Virtual Sound Canvas? How does it fare?

[Tom]

Other than that Automatic Recording Level business of the Audigy (which I bypass when I record), I think the 24-bit Sound Blaster Audigy is an excellent digital card.  I use both an Audigy and Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for all my digital recording...and have for years.  The Audigy seems to be a quieter card than the Santa Cruz.  I don't know what the specs say, but in use, I've noticed that's the case for me.

I don't play a lot of games, so PC playback isn't a big issue.  I do create a ton of DVD's in where sound qualtiy IS a big issue.  The Audigy I currently have has features that are already beyond my ability to hear, so anything more wouldn't really benefit me.  I'm presently playing with creating my own 5.1 surround tracks (using Ulead's MediaStudio Pro 8 ), and my Audigy works just fine for that.

I use a SONY 64-bit DTS/Dolby Digital surround mixer to listen to the results -- not a sound card.

[Alistair]

Cool Edit/Adobe Audition can be used to remove background noise, so it's no longer a big deal.

I really believe the SB cards change sound characteristics- any bass and treble makes the recording different from what you want.

Besides, I believe external sound cards are the way to go. Less noise because it's not in the PC, and they're really not so expensive anyway, especially compared to Audigy's.

- Alistair

[Zemus]

I really believe the SB cards change sound characteristics- any bass and treble makes the recording different from what you want.

If you look at the measurements I made in this thread, you'll see the sound characteristics of the Audigy 2 (and probably Audigy as well) change only if you record with "what u hear" and move the bass and treble sliders away from 50% (or turn on any other processing such as EAX):
http://www.queststudios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1523

Using an external box for recording is definitely better than an internal one as you don't have as much interference and you have room for better connectors than those minijacks.

[Rhizome]

Has anyone found the EAX patch/parameters that sound like the Sound Canvas? I've tried making my own one that sounds better than the one WinAmp adds in and I can also use it in my games, but it's no where near perfect.

[jbltecnicspro]

Has anyone found the EAX patch/parameters that sound like the Sound Canvas? I've tried making my own one that sounds better than the one WinAmp adds in and I can also use it in my games, but it's no where near perfect.

I believe that the General User Soundfont package has a separate Sound Canvas reverb/chorus parameter change for EAX.  Don't have the link with me right now, but if you google "General User Soundfont," it's one of the first pages (if not, THE first page) that shows up on the search.

[Rhizome]

I believe that the General User Soundfont package has a separate Sound Canvas reverb/chorus parameter change for EAX.

The parameters it sets sound brilliant! Too bad the MS GS Wavetable doesn't get EAX added to it if you set EAX to MIDI only (you have to set it to wave if you want to use it on that midi device)  :?

[jbltecnicspro]

The soundfont itself sounds awesome too.  I recommend anyone here with a Sound Blaster Live or higher give it a shot just for fun.  The choir sounds are fantastic.  Be warned that you may need to update your drivers to get it working good - other wise some instruments will sound weird and out of tune.