Audio In Vegas...How to get clear ACD quality sound out ??

P

plainman007

Well-known member
When we work with vegas how do we play a file and hear it in its true stereo clarity ? Let me simplify my question. What is the route to get the clearest stereo sound from out of a computer when using vegas. Also does playing a wav file from a computer hard disk sound equal in quality to that same wav file being played from an audio CD and played from a cd player. Hypothetically lets assume we had a denon stereo amplifier hooked up to 2 speakers of high resolution. Then we have a mysong.wav audio file on the sysytem HD and the very same mysong.wav burnt onto an audio cd through nero or similar ACD software. Now we hook up the computer's stereo out to the denon amp and play out, then try hooking up a good audio cd player to the same denon system and play the mysong.wav from the audio cd. Which will sound better ? Most people ive spoken to say the ACD player will sound better. So is there a way to ensure ACD player quality sound from a computer. Is this dependant on the audio card ??
 
plainman007 said:
So is there a way to ensure ACD player quality sound from a computer. Is this dependant on the audio card ??
Click to expand...
It depends on the quality of your computer sound card, namely it's digital-analog convertor. A cheap 50 dollar soundcard will sound relatively worse compared to an high end audiocard used for professional productions.
If your Denon has an digital input then it's easier, you can attach a digital output of your cheap soundcard to the Denon digital input and let the D-A translation being done by the Denon.
 
There happens to be no digital input on stereo only amplifiers. Digital & Coaxial etc come only on the hometheatre amplifiers which have 5.1 sound. What about pure stereo. Actually people nowadays watch dvd movies etc on their pc itself. Its becoming a known tradition with even hollywood dvd's offering online features etc in the menu. How do these pc's handle sound ? Admitted it is the onus of the sound card. But will a $120 card like the M audio card which has only stereo capability handle this well. Can it beat/match the quality of a cd player. Only then can one actually judge how their output and finetunings would be when they cut to a dvd and play it on a dvd player.
 
I have an M-Audio Delta 410 soundcard that I use with Vegas for stereo and as well 5.1 surround monitoring my film projects. Six analog outputs (3 stereo pairs) of the Delta card are connected to the discrete analog inputs of a NAD Dolby Digital receiver (so the surround encoding processor of the NAD are by-passed. The NAD has two speakers-sets connected: a stereo set (JBL monitors, studio quality) and a good quality Mirage 5.1 speakerset. Both kind of Vegas projects (stereo and 5.1) sound really great. There is no way the sound quality is lower compared to a normal dvd-player hooked to an amplifier in the analog way.
As I've said, it all depends on the quality of your soundcard that does the D-A conversion. An average audiocard in the music/homestudio market will do the job for you without compromises.
 
OK the reason im asking this question is because i had earlier bought a system (one thats still being used) which has an MSI motherboard with a P4 2.66 ghz processor. Ive not put an add on sound card or video card to this machine. It has a basic headphone & mic type pins out on the front and a similar pair of pins on the rear of the CPU. When u listen to Vegas playing a wav file etc or even a CD you can hear electrical interferences especially when moving the mouse and when theres a search for a wav file on the hard disk. You can actually hear a electrical whining noise in the back. Especially if you click some other application when the song is running in media player or vegas. Is this because the sound included on the board is of a very basic type meant to only handle voice on yahoo etc ?? Im not cheapie on buying an audio card but just trying the understand the hows and whys.
 
I don't hear any electrical interference via my M-Audio soundcard. If you hear that kind of noise via the cheap standard (built in) soundcard then I think it's saying a lot of the quality of that sounddevice. You don't have that noise with a good soundcard.
 
Ex. I had vegas open on that system and rendered. I could hear the HDD doing its crazy work thru the headphone. A mild electrical screeching. Its most likely that the inbuilt sound is cheap and colored. When the circuit board is not well planned (cheap) a lot of electrical interference can jump off a pcb and affect nearby circuit lines to create these noises. I wonder how the newer orginal intel boards which claim 5.1 dolby digital certified sound perform. But when i put in an audio card into my machine i hope the signal is not going to come thru the same path (with screeching) and then go into the audio card. Im assuming when u put in a stand alone audio card, its accessing sound from an untarnished interface on the motherboard. Otherwise the same interference would go thru the audio card too right ?
 
Last edited:
I don't think you'd hear the interference when you connect the digital output of the intel 5.1 sound at the motherboard to an external amplifier.

As I said, you will get clean sound with a separate soundcard, that's my experience with the M-Audio and also earlier with an Emagic Audiowerk2 card.
 
My new system im planning is with this intel motherboard whichadvertises onboard dolby 5.1. But i think output comes at the board end as 5.1 analogue rca type pins. The sound would be clear from these or do i have to invest in a sound card for this new machine's board too ?
 
