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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Do I need a soundcard?

This topic is old and might contain outdated or incorrect information.

I have a Creative Labs Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card in my PC. I'm looking to get a controller and either a 4-channel midi-mixer or a 4-channel analogue mixer. So the setup will be PC + controller + 4-channel mixer.

If none of the devices have an inbuilt sound card, will my current sound card work?
 

Posted Sat 13 Sep 14 @ 12:38 pm
Just buy a controller with a built-in sound card. Your set up should be PC & Controller, thats it. Your controller is the mixer.
 

Posted Sat 13 Sep 14 @ 1:05 pm
locodogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
Yes your current sound card will work.

Now either you don't quite understand the hardware and you're a bit confused OR you understand very well and you're going for a very savvy best of both worlds approach.

If the latter then I can see what you're going for, a device to control VDJ (transport/fx, etc) and a mixer for that proper no lag response, if that's the case don't buy a midi mixer (go analogue) and don't buy a controller with a soundcard. (you don't need it) Finding the optimum controller could be tricky, but having said that you can always re-purpose (remap) the dials and faders that are better suited to analogue mixers.
 

Posted Sat 13 Sep 14 @ 2:02 pm
@DJECoast, I've researched a lot and it seems like the best solution for me is to go for a separate controller and mixer.

@locodog ..more of the former. I'm looking at a button-only controller for transport/fx, and I'll also need a simple mixer (loose faders, eq's, kills). I can't find many simple midi-mixers that fit my needs. The upfaders aren't usually designed for cutting.
 

Posted Mon 15 Sep 14 @ 11:31 am
locodogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
You don't need a soundcard, but you can always get a better one.
The deal with midi mixers, the faders can be mapped to act like scratch faders but midi has unavoidable 2 stage lag, a hybrid mixer is probably best for you (the mixer bit is analogue but it has jog wheels and midi buttons/dials) unfortunately they all come with a built in SoundCard but that opens up some interesting routing possibilities.
 

Posted Mon 15 Sep 14 @ 11:51 am
Why'd you say he doesn't need a soundcard (more accurately an audio interface)?

A simple domestic/consumer one like Creative won't offer the same performance (low latency) as one with ASIO support, and it won't be designed for multi-channel DJ use.

At least with something designed for the job he'll have enough outputs to run each deck to a separate input of an analogue mixer, and minimal audio delay issues.
 

Posted Mon 15 Sep 14 @ 3:48 pm
locodogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
I'll admit I had a brain fart with the number of output channels but deck 4 could be run split mono, I did say he could always get a better soundcard but that's true all the time regardless of what you have. Does he NEED one? strictly speaking no.
 

Posted Mon 15 Sep 14 @ 4:34 pm
I was referring to the looseness and design of the upfaders. From looking at video reviews of basic midi mixers, they all seem pretty stiff, have close together faders, or small caps that can't be changed.

It's just for bedroom djing for now, so as long as it's good enough for that. Why are 4 decks a prob on a 7.1 soundcard?
 

Posted Thu 18 Sep 14 @ 12:41 pm
DJkanman wrote :
Why are 4 decks a prob on a 7.1 soundcard?


Not necessarily a problem, but a 7.1 audio interface is designed for just that - surround sound. Not providing high quality low latency audio for DJs.

A surgeon could probably operate on someone using a penknife, but it's not the right tool for the job.

 

Posted Thu 18 Sep 14 @ 12:45 pm


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