Soundcard requirements?

[DefinitelyNotPink]

Hi.

I'm looking to buy a new toy to play with and was originally looking at some Korg options before accepting I simply don't know what I'm doing and that I need to scale back my ambitions

So I'm now thinking I should start with the Arturia KeyLab MKII, try to learn which sounds I like using the presets, play around with those for a while before maybe expanding into the full software versions of specific synths. Eventually I hope to buy some hardware but u then I'll have a clearer idea of what I'm looking for...


That brings me to the question of soundcards. My PC has a realtek card which I assume should be replaced in order to get the best out of the Analog software - does anyone have any recommendations for minimum specs?

Many thanks

 

[happyrat1]

No need to replace the soundcard. The Realtek will do the job just fine.

Gary

 

[DefinitelyNotPink]

Thank you for responding, and that's good to know.

Would you recommend an audio interface for guitar or vocals?

I was thinking that I can just run the audio outs into the microphone jack on the PC but I'm unsure if I should be using an interface!

 

[happyrat1]

Get yourself an audio mixer with a built in interface. Personally I like the Mackie 10 or 12 channel models.

Gary

 

[DefinitelyNotPink]

I'll take a look, but what do these do in a nutshell?

I'm trying to understand why just using the line in / microphone jack is a bad idea (I know it is, but more why)

 

[happyrat1]

With a mixer you can add as many instruments, mono or stereo as you have channels available. so, you could add a mic or two, a guitar input and/or a bass and a couple of keyboards with 10 or 12 channels available.The Mackies have built in sound cards so they act as an interface a soundcard and a mixer all in one.

Guitar output levels are in microvolts. Line levels are in millivolts, Adding a mixer to your inputs allows you to mix and match multiple devices with different impedances and feed them into a single stereo mix.

Gary