Best way to eliminate noise in a sound card? 2

[dalchri]

I would like to purchase a sound card good enough for making recordings on our computer but from previous experience, I found many to have noises from the computer in them such as the CPU fan, HD, etc...

Are you ultimately limited by the quality of your motherboard if it is noisy or can any motherboard noise be overcome by something such as proper grounding?

Since all sound cards are at least 16-bit which is CD quality, is there any reason to buy an expensive one?

If the more costly sound cards do have less noise, is there anyway for me to tell the noisy ones from the quiet ones other than by price alone?

How does one properly ground the sound card and equipment attached to it?

Thank you for any suggestions!

 

[nicforrest]

Check out...

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/audigy/

Usually, people will not notice too much interferance with their sound cards, but for recording, it's like using a dictaphone in place of a Shure microphone attached to a mixing desk. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for... The cheaper ones will do the job, but the quality WILL be reduced. Just think of a home stereo... Generally speaking, more expensive means better sounding!!!
You can't really ground a sound card, the noise (if it's coming from the card itself) is due to the quality of the components. Probably the easiest way to eliminate all noise from the computer is to install silent fans and maybe look at some noise reduction insulant (not recommended because of heat retention).
Also take into consideration your cabling from the input source ie. the microphone/guitar/whatever... Is it shielded?
As you can see, it's a bloody big can of worms you're opening, I've done it myself & it wasn't cheap... I worked for a long time with cheap solutions though & they worked fine for a long time... Just don't expect perfect studio quality (just remember you can use your computer to clean up the inputs!!!)
Hope I haven't put you off... It's awesomely rewarding when you get things right!!!
Have fun!!!

 

[dalchri]

nicforrest,

Thanks for the link, it looks like a good software/hardware bundle.

I just wanted to clarify on the MB noise issue... I'm pretty sure that the CPU fan and HD noise is internal to the MB and is not being picked up by a mic or input. We tried converting LPs to CD and recording the audio track off a DVD player and the noises were present in both.

I'll have to check on the cabling issue. If it is the motherboard, is there any chance that a higher quality sound card like the Audigy will be better at eliminating the noise from the MB?

I don't know if this is a factor but the sound card that we record on is integrated into the MB.

Thanks again!

 

[kiddpete]

Check this:

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/audigy2NX/

it puts the sound card outside the PC, so it is well isolated from any internal noise or other interference.