Are the following sound cards suitable for the REW?

**Blaser** · **10-25-06, 03:06 AM**

I have problems with the built in sound card of my computer... It can't read the Radioshack SPL meter input. So I am wondering if the "Soundblaster Audigy value" soundcard would work. Has anybody tried it?

Same question for the Creative live internal soundcard.

Appreciate your kind feedbacks!!

Thanks

**Blaser** · **10-25-06, 02:20 PM**

Come on Guys!!! This should not be very complicated....I know the Audigy2 or soundblaster live 24 are working but I cannot find them in Egypt. I only find the Audigy value, but don't know if this will work!

**JohnM** · **10-25-06, 02:33 PM**

No reason they shouldn't.

**Blaser** · **10-25-06, 04:20 PM**

Pls note they are the entry soundblaster models... This is why I am wondering!

**Snookboy** · **10-27-06, 07:57 AM**

That's a good question. Does the quality of the sound card make any serious difference in your results?

**JohnM** · **10-27-06, 08:00 AM**

Generally no, even a poor soundcard has performance (S/N, distortion) that far exceeds the loudspeakers and mic/SPL meter and nowadays even the most budget cards have very good performance.

**Snookboy** · **10-27-06, 08:16 AM**

I thought as much. Thanks John.

**lcaillo** · **10-27-06, 08:44 AM**

Quote:

JohnM wrote:

Generally no, even a poor soundcard has performance (S/N, distortion) that far exceeds the loudspeakers and mic/SPL meter and nowadays even the most budget cards have very good performance.

Sometimes true, sometimes not. The card in my dell notebook, the onboard sound on my wife's dell desktop, and the sound in my son's new Toshiba notebook are all noisy and erratic in response. You can certainly calibrate around it, but the performance in my outboard Tascam US122 is far superior to those above and several other cards in my machines at work. Considering that most folks do not have calibrated mics and use generic correction for the meters, it may not make an important difference, but for my purposes, it is more important to know that each part of the signal chain is as good as it can be.

**Blaser** · **10-27-06, 03:17 PM**

Thank you Guys for your interventions, but my original question is: does this soundcard support Full Duplex operation?

FYI, I tried to run the REW from both my IBM R51 and from my desktop, but I could never have a reading on the computer from the Radioshack digital SPL meter. I think it is difficult for a brand new SPL meter to have a failure

. The Audigy Soundblaster Value is available at a store near me and is not very expensive.

It is also possible to ask my question another way: Did anyone of you have problems reading SPL meter with standard onboard soundcards?

Thank you for helping!

Blaser

**brucek** · **10-27-06, 06:34 PM**

Quote:

but I could never have a reading on the computer from the Radioshack digital SPL meter.

Were you confident that you were using the correct cabling?

To check the meter, simply use an RCA cable and plug it into the AUX or CD input of your receiver and talk - it's a microphone. You'll know if it's working or not..

brucek

**Blaser** · **10-27-06, 11:46 PM**

BRUCEK,
Very useful hint!!! Thank you, I am now sure the RS meter is perfectly working. I am also sure that the soundcard of my desktop support full Duplex operation according to RMAA 5.5 program. Nevertheless, it fails during the loopback test (playback and recording... This need more investigation from my side... FYI my soundcard is realteck, and normally it should work according to my readings in this excellent forum... Do not bother yourself, I will keep you updated...

Thans everybody!

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