[PD] Benefits of using an external soundcard?

Sun Aug 11 04:37:25 CEST 2013

Brian: I comment between lines:

El 09/08/13 09:42, Brian Fay escribió:
> Is there a specific type of microphone you will be using? I've seen 
> some videos of Beardyman recently using some type of hands-free 
> lavalier microphone.
I will use my wireless VHF SHURE microphone (I know it is old). The 
original is a headset, but, for beatbox, I use a SM-58 connected to the 
same trasnmisor. It sounds different, so, the SM-58 jack has a resistor 
to turn the gain down and an EQ in PureData, to make it sound like the 
other.

I don't know if I will use the headset (as Beardyman) or the SM-58. It 
is about comfort.
>
> This and other condenser microphones require "Phantom Power," which is 
> provided by many audio interfaces and mixers but generally not built 
> in to an internal soundcard.
It doesn't need phantom power.
>
> See how far you can get with what you have; there's no point in buying 
> something that you don't need. But you might find that you do need one 
> eventually.
I will buy the cheap soundcard (ARS $200). I understand what you say, 
but it has some benefits:

- I care the notebook audio-out jack. USB is more resistent for pluging 
and unpluging. I (this) summer, I work in a park and I do what this 
video shows, EVERYNIGHT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNUZULR7k18
- I have more inputs and outputs (for future features).
- Maybe, I avoid noise in the line (for the moment, I don't have it... 
but I think it depends on the power line of the location).
- Sometimes, I do record some samples... it will be usefull for that.
>
> Keep in mind that you'll need very low latency (less than 20 
> miliseconds) for your application. I'm not sure if this is affected by 
> the sound card or not. All of the audio processing happens on the CPU, 
> but maybe the buffering stages for the sound card add enough delay to 
> add latency... could somebody  with more familiarity chime in here?
For now, I have 5.8ms of latency. It's very good for me. If you are 
saying that an external soundcard would add latency... more than the 
internal, so, it is not good!

Thanks.

>
>
> On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 7:28 AM, Mario Mey <mariomey at gmail.com 
> <mailto:mariomey at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     El 08/08/13 17:50, Charles Z Henry escribió:
>>     Hi Mario
>>
>>     The number one reason for having an external sound card is noise
>>     isolation.  The card's proximity to the power supply and
>>     motherboard are bad for EM noise.  Also, a computer power supply
>>     and a good audio power supply for recording have much the same
>>     relationship--there's more noise in switching electronics.
>>
>>     Next, there's the size constraints.  You'd have a hard time
>>     adding all the connectors for a large number of channels on a
>>     card which plugs in to your PCI(e) slots.
>     It's ok, I have a notebook: 1 plug out, 1 plug in.
>
>>
>>     Third:  there's not as great a need for bandwidth for audio as
>>     there is with video. Video cards need all that PCI(e) bandwidth.
>>     Audio doesn't.  It's a relatively small amount of data.  Of
>>     course--I think USB and firewire really don't have enough
>>     bandwidth for good scalability, but that's another discussion.
>>
>>     But... what are you doing with it?  You have different
>>     requirements for recording and for live sound.  Live sound:  just
>>     do it up.  No one will likely notice.
>     Live sound is my purpose. Mic-in looping-station and multieffects
>     system (following the steps of Beardyman and his Beardytron_5000).
>     But, sorry about not understanding your expresion (english is not
>     my native language).... What do you mean with "just do it up, no
>     one will likely notice"? Should I buy it or no one will notice the
>     difference? I think you mean I should...
>
>>
>>     If you're planning on recording something on just 2 channels on
>>     the built-in sound card, keep in mind that your dynamic range
>>     will be pretty bad, even if you get a good pre-amp in the middle
>>     to take the most advantage of your range.  You'd much rather have
>>     an external sound card with some adjustable analog pre-amps in
>>     the box.
>     About the soundcard I post, the Encore 7.1 ENMAB-8CM
>     (http://www.encore-usa.com/ar/support/ENMAB-8CM)... it's really a
>     china generic useless card... or it's good for starting? It has no
>     analog pot.
>>
>>     Chuck
>>
>>
>     Thanks so much for your time.
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>     On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 3:30 PM, Mario Mey <mariomey at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:mariomey at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         I'm using my integrated soundcard:
>>
>>         00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI
>>         SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) (rev 40).
>>
>>         I know that Pd is processing on CPU and I don't need more
>>         than 2 inputs and 2 outputs channels. So... I "think" that
>>         there's no need to buy an external one.
>>
>>         Is there any benefit of using one?
>>
>>         I know that this USB soundcard is not a very good one... but
>>         maybe it's good for my economy. What's your opinion?
>>
>>         http://www.encore-usa.com/ar/support/ENMAB-8CM
>>
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>
>
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