Im wondering what is the best quality/cost sound card I can get that has ASIO drivers on it. I''ve found a few on the net, but im on a budget (150-200 candian is my range), and im looking for a few opinions. Thanks!

I was very surprised to find that the nforce2 sound device that is built into my motherboard has ASIO drivers and with a latency of only 1ms!!

Quality seems fine but I only use it for windows sounds as I have a better ASIO card.

But this is only an option if you need a new motherboard aswell!

Look into the Audigy cards (soundblaster.com). Lot's of different classes now to fit your tastes, and being Creative Labs, quality isn't an issue.

I've got an audigy 1 platinum ex, and it's _very_ nice.

[edited by - The Etwinox on September 20, 2003 8:37:15 PM]

Creative makes soundcards for games and homecomputers.. not for musicproducing/sounddesign. The audigy2platinumsupermegawhatever-version just doesn''t have good soundquality compared to for exemple m-audios cheapest cards. One example for a nice card in your price-range: m-audio audiophile 2496 (http://www.m-audio.com/products/m-audio/audiophile.php).

Id suggest you stay AWAY from the Creative cards if you want a professional sound. The Audigy line tends to have noise on the line.

Look into the Echo MIA MIDI card. I think you can get it for about $180. These audio cards are excellent especially for ASIO. You can get the non-midi version for cheaper if you dont need the midi in/out port (in case you have a built in sound card).
You can read up more about the MIA cards at http://www.echoaudio.com and can find them in most large music chains like Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, etc. You might be able to find them for cheaper on EBay of course.

Creative Labs does NOT have any ASIO support so. Stay away. I would recommend the LunaII or AUdiophile-cards

you''re getting into deep water with sound cards, nothing but problems :-) I have one of the Maudio cards from the delta range, they are okay sounding, i`m not too keen on the drivers or the tech support, but its probably the bang for the buck your after :-)

Thanks for the help, ill look into the audiophile cards, looks like what im looking for! (i said look alot)

I use an M-Audio card for professional recording and mixing. I haven't had a single problem with the Audiophile. Excellent choice. =)

-Scott

________
scott b morton
game music composer
www.scottbmorton.com

[edited by - sonicthreadz on September 25, 2003 3:22:03 PM]