I am a pretty bad guitar player, wanting to get into diy recording. I have cakewalk's home studio & clubtracks. These programs are fine I guess, but I am thinking of upgrading to something like Sonar or maybe one of rolands v studios. My question is this, what do I really need multiple I/O's for. So far I have been doing everything myself ( me on guitar and a Korg em-1 groovebox for drum&bass) and I haven't needed multiple I/O's. However I am thinking about tracking my church's choir and putting togher a CD for them. but I don't know if I will need more than two inputs. I am thinking that I won't, since I plan on tracking them seperatly( choir, then lead singer, then piano, then drum, then bass then guitar)
i am using a soundblaster for my audio interface, which sounds fine, don't know if i will hear much of a difference if i upgrade
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Oh yes you will hear a difference...the main thing you'll notice
Oh yes you will hear a difference...the main thing you'll notice is the amount of level you can get into the card(Dynamic Range)Ability to handle many tracks with plugins and so forth(bufferring driver control) and over all sonic quality(THD+N)
Sure you can do two tracks at a time..overheads for choir passages..two mics for piano.etc etc etc
Multiple I/O's isnt for everyone..thats why some audio hardware manufacturers make devices with 2 in 2 out with a digital in and out!!
There's the Aardvark Direct Pro 24/96...4 in's with 4 outs and 2 Midi I/O
There the Tascam US428 with 4 ins and 2 outs with 2 Midi I/O
There's the Echo Audio MIA with 2 ins and 2 outs
I could go on and on..
Multiple I/O's are nice when you want to send different signals to different outs for wither mixing purposes or effect send and return purposes. You could feed several tape machines at once or record several tape machines or mics with more inputs. I myself dont use that many either..I have both the Tascam US428(more as a controller surface) and a Layla 20 bit audio card and a soundblaster(used for silly stuff..but never use it whatsoever anymore!!!) I only use about 4 tracks at once if that..and I only use two outs since I mix within the DAW application.
In the long run you will definatley see AND hear the difference with a better audio card then the soundblabber!! Dont get me wrong..it's a great card for game playing with mic inputs..being silly with audio inputs from other computers or CD players..or whatever..
AS I stated earlier..the amount of level you can input into a SB card vs a higher end converter will blow you away..trust me..working for a high end manufacturer I hear differences all day long by A/B'ing everything!! I have recorded on a SB years ago..then I got an Echo Gina and fell in love with what I could do!!!
Opus