Is there ANY high end sound card that is compatible with the Matrox RT.X100 Xtreme Pro?

Is there ANY high end sound card that is compatible with the Matrox
RT.X100 Xtreme Pro?

thanks,

Alex Glaros

 

There is very little compatible. Please specify what high end means to you.

 

PS

Since real high end cards have proprietary drivers, most interested in sound
choose Canopus, whose cards have very high quality on board.

 

Though I am not sure what your idea of "high end sound card" means, there is
a list readily available to anyone, found at the Matrox website in the
System Recommendations section:
http://www.matrox.com/video/support/rtx100xtremepro/rec/sound.cfm If the
list does not hold any cards you would consider to be "high-end" please
provide a more concise definition you would use for that term.

--
Larry Johnson
Digital Video Solutions

http://www.digitalvideosolutions.com
877-227-6281 Toll Free Sales Assistance
386-672-1941 Customer Service
386-672-1907 Technical Support
386-676-1515 Fax

 

As an expert in digital audio, I can assure that none of the matrox site
cards are any where near high end.

 

As we both asked the OP, "what does he consider to be think 'high-end'"?

 

By high end sound cards, I mean the top ones in this list:

http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm

Lynx Studio Technology LynxTwo
Aardvark Direct
Event Darla
Event Gina
Event Layla
DAL CardDeluxe Ex
Lucid ADA1000/PCI24
Lynx Studio Technology LynxONE
Midiman Delta-66
Midiman Delta-1010
Midiman Delta-1010LT

The Soundblaster cards are ranked lower on that web page.

I'd like to have high enough sound quality to produce a commercial
movie.

In the alternative, is it possible to easily disable the Matrox card
and use Premiere without it so that I can add quality audio to the
Premiere audio tracks? Then I would like to enable the card to
continue video editing. It seems that the Matrox breakout box might
make this inconvenient.

thanks,

Alex Glaros

 

I have no knowledge of anyone using any of those particular cards. I can
tell you this. The Matrox RT.X100 has its' own onboard sound system utilized
with both video input and output. The sound from the RT.X100 is passed
through the sound card by using the blue cable and the green cable at the
end of the break-out box cable.

Naturally these are blue/line-in and green/speaker out. Then the user
attaches his speakers to the RT.X100 using the 1/8 inch speaker out on the
card proper. This setup is included not because it is necessary to the
operation of the RT.X100, but is there to allow the user to hear what they
are doing in Premiere on their desktop speaker system rather than just an
outboard monitor. Other than that a sound card is not even necessary outside
of the need for audio creation/editing purposes in other programs, and with
Smartsound Quicktracks for Premiere Pro with that software.

Even though Matrox has some cards listed as being either compatible or
incompatible respectively, there are a few from the past and present lists
that give erroneous finding under certain circumstances. For instance, their
list for RT.X100 incompatible sound cards includes the CMedia High
Definition Audio (CMI9880) which is onboard the Asus P5AD2-Premium
mainboard. My company built a system using the P5AD2-Premium mainboard and
the RT.X100 card not long after it was added to the compatibility list. I
forgot to mention this incompatibility to the person who actually built the
system and installed the RT.X100. When he tested the system the sound was
fine on the desktop speakers and with extended testing we could find no
problems whatsoever.

My advice to you would be to purchase the sound card you want. Follow the
compatibility guide for the mainboard you have, and match the slot Matrox
placed some other sound card in. That usually means the slot in question is
not sharing with the RT.X100 card. Over the years we have followed this
method by using mainboards tested by Matrox for installation of both Canopus
and Pinnacle capture cards. All we did was match the slot for the capture
card and sound card, etc. respectively and the systems worked just fine. I
still have at least four of them sitting at other desks here in the office
where I am now sitting.

Just my 2 cents.
--
Larry Johnson
Digital Video Solutions

http://www.digitalvideosolutions.com
877-227-6281 Toll Free Sales Assistance
386-672-1941 Customer Service
386-672-1907 Technical Support
386-676-1515 Fax

 

alex_glaros wrote...

What is your proposed workflow that the "quality" of the
computer sound card has anything to do with the "quality"
of the edited sound track(s)?

 

Typically the sound card has no real effect on your sound during the
editing process. It will effect what it will sound like while you do
previews through your computer, but thats about it.

