Want to buy a good soundcard

[deanlaing12]

Im doing a lot of work with music recently, pro tools/sibelius etc...

When i playback it is never as acurate as i need/want. timing delays etc...

My pc only had a hd nivida graphics card so im not entirly sure about how this will work.

I want to buy a good soundcard, external is probobly a better choice for me.

Im running on windows 7 ultimate and also windows 7 home premeum for both my desktop pc and my laptop.

Im not 100% sure on how everything works with music hardware which im trying to learn more about. (Starting home studio with my pc and laptop)

Which is a good brand to buy?
Which product would i get most out of with the price?
Which would you prefer or suggest in my situation?

Ps: will hpefully be getting more hardware equipement for sound, eg: Pre amp and mixers etc... (Hopefully your suggestions can fall into place with future hardware too.
)

Thanks.

 

[Route44]

I can't give you any external source suggestions but check out HT Omega's and Asus' Xonar offerings. These two seem to be the hottest sound cards going.

The HT Omega's have drivers for XP, Vista, and 7 in both 32 and 64 bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=ht+omega


Then of course there is M-Audio's sound card offerings. I have a friend who does studio recording and really likes their Delta 1010LT card and the considerably more expensive 1010. From what I have read the LT installs without issue with 64bit OS which is good because M-Audio makes great cards and other items but their driver support is usually from poor to atrocious. Check out their official forums and you'll see for yourself.

 

[RayRay]

a internal audiocard for musicproduction is not a good choise, cous it got more latency(higer timing delay) cous it have to use some of your cpu and other stuff in your computer. external usb cards got less latency but still use some of the cpu, a good choise if you dont have firewire output.

but if you got firewire, get an external firewire audiocard cous the latency is none to less and all sounds from the program goes directly to the audiocard, not much of the rest of the hardware in the computer than the other types mentioned so you a get little more cpu to work on.

check out the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 firewire card
http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire_pro_24