Sorry, I can't predict it. But I am sure of is that Intel won't invest in a high end audio chipset etc. for their motherboards, as 98% of their customers don't bother about that. I suggest you wait and see/hear how it's working. You can always add a new soundcard to your system later.
Or do what my computer has: a cheap card that came with the pc for internetaudio, game audio, etc. And the M-Audio card for my serious music and film work.
 
So even on this board i could probably try it out and then go for an add on card if neccesary. The thing is that on intel's website they seem to be promoting the cards sound features as one of the main benefits. They even claim its high definition sound and talk about these cards being used for high fidelity studio sound reproduction in homes and business environments. They also say theve build discrete circuitry for dolby 5.1 with no discoloration of sound. Lets see what it turns out to be. But i just hope adding a card can completely bypass any ill effects of the onboard sound.
 
plainman007 said:
So even on this board i could probably try it out and then go for an add on card if neccesary. The thing is that on intel's website they seem to be promoting the cards sound features as one of the main benefits. They even claim its high definition sound and talk about these cards being used for high fidelity studio sound reproduction in homes and business environments. They also say theve build discrete circuitry for dolby 5.1 with no discoloration of sound. Lets see what it turns out to be. But i just hope adding a card can completely bypass any ill effects of the onboard sound.
Click to expand...


What Intel thinks is high def sound and what audio/video pros think is high def may be two things. Besides its their responsibility to market their products to the best of their abilities and its your responsibility as a buyer to make sure you don't get something you can't use.

The background noises you spoke of in earlier posts are notorious on integrated motherboard sound. I never use the included sound features. If you want the ultimate go with an RME card and lightpipe ADAT output to outboard AD / DA. Its expensive but you won't be lacking for multitrack capabilities when coupled with some good software like Vegas. I've used RME cards since 2000 and they are quality hardware and driver combinations through and through.

http://www.rme-audio.de/english/index.htm
 
RME ?? Lol just think how backward my place must be. They have not even heard of M audio. If i ask them for RME they would think im crazy. But i think ill at least try for an Maudio card. Any other brands i can look for after avoiding Creative ?
 
plainman007 said:
RME ?? Lol just think how backward my place must be. They have not even heard of M audio. If i ask them for RME they would think im crazy. But i think ill at least try for an Maudio card. Any other brands i can look for after avoiding Creative ?
Click to expand...

That's true. You pretty much have to buy RME stuff off the web and at some of the better music stores too perhaps. Other than creative I would look at M-Audio for sure. I've had pretty good luck with most of their stuff I've had before except for midi interfaces which had some driver problems. Can't think of anything else at the moment.

I thought of one other thing you might try. Look for "ground loops" which might be causing the background noise. This will be some ground isolation problem between where you are getting your power for your computer and where you are getting your power for your audio playback equipment (amp and speakers). One very quick way to see if this solves the problem is to see if your speakers are powered by a supply with 3 pins or 2 pins. If 3 pins, put on a 3 pin to 2 pin adapter (you can get them from Home Depot), plug it back in and see if you still have the "background noise". Another way is to plug the speaker amp into another wall socket through another surge protector/spike filter. That might just fix the problem. I never really tried very hard with my onboard motherboard's audio but you never know--it could work. Sometimes changing a driver out to a newer one can fix a problem too. Try everything.
 
Just add to this..I use my desktop for both editing in Vegas and for sound work using Protools M-powered. I use a 1010 soundcard and a good mixer. But to really get rid of noise is to always have a line conditioner in your system. I use 2 tripplite line conditioners for my basic setup to the computers and a furman PL-plus to protect my rack. 60cycle noise and buzzes are common...especially in urban areas like apartments and condo's since they share the common input into the building. But having these conditioner will help regulate the electrical into you system and also create a clean voltage. Not to mention protect you from spikes and other nasty jolts. You can find used Tripplite LC's on ebay for a very small price compared to what they are new. Furman's can be found a quality music shops or online. They are not that expensive and alot better than those cheap powerstrips that really don't do much. As for other cards besides RME or M-audio...some have used EMU 0404 card but it is the same company as creative but for the music side of the business vs creative is for the gamer's side.
 
Last edited:
Smithy > what mixer do you use ? is it digital or analogue ? I saw a good yamaha analogue mixer the other day with built in dsp processors (echo, reverb, chorus etc). Can that be used for an edit suite like Vegas ?
 
I use analog Sony MXP-210 mixer...but If were to go buy one for control vegas I would look into either Mackie Control Universal, M-Audio ProjectI/O or Tascam Fw-1884.
 
Digital not Analogue.

Digital not Analogue.

Digital...Has Mackie protocol built into sony vegas software so you can control vegas using the mixer vs using the mouse. Also the M-audio and Tascam can use the Mackie protocol. All are controled via firewire.
 
Why would someone want to control vegas thru the mixer. Or do you mean instead of fiddling with on screen sliders etc we can work with the actual hardware mixer which will affect the sliders on-screen ? This should be useful for audio mixing yes ? Does it help during 5.1 mixing ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top