Looking for information about external sound cards

Sinept

New member
I'm somewhat interested in music production, and will probably be purchasing a midi keyboard sometime this year. I was curious about the type of equipment and software that's usually used in professional music production (which I won't be pursuing). After some googling, I learned that many producers use virtual synths --some of which I've heard of-- and (what I think is) an external sound card called RME Fireface UCX. I looked it up on Amazon (man is it pricey), and found similar devices made by other brands; some of which are in my price range.

I'd like to know whether one of these devices would be necessary or at all useful (and worth the investment) for a beginner who knows very little about music production and can't actually play any instruments (at least not at an acceptable skill level).

I'd also like to know how exactly I would use one. I mean, do I hook it up and just run my sound through it? what are the benefits of these things?
 
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If you got a decent computer, you be getting 64 sample latency at power saving mode 25% maximum with a good amount of effects/ instruments [20-40 at the same time]
With asio4all or even more with an actual interface.

Even a focusrite solo would suffice but I'd suggest getting the best interface with the lowest latency you can get just because.
[ur22 mk1 user myself] and yes I'm serious lol
 
You mention price range, what is your price range?
If you're just starting out, you need to find your optimal price/quality. Risk of not getting into it and have spent money for nothing (you can resell ofcourse) vs risk of having to upgrade after a while.

You need:
- A DAW. Do you have one in mind? Look up different DAWs on youtube or their websites usually hold promotional vids. Pick a few that you think you'll like, download their demos and try them out for a bit. Then eventually pick one and go learn that. Read it's manual. Lookup youtube tutorials. Google tutorials. Check our forum. Check beat making youtubes.
- A decent computer. Windows? You need at least 8 gig of ram, favorably 16. i5 or i7. Any video card will do, you can keep this cheap. SSD as Harddisk but a normal HD will do fine, SSD basically speeds up the loading DAW time and loading sample time. Also will speed up loading times in your OS.
- An AI. The steinberg ur has good converters and pre amps. Spending about 50 to 70 bucks minimum would be a good start. It pays to get an AI as it's latencies are better and better converters then a regular pc soundcard. You can obviously try it without an AI and just a regular soundcard. I wouldn't tbh.
- A midi controller makes things easiers. Not necessary. You can click with mouse and use your qwerty keyboard. I'd advise getting a midi keyboard. Are you planning on learning to play decent? You need at least 49 keys then, favorably 61. If you plan on playing good, you need 81 keys. Midi controllers is very personal. Some ppl like the feel of one and hate the feel of the keys of the other and vice versa. You need to go feel this for yourself in a shop. Or get a webshop with a proper return policy. If you're not planning on playing decent or good, just bash it a bit, 25 keys will do. I'd get a keyboard that also has some knobs and faders and pads. That way, you can get a long way with just one midi keyboard before looking to upgrade. The midi keyboard controls your VSTs. The midi keyboard itself can't produce sound. It'll produce a midi signal. Keyboards have different key beds like weighed vs semi weighed vs non weighed. Piano feel, synth feel, etc. Aftertouch ( after you hit the key, you can still control some influence by pressing harder to softer). Brands like novation, native instruments , akai, cakewalk, roland are a few I like. I don't really like the feel of the keybeds of M-Audio. I also have a subjective thing against M-Audio. So, don't always go on one persons opinion. I have a novation impulse 25 which would be good for somebody starting out but doesn't allow proper playing, 25 keys is limiting. Akai mpk mini is awesome but has small keys. It's a more on the road thing. If you know how to work it like coldman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-fIQSu33-0) it's no problem, but it can be hard to start on it. Depending on your budget but a novation impulse 49, launchkey 49, alesis vi49, native instruments komplete kontrol 49 (expensive) would be a few that'd be very nice. There's tons more that'd be nice ofcourse. For every taste a board out there tbh.
- Headphones or monitor speakers. Your pc/daw will pass a digital signal into an AI or soundcard and that will translate the signal into the speakers or headphones to a hearable sound. Your AI has influence on the latency. That means, if you hit a key on your keyboard, the speed that it takes for the hitting the key to a hearable sound. Headphones can work fine, but they can't give you a proper stereo image. You need monitor speakers for that. For monitors, I like focal alpha, mackie m series, jbl lsr series. There's tons more again. The mackie cr series is nice and cheap. Use the search function on the forum, there's tons of good tips on the forum about all of this.

A pc , a DAW and a way for you to hear sound are absolutely essential. The stuff around it will make it easier for you to make proper music. If you don't have a good AI or monitor speakers, your music will most likely sound very different on other speakers. You need to learn your speakers and train your ears. Know where the flaws of your setup lie. If you have KRK rokits (which I advise against) you know your bass is artificially created and over represented on some frequencies. You need to correct for this. Best is to listen to your track on different systems, compare. Also, take a track you know very well, listen to it on different setups and then your own setup , compare.

Before you buy stuff, look up reviews online. Professional expert reviews. User reviews can't hurt either. Check on amazon for instance, they usually have a lot of user reviews so the outliers level out.

All this knowledge/theory is part of what you need to produce and engineer music. You can find a lot of this knowledge and theory online. Google it. Youtube it. Look for free courses on audio production and engineering. But, very important, use the search function on our forum.

I'd say put in some effort yourself in looking up info and looking up gear. If you have questions after that, you can post em here.
 