If you are aiming at a commercial market film, would you not be doing
your sound recording on external mikes and perhaps capturing it onto
something high end like a DAT recorder or, feel free to chime in here
folks, something like xxxx.

If your going to do significant editing to the sound, perhaps you might
want to have a seperate sound editing box and associated equipment set up?

 

I'm a newbie in this field so I hope I'm understanding your question.
I think you are saying that the audio going into my 1394 card from my
camera (along with the video) never goes through the sound card and is
not altered by the sound card at all, but instead gets directly copied
from the camera. Then, when the sound tracks are output to a final
form (DVD for example) they are still not affected by the sound card,
but instead get directly copied to DVD.

Howerver I'm a musician and will create my own music for my projects.
So I must have the analog sound from my piano be converted to digital
by a high quality sound card.

Is the Soundblaster Audigy 4 good enough for such a purpose? Or can I
turn the Matrox card on and off during a project conveniently enough to
allow me to have my high end sound card work with Premiere sometimes
and then switch back?

Thanks,

Alex Glaros

 

(Places finger on nose) Exacatamundo!

If you work in the digital music are often, they you probably know
exactly what you need.

I believe you still are thinking that your sound card and Premiere will
be working together in any significant way. Once you have created your
digital music soundtrack, you will be importing that file into Premiere.
The heavy lifting from your sound card is all done during the phase
where you, your piano and your sound card create the digital file. (I'm
not a digital music guy, so I'm guessing either Midi or a Wav format?)

 

alex_glaros wrote ...

Exactly so. The computer sound card plays NO part in the capture,
editing and exporting digitial video. It only provides a way for you
to hear the audio through your speakers while editing the video.

That is a completely separate issue that actually has nothing to do
with video.

Nothing that Creative makes is considered even semi-professional
in audio circles. They have some features (like internal resampling
everything) that makes them particularly unpopular among people
who value good audio.

If you compare the lists from Arny and from Matrox, it looks to me
like the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is as good a sound card as Matrox
lists as compatible ON THEIR LIST.

HOWEVER, note that they say "make sure that your card is
DirectSound-compatible..." Remember that the list shows only the
few cards that they have tested. There are certainly more cards that
are just as compatible. Look through Arny's list for cards that support
DirectSound.

I'd seriously consider using an external USB device for serious
sound capture. My favorite is the M-Audio MobilePre USB
Then you can still use your "regular" sound card that is compatible
with the Matrox while editing video, etc.

 

The way I would add some of the analog audio, would be to play music or
sound effects on my keyboard WHILE I'm watching the movie play so that
I can time music and audio sound effects perfectly to the video. These
would be .wav files written in real time on one of the Premiere audio
tracks. Another example would be voice overs. I would watch the
video output while recording my voice onto one of the Premiere audio
tracks so that I can exactly synchronize the audio to the video.
Don't my sound card and Premiere have to work together in these types
of situations?

Thanks,

Alex Glaros

 

alex_glaros wrote ...

Then you have painted yourself into a corner. By choosing to use
the Matrox RT.X100, you have condemned yourself to using an
audio-unfriendly video editing system. Do you have another
computer that you can use for audio?

 

You could play your timeline back onto screen or external monitor, which
perhaps would allow you to use sound card of your choice without
interference to play and capture you keyboard inputs.

 

The Audigy models have been approved by Matrox for use with the RT.X100. No
need to turn off the RT.X100 during use of midi input to Audigy. Happy
editing.
--
Larry Johnson
Digital Video Solutions

http://www.digitalvideosolutions.com
877-227-6281 Toll Free Sales Assistance
386-672-1941 Customer Service
386-672-1907 Technical Support
386-676-1515 Fax

 

Adobe Premiere has live voice over. Since the midi is also output as an
audible wave signal through the sound card you should hear whatever you do
within Premiere. As I remember the Audigy has simultaneous wave recording of
midi input. Keep any audio you record at no less than 44kHz stereo.
--
Larry Johnson
Digital Video Solutions

http://www.digitalvideosolutions.com
877-227-6281 Toll Free Sales Assistance
386-672-1941 Customer Service
386-672-1907 Technical Support
386-676-1515 Fax

 

Sorry Richard, he has not painted himself into a corner. By virtue of
Premiere Pro's voice over, which is only a live input from the sound card to
a temp file which is then imported into the Project Bin for use. Just like
the audio files created by Smartsound Quicktracks for Premiere Pro.