SBlive and emu cards, and ASIO4ALL for others).

December 27th, 2005, 11:55 PM	#1
Dan Mangos New Boot Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 5	Which is the best Sound card for HDV editing? I am considering jumping into the world of HDV in 2006, with either a Sony FX-1/Z1, or the Panasonic AVX 2000. I am not satisfied with my built in Realtek sound, and am considering purchasing a SoundBlaster. But the problem is, which one? In the early days of DV editing, some users were experiencing artification with an AWE 64, and I want to try and avoid those problems this time around. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

December 28th, 2005, 12:19 AM	#2
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	Friends don't let friend buy Soundblasters! (To be fair, that really applied far more to the AWEs and early Lives than to their current models.) Creative is still prone to installing vast bloatware all over your system, but their cards do now support ASIO, which you want. The M-Audio cards are a mid-priced alternative worth considering. Which model depends on whether you may want to be able to address 6 channel independently for 5.1 mixes. For example: http://www.zzounds.com/item--THKMIMD662

December 28th, 2005, 02:10 AM	#3
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Something like the M-audio Revolution 5.1 or 7.1 might be more economical. 2- What Graham said about the Sound Blasters. Their new stuff is ok except for the bloatware... the sound card installs lots of unnecessary things onto your computer. Apparently the drivers are limited to a latency of about 10ms. (I have experience with the SB Lives, the old ones which made your computer crash. The new Sound Blasters don't, but see comments above).

December 28th, 2005, 08:43 AM	#4
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	iev NEVER had a problem with SBlive cards... i specifically bought these to replace my EMU sampler units and i havent regretted it one bit.. same engine, far more grunt at a fraction of the price.. on top of that, theyre native 48k, so the card doesnt have to downsample to 44.1, then upsample back to 48k, which saves ALOT of cpu power... expecially when rendering muxed files.. Then theres the built in FX engine i mainly use it for compression and maybe some chorus and reverbs all controlled via midi. Ive gotten latenc down to 2ms using asio2 drivers in a standard Audigy ive never had a problem with surround mixing, and using vegas, ive never had a problem configuring it for 5.1 surround editing.As for bloatware, u can jsut install teh mixer and the drivers and youll be fine.. You dont have to install all the gaming/mp3 crap that comes with it.. MAudio on teh other hand.. well ive had 3 clients go for MAudio as they were "recommended" for use with Vegas and theyve had nothing but problems. These were the external USB units... since swithing them to a standard SBLive Audigy theyre problems went away...

January 2nd, 2006, 06:35 AM	#5
John Hewat Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Posts: 735	How about the onboard 5.1 'High Definition' audio on some of the new motherboards? The ASUS A8N SLI models have what is supposed to be excellent onboard audio. Can anybody speak as to whether they're satisfactory/good/above par?

January 2nd, 2006, 09:50 AM	#6
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	John, sorry can't comment on that board. However as a general observation, keep in mind the important distinction between "5.1 playback" and "6 separately addressable channels". Many cards and onboard chips can do the first with excellent quality. But depending in the drivers it may not be possible for your NLE software to send separate audio streams to separate outputs, which then allows you to monitor in surround while editing. This is where "ASIO" drivers, etc, come in. The audigy and m-audio cards etc etc have suitable drivers - some with better latencies than others. There are also a couple of freeware ASIO drivers on the web for certain of the cards/chipsets that don't come with ASIO from the manufacturer ("KX project" for earlier SBlive and emu cards, and ASIO4ALL for others).