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I've been using podium free as my DAW, and I've got several free VSTs. I could probably make do with podium, but the free VST's I've tried don't produce satisfying sounds. I also tried FL studio but didn't like it. I've found that It's too much of a pain to make music without an instrument, so I will be buying a midi keyboard, most likely 88 keys (I'm not sure what my price range is. I might be willing to pay anywhere from $200 to $600, but probably not more than $600). My 6 year old HP pavillion (8GB DDR3 ram, i5 3330 3GHz cpu, 1TB WD HDD, Win8.1) is probably powerful enough to run most of the software in my price range (and I am willing to pay for decent software down the road), but if it isn't, the gaming computer that I'm currently in the process of building should be able to handle it (Asus Maximus IX Hero MB, 16GB 3000MHz C15 Corsair Vengeance DDR4 ram; and I can add more, i7 7700k 4.2GHz quad core, 8 thread cpu, nvidia 1080 ti gpu; probably the evga FTW3, Samsung 960 PRO 500GB SSD for OS and Programs, 1TB WD HDD for storage and backup, Win10). I'm actually not completely inexperienced at using an instrument, but I've mostly played guitar. A guitar, however, is much harder to play, in my experience, than a piano (unfortunately, I have not had enough time with a piano to develop much skill yet). I am familiar with scales and chords and such, and can freestyle a bit.

So the thing that I was calling an external sound card is called an audio interface? Now that I know what it's called, I was able to google it, and it seems like basically a really high end sound card with some other capabilities. I'll probably get one. My price range is probably $400 to $800, but I may experiment with my native sound card for a while after purchasing a midi keyboard and maybe some decent software; at least until I'm better acclimated, and convinced that I can make something decent.

Also, both the term "A.I." and the term "Monitor Speakers" are misleading. A.I. generally stands for Artificial (or Automated) Intelligence. "monitor speakers" bring to mind the terrible speakers that come installed in some desktop monitors. Would an $80 pair of monitor subwoofers be sufficient for a beginner, or should I spring for a $300 set? Also, would any mid to high end headphones work, or is there a specific type that I should look for? (I'll likely use both headphones and monitors)

Ps, sorry about the late reply. I had gone to bed after posting this thread, and had forgotten about it until now. The fact that a small tornado blew through a few days ago, and that I've been busy clearing trees and repairing a fence-line, may have played a role.
 
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I find that statement funny because fl studio is one of the only daws with wait for midi input instead of that stupid precount bullshit they normally use.
I still like other daws more though.
 
I don't have a midi input yet. I don't have extensive experience with fl, but it didn't seem very intuitive or user friendly (though I understand that this is a problem with most music production software).
 
Fl studio is one of the daws you'd use to begin producing, but most people stick to that as their mains since they do not learn other daws.
 
So the thing that I was calling an external sound card is called an audio interface? Now that I know what it's called, I was able to google it, and it seems like basically a really high end sound card with some other capabilities. I'll probably get one. My price range is probably $400 to $800, but I may experiment with my native sound card for a while after purchasing a midi keyboard and maybe some decent software; at least until I'm better acclimated, and convinced that I can make something decent.

Also, both the term "A.I." and the term "Monitor Speakers" are misleading. A.I. generally stands for Artificial (or Automated) Intelligence. "monitor speakers" bring to mind the terrible speakers that come installed in some desktop monitors. Would an $80 pair of monitor subwoofers be sufficient for a beginner, or should I spring for a $300 set? Also, would any mid to high end headphones work, or is there a specific type that I should look for? (I'll likely use both headphones and monitors)

I guess you can call it whatever you want - "external soundcard" is just as valid. I agree that the "AI" abbreviation - without context - is somewhat confusing; "monitor speakers" are, however, very much agreed-upon parlance...

As for what to get – well, there are myriads of threads and articles on this subject. Let's just say that monitors definitely have the biggest impact on your mix decisions, and you shouldn't skimp on them. Shitty speakers are shitty, I don't think beginners should settle for anything less than what they can afford. $300 is still strictly in the low-end territory (you'll get fairly nice headphones for that kind of money though), I'd maybe even save up a bit and spend some more. Of course, the room you put 'em up in is going to limit you in the sense that if you don't do any acoustic treatment, even the best monitors can't really remedy the flaws of it, but that's a whole another subject altogether.
 
Yup. Listen to krushing, and search the stickies (lots of good info there, and many of the eternal questions answered there as well).
 
@Sinept do you have any experience learning to play an instrument? If so it would be wise to decide in addition the number of keys you need, or don't, whether or not you want a keyboard with aftertouch, hammer weighted keys, etc. and 88 keys is overkill in today's era of music making.
 
+krushing "monitor speakers" may be a common term among experienced and enthusiast producers, but I'm fairly certain that the average person (myself previously included) doesn't even know that they exist, and would associate the term "monitor speakers" to "speakers in a monitor". That being said, I'll take your advice and not cheap when I decide to buy a pair. I'll probably start with a decent pair of headphones though. I have no intention of converting my bedroom into a full acoustic studio, and I'm not convinced that I'll need one anytime soon, if at all. I do have an outbuilding which I can retrofit to serve that purpose if the need arises (though that would require me to build or buy another computer as well).

+OGBama as I stated in a previous comment, I play a guitar (two actually, though they both suck and I don't particularly enjoy playing them), and have some minor experience with a piano as well, and can play a few chords and scales on both instruments, as well as freestyle a bit (I cannot, however, read music). I intend to buy an 88 key, as I'd like to have a full range, and experiment with classical pieces as well as modern music. I would very much prefer a keyboard with aftertouch and weighted keys, but my budget is constrained by what I am willing to pay for an instrument when I still lack enough playing experience to make full use of it. I'll buy the best instrument that I'm willing to pay for at the moment (and by moment I mean sometime this autumn or winter, as I'm currently in the process of building a fairly expensive computer), and upgrade later if I feel the need to do so.
 
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