[OldG]

If you are UK based or able to get a copy of Computer Music, they are giving away a fully working copy of Magix Samplitude V8 SE. It looks very,very tasty, this Link gives the lowdown..

[Dobro]

That's a sweet deal. It's 49 Euros on the Magix website to download the SE version. Too bad it's not available in the States...I'd grab a copy. Nice heads up for those with access to it.

[Tekker]

Samplitude is an incredible program. I use Samplitude Professional and it one of the best recording programs available (if not THE best).

Magix has another program called Music Studio ($80) that is supposed to be a great program also. From what I understand SE is kind of a way to get your feet wet if you plan on getting Samplitude Classic or Pro.... This is part of a post from the Samplitude forum.


"If you are already using Music Studio, you are already on the path to learning digital audio, and have a good product to learn with. The benefit of Samplitude SE for you would be the upgrade path to the professional application, and the fact that learning the interface will make you more proficient once you do upgrade. Magix Music Studio has a robust feature set that will allow you to do full scale music production.

Samplitude SE is a great way to learn how to record, edit, mix and master in the same environment as the professional application...and offers an easy and cost effective upgrade path to the real deal...should you want or need it. If you're looking for bang-for-the buck software...Music Studio is a good choice in and of itself."


If you can get a hold of the magazine and get SE for free, then that's a very good deal. But if you plan on buying SE at the full price (and don't plan on upgrading to Samplitude Classic or Pro), then Music Studio may be another option to look into. It's got the same interface, object based editing, and some of the same effects as Samplitude. Plus it also has CD burning so you can layout your songs and burn a CD directly from Music Studio (CD burning is not in SE).

While Music Studio is $30 more than SE, you'll pay much more than that for a good CD burning program alone (Nero is $80) and being able to lay all your tracks out before burning is so much better than Nero for burning audio CD's.

-tkr

[737blues]

Little bit off topic but on the subject of magazines and cover CD's.

A lot of magazines are sold in other countries without their cover CD's. This is apparently the doing of the publishers and copyright watchdogs in the target country wanting a cut for the content of the CD, which the magazines usually can't (or won't) give. Here in Oz, I have learned to subscribe direct from UK/USA and they arrive at my door cheaper than the local retail outlets sell them, on time (as opposed to two months late) and complete with whatever CD's etc!

[Vetinari]

Bought this today and had a play looks verrrry interesting . A didgerydoo with hall echo effect is well wierd . Now all I have to do is pesuade the wife to let me buy a new sound card?

[OldG]

Out of interest,what soundcard you got at the moment? And why do you feel the need for upgrade?

I use my onboard AC97 sound for audio recording with no hassle - If latency is the problem downloading and installing ASIO4ALL should sort it,no worries

Steinberg the Cubase makers reckon 10ms latency is the threshold at which your ear will notice delay, ASIO4ALL gets me down to 4ms using Acid Pro 6 whilst recording!

[Vetinari]

Thanks for the info the problem is the sound card only works with a cheap mike with a stereo jack. I have proper mikes thant work fine with an amp but the computer will not work with them. I think the problem may be in the jack socket itself.

[Tekker]

I upgraded my Turtle Beach soundcard over 5 years ago and I notice a big increase in the sound quality. Standard soundcards (and especially onboard soundcards) aren't very good for audio recording. They are better for gaming and stuff like that.

M-Audio makes excellent soundcards at various price ranges, including the Audiophile 2496 ($99) and Delta44 ($150). The Delta44 has 4 inputs and outputs, so you could record 4 tracks at one time. However, it doesn't have built in mic preamps, so if you use a microphone for recording, you'd need to also get a mic preamp (there are lots of cheap options for these as well).

Depending on your needs and price range, there a lot of options that will give far better results than stock soundcards.

-tkr

[Vetinari]

thnxs tekker for the info . My sound card is an on board and other threads have said they are poor quality for recording. I'll look into it.

[OldG]

I will look into another sound card or maybe a firewire audio interface ( I'm not confident about USB devices as I have loads connected already) to see just how much better the quality of sound is.

I forgot to mention my onboard sound is fed by a mixer to get my instruments in or I found that my FX box (Boss ME-50)works a treat also. I would have thought either would get your mic/guitar into your PC if it doesn't require its own power.

As for quality of sound from the onboard I will link to a recording (made using theFX pedal) so you can judge for yourself >> Deejam.

If I can improve significantly on the quality then an upgrade is next on my list.

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by OldG

If I can improve significantly on the quality then an upgrade is next on my list.

Yes, I think you'll notice a big difference. I sure did.

-tkr