TerraTec 512i better audio-card than SoundBlaster Live???

[Blomberg]

Here's a review of the Terratec contra one of the Creative Soundblasters. Haven't read it myself yet.

French review

Babelfish translation

Also, I heard from a rather questionable source that the s/pdif output of the 512i doesn't work and that it was a hardware problem. Don't really know what that's about, surely they must have fixed it by now.

[GadgetMaster]

@Seer

@Gadget,
I couldn't agree more with you... Maybe it's because I've been online since 1986/87 (Fidonet mostly), but netiquette seems to be a forgotten art... Ah well... Time to start counting the gray hair now eh ?
 

Yeah! I guess it is a  forgotten art :-(

The grey hairs have definately started creeping in. Yet I refuse to count  them (in denial?) ;-)  :-D

[seer]

The grey hairs have definately started creeping in. Yet I refuse to count them (in denial?)  ;-)  :-D

Or maybe lack of them ? Or better said, lak of hair at all  ;-)

[iamaboringperson]

Yeah! I guess it is a forgotten art

 :lol:

[Teemu]

I wonder, what's the difference between "soundblaster compatible MIDI interface" (which this card has) and the "General MIDI" of my keyboard?

I guess "soundblaster compatible MIDI interface" means that the connector is in the PC gameport format, as opposed to the standard MIDI connector format.

[SlimJim]

I guess "soundblaster compatible MIDI interface" means that the connector is in the PC gameport format, as opposed to the standard MIDI connector format.

 
Ah...Might well be it. Have never seen those MIDI connectors
on a soundcard. Must be looking in the wrong price-range ;-)
 Do one need some adapter to use the game-port for this
(apart from the cable keyboard <-> soundcard having fitting
ends)?
.
SlimJim

[iamaboringperson]

Helgis75 wrote:
Well, great stuffs that they are cheap..:-)

you dont want cheap... you want quality.... dont you?
 :-)

[Blomberg]

@ SlimJim

General MIDI is a (old) standard for MIDI "instruments" (sounds) and their respective part and bank numbers.

Read more

Re: MIDI connectors on sound cards

Most "normal" sound cards only have the standard joystick/MIDI port with the 15 pin D-sub connector.
Some middle end cards have a set (or more) of MIDI connectors (the round DIN thingies), usually In, Out and Thru.
The high end audio cards often have no MIDI functionality at all, and instead rely on people having separate MIDI interfaces (PCI, USB, joy/MIDI port).

Some keyboards have a serial interface that connects directly to the joystick/MIDI port.

[Teemu]

Do one need some adapter to use the game-port for this(apart from the cable keyboard <-> soundcard having fitting ends)?

You'll need an adapter cable with a 15-pin plug on one end to fit into the gameport and two standard MIDI plugs on the other to fit into the keyboard's in & out connectors. I haven't looked myself, but I've heard these sort of cables should be widely available from computer and music stores.

[SlimJim]

@Blomberg
 
Thanks for the info. No serial interface on my keyboard
though.
 
 What I find a little perplexing is that the interface transfer
only codes through the connector. It's up to the
receiver to interpret those codes (which it should be
capable of if it's MIDI-compatible I suppose :-)). But I would
take it the instruments recorded in the computer is defined
by soundsfiles stored there...
 Isn't it a problem to get the samples in the computer and in
the keyboard to sound exactly the same? (GrandPiano can
sound different depending on what brand of
keyboard you have, can't it?)
 Or am I totally out in the blue here?
.
SlimJim

[iamaboringperson]

 :-( nobody has answered my question yet  :-(




can ya get big'n'nasty RCA sockets on that sound card

[SlimJim]

Read the specs in the link I posted above. Don't think I saw
anything about RCA, but then again i don't know what that is,
so you better go check for yourself :-)
.
SlimJim

[Blomberg]

@SlimJim

When you record MIDI on your computer, it uses the internal sound module of your sound card, not your keyboards sounds.

If you want to record the *sound* of your keyboard, you have to connect its audio out to the line-in on your sound card as you would with any other instrument.
This produces an audio track - a long sample which is uneditable as opposed to MIDI events you *can* edit.

You can also program a sequencer (eg. a computer) to "play" your keyboard via MIDI. Or control a slave keyboard (or several) from a master keyboard.

MIDI is a system designed to send 'events' (notes, data) between a master and a slave, not sounds. It simply triggers a sound in another sound module.

I have a simple MIDI controller keyboard (no sounds), which I use to record into a software synth/sampler, and the sounds are then rendered by the software which produces the audio output.

[SlimJim]

I have written >400 posts...
...
...
 
 
... Ah what the hell:
 
"Wohoo!"
 
.
SlimJim

[SlimJim]

@Blomberg
 
So, then there is, as I said, a discrepancy between the sound
of the keyboard and the sound in the computer. Thanks.
.
SlimJim

[Blomberg]

@SlimJim

I'm not entirely sure if conforming to the General MIDI standard also includes using a standardized set of sounds.

Congrats on post 400, though I'm sure Helgis will pass you in a weeks time  :-D