[PD] Benefits of using an external soundcard?

Sun Aug 11 20:59:51 CEST 2013

Hello,

My experience is partly similar to what Charles mentioned: an external
soundcard can be much better in S/R ratio (both Brownian noise of the
preamp and specific frequencies produced by power supply). I would not say
that noise is less noticeable in live performance though - on the contrary:
it is heavily amplified on the pa system, more than in a home environment.
Furthermore, in live performance you need a directional mic and these are
less sensitive than omnidirectional mics, so you need to amplify more and
S/R ratio gets worse.

For this reason I bought myself a nice audio interface which works with
Linux, a Mackie Onyx Blackjack. Not expensive, two channel
mic/line/instrument with phantom, low noise. Later however, I noticed
Panasonic unidirectional electret capsules which can be directly connected
to a built-in computer sound card with mic input. Sensitivity is less than
omnidirectional capsules but better than dynamic or condenser
unidirectional mics. The Panasonic capsule is very sensitive to plosive
mouth noises and initially I thought they were useless. But with good wind
protection (imitation fur) it works nice. The type of this capsule is
WM-55A103. My friend bought them from Digikey but it seems they're out of
stock now, obsolete they say! They can still be found from other sources.

Katja

On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 4:37 AM, Mario Mey <mariomey at gmail.com> wrote:

>  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> 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> 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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>
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