Xonar sound card question

[Stephie_Girl]

So for this customer I am building a new PC.  He's coming from a single core P4, with 512MB of ram and he's getting an A10-5800K, 8GB DDR3 1866 and a 120GB SSD in his new PC.  He's uses a Creative Labs Audigy 2 Z5 PCI card.  He's an audio guy but clearly isn't that high end.  I rear onboard audio on this board isn't enough: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130708, so I was looking at something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132020, should that be sufficient or should I go something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132053

Thanks

Steph

PS: I know I kinda asked this earlier but now I know what he does.  He makes music on Sibelius 6.0 and uses midi in on a controller for his keyboard.  So it's nothing super high end by any means.

[_ASSASSIN_]

I would get the latter one just for future proof, that and the DG (I have) is legacy PCI which sucks and the quality isn't the best

[Ookami]

Its hard for me to say since im not and advance audio guy, but i had the 1st soundcard and difference between mine USB soundcard i have now and onboard was quite nice in my opinion. Shame i had to sell it.

[Stephie_Girl]

Would it be better to get a better quality board with 7.1 audio than a PCI legacy sound card?

[Stephie_Girl]

Reading this: http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=44 Tells me that these onboard solutions are very flexible capable of anywhere from 16-24 bit rate and up to 192Hz.  Most cards under 50 don't offer 192Hz

[ShearMe]

Reading this: http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=44 Tells me that these onboard solutions are very flexible capable of anywhere from 16-24 bit rate and up to 192Hz.  Most cards under 50 don't offer 192Hz

 

The Realtek chips aren't really capable of that high a bit rate nor that sample rate. For anyone doing serious audio production, they will want an external recording interface.

 

Also, please don't make so many threads. We're capable of jumping between topics in a single thread if you're specifically trying to figure out one build.

[Stephie_Girl]

The Realtek chips aren't really capable of that high a bit rate nor that sample rate. For anyone doing serious audio production, they will want an external recording interface.

 

Also, please don't make so many threads. We're capable of jumping between topics in a single thread if you're specifically trying to figure out one build.

Okay sowwy :(, so something like this mebbe: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013?

[t0wer]

none of that has midi input. i'm pretty sure you'll need a usb adapter now, as I haven't seen a sound card with midi for years.

 

I'd probably just reuse that audigy 2 as that msi motherboard has a pci slot if MIDI is needed.

 

from what i understand, midi is just a code that tells the decoder what instrument and what note to play.

every device has different midi files so it won't sound the same on 2 devices, unless they have the same setup.

[Ookami]

If he aint that hardcore into sound then Xonar should be more than enough for the job from my perspective.

[ShearMe]

If he aint that hardcore into sound then Xonar should be more than enough for the job from my perspective.

 

But if he needs Midi, Xonar doesn't have it.  :P

 

I think "sound cards" are optimized for output now-a-days, and tend to skimp on the input circuits - probably not to any degree most people would notice, but it might be a factor for someone playing around with recording/editing.

[Ookami]

Still we dont know how much the client of hers is into music. If he just like clean music/is amateur in music production or does he work for Jay Z or Beyonce. Him having soundcard with midi only shows how old his rig is and not if he needs midi or not.

[ShearMe]

Still we dont know how much the client of hers is into music. If he just like clean music/is amateur in music production or does he work for Jay Z or Beyonce. Him having soundcard with midi only shows how old his rig is and not if he needs midi or not.

 

Except OP said he needs MIDI in (bold):

 

PS: I know I kinda asked this earlier but now I know what he does.  He makes music on Sibelius 6.0 and uses midi in on a controller for his keyboard.  So it's nothing super high end by any means.

[Stephie_Girl]

He is getting something to take his midi to USB so that's fine

[ShearMe]

He is getting something to take his midi to USB so that's fine

 

Then just stick with on board.  ;)

[Stephie_Girl]

I ended up getting that Xonar card.  This is the build:

A10-5800K: $110

MSI A75 MATX: $50

2x4GB DDR3 1866MHz: $58

Samsung 840 SSD: $94

Card Reader: $8

Antec 4000: $25

Corsair CX430M: $42

Asus Xonar PCI 7.1: $50

Samsung DVD-RW: 15

Total: 452, which leaves me 118 profit!!! Super happy about it as I got his card reader and can still quote 570 like I promised with a good sound card!!!

[t0wer]

good thing hes only recording midi, wav files would fill what I assume is a 120 gb ssd up FAST.

[Stephie_Girl]

good thing hes only recording midi, wav files would fill what I assume is a 120 gb ssd up FAST.

His current hard drive is 20GB used of 28GB :(

[ShearMe]

Woah, 20 GB?! That's a lot of space!