Pro MIDI Sample Music Production

Question

I plan on pro sample music production (soundtracks made exclusively on sample libraries). At present, I do have Audigy2 Platinum eX, and although I know, it is not profi card for the audio recordings, for MIDI work - thanks to the versatility and pretty low latency - seems still sufficient piece of HW to me. Anyway, I can't afford to produce crippled sound in any way. So, may Audigy2 really decrease the final audio, even it's mixed from samples? If so, what would you recommend as the most suitable solution / soundcard? The only I need, is zero latency ASIO playing live the masterkeyboard. Thanx a lot for any tips and tricks.
Message Edited by capellen on 01-24-2006 06:12 PM

Answer 1

capellen wrote:
I plan on pro sample music production (soundtracks made exclusively on sample libraries). At present, I do have Audigy2 Platinum eX, and although I know, it is not profi card for the audio recordings, for MIDI work - thanks to the versatility and pretty low latency - seems still sufficient piece of HW to me. Anyway, I can afford to produce a crippled sound in any way. So, may Audigy2 really decrease the final audio, even mixed from samples, in any way? If so, what would you recommend as the most suitable solution / soundcard? The only I need, is zero latency ASIO playing live the masterkeyboard. Thanx a lot for any tips or tricks.
In which resolution those samples are made (16-bit/24-bit @ 44.1/48/96/...)?
Supposeingly you know the resampling issue with Creative cards (excluding X-Fi on Creation mode and all E-MU cards). Also, Audigy 2 ASIO is locked to 16-bit/48 kHz (and 24-bit/96 kHz on some models of A2) resolution.
If keeping the quality of original samples as original as possible and making ~same quality analog recordings are the most important factors, but the budget is limited, I would buy a low priced pro card like E-MU 1212M (~230$), M-Audio Audiophile 192 (~175$) or ESI Juli@ (~125$), instead of using consumer card like yours. If you like to keep the A2 then best would be Audiophile (E-MU 1212M works well beside Audigy but may be a bitch to get working).
jutapaMessage Edited by jutapa on 01-24-2006 08:09 AM