ron gunn Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 hi there am new on the world of forums but hoping someone can give me some practical advice on sound related issue, basically, I have produced a lot of reason based music which I am intending to 'gig' live. I am working off a dell inspiron 6400 laptop though I would obviously want to hook it up to an in house sound [ i.e. mixer/turntable set up ] I am looking at buying an express sound card rather than use the headphone socket [ which is a bit knackered to be honest ] is this the right way to go as I have heard about usb audio interfaces but I need my usb ports for external midi controllers etc.... obviously I dont want to compromise on quality but is using the express card slot better than usb??? can anyone point me in the right direction?? I mainly make electronic techno music thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berry120 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 is this the right way to go as I have heard about usb audio interfaces but I need my usb ports for external midi controllers etc....Perhaps I'm looking at this wrongly because I've only used USB audio interfaces and not ones through cardbus, express and the like, but I would've thought you'd have much more versatility and choice grabbing a USB hub (though make sure it's not an old 1.1 hub!) and a USB sound card rather than hunting around for ones that will fit in an expresscard socket. If you're looking for something in this regard that's a cheap USB based card with balanced outputs and a low noise floor then I'd personally recommend the Edirol UA-25, but if you have a search around here for USB soundcards there's a lot of threads / options at your disposal :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron gunn Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 thanks for your input another reason I was interested in the express card rather than the usb route was that I went on a course a year so ago and the guy was anti usb [pro firewire] , do you ever get any glitch / output issues with the usb? I am presuming that with a direct sound card you would get a better signal through rate or is that not the case with usb.02 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killyp Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 What exactly do you mean by signal rate? Do you mean bandwidth? I've had issues with USB with quite a few interfaces, and hence I've always used Firewire which seems rock solid to me. Also, USB connections take up CPU, which has caused audio-glitching when I've been using large amounts of DSP (this is usually more with Logic than Reason for me). Firewire has it's own bus-chip which means the interface is not dependent on the CPU. Your choice, but I almost always avoid USB for sound. I've never had any issues hotplugging too which most manufacturers seem to warn against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berry120 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Well I've got a reasonable mid spec laptop (not the latest and greatest at all but does what I need it to) and it's never had any problems running sound through USB - though yes, Alex's points are theoretically correct (I've just never had such issues in practice.) There's certainly nothing wrong with going for a firewire card and if you prefer to do that great - my recommendation of the USB models was because a) I've used a few different ones personally without any issues and b) there seem to be more USB models readily available than firewire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron gunn Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 cheers alex - what do you mean by hotplugging?? I meant bandwith / signal quality really as I'd hate to get any glitches whilst playing out.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 general concensus now is that most fast laptops are more than happy to drive an external quality D/A via firewire or USB2 with no problems at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timtheenchanteruk Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 alex - what do you mean by hotplugging?? plugging/unplugging the soundcard (or anything really) whilst the laptop or PC is powered on, for som reason the firewire card manufacturers seem to not reccommend it, although Ive not heard of anyone having problems. my USB box will only be detected if hot plugged in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pisquee Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 You could get a express card USB adapter - to give you more USB sockets, and then a USB sound card - a USB based sound card is going to more versatile for using with other computers than an express card based one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerben Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 You could get a express card USB adapter - to give you more USB sockets, and then a USB sound card - a USB based sound card is going to more versatile for using with other computers than an express card based one.Plugging a sound card into a USB hub is not a great idea - it can introduce unwanted sounds. Best to plug the sound card into the USB port on the laptop and use a hub for other hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 The firewire data system copes with being hot plugged with few issues, but the version that also has power facilities can be 'difficult'. Some video equipment has warnings about not connecting the camera unless it is off. One manufacturer has above average firewire failures when people hotplug - not so good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesperrett Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 When you are using a laptop you also need to be aware of noise problems due to ground loops. In a live situation these can usually be cured by using DI boxes but, in order to cope with every eventuality, it might be worth thinking about buying your own DI boxes or buying an audio interface with built-in isolation (I seem to remember that ART make one). I reckon that USB will be fine for a basic stereo output - Firewire really comes into its own when you are dealing with large numbers of inputs and outputs. Cheers James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berry120 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 When you are using a laptop you also need to be aware of noise problems due to ground loops. In a live situation these can usually be cured by using DI boxes but, in order to cope with every eventuality, it might be worth thinking about buying your own DI boxes or buying an audio interface with built-in isolation (I seem to remember that ART make one). I reckon that USB will be fine for a basic stereo output - Firewire really comes into its own when you are dealing with large numbers of inputs and outputs. Cheers James.If we're talking with lots of inputs / outputs then I agree, firewire really would be the better choice by far! With regards to ground loops and the like, James has reminded me - I'd personally add an ART DTI to your kit list if you haven't got one already, in the event that unwelcome noise does crop up from laptops, that 2 channel wonder has got me out of most such situations! And it's really not expensive either :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron gunn Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 thanks guysAll usefull informationI have tracked down an emu 1616 pcmcia system that looks perfect for me, I am upgrading my studio speakers to krk rp5's so the emu should be ideal for this and live situations when I hook into a live dj mixer set up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splodge360 Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Ive recently replaced my toshiba laptops power supply from a 3pin cloverleaf plug type, to a fig of 8 2 pin powersupply also 19v 5a. The annoying background noise has gone away.I guess 0v dv on the psu was grounded to the earth pin, causing the interference problem, which isnt just a hum loop type buzz, but cured by earth lifting.Has anyone done a sound comparison on Interspace I2s pc headphone balance box, compared to a usb, and 2x di boxes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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