review: soundblaster mp3+ usb sound card

[pookyhead34]

Last weekend, I bought ($59.99 at CompUSA) a SoundBlaster MP3+ USB

sound card. (http://www.soundblaster.com/products/mp3+/tour.asp) I

primarily wanted it for the line in capabilities, so I could record

from MD's, LP's and cassettes onto my laptop which only has a mic in

jack. Having a decent line out and optical out was also a draw for me,

if I want to do non-NetMD recordings. It also has optical in, but as

all my digital stuff that has output is coaxial, it doesn't do much

for me.

Size-wise: it's slightly larger than a NetMD unit itself -- about the

height and depth, maybe 150% the length of it. It has a clip so you

can attach it to a laptop's LCD and also comes with velcro strips if

you want to attach it to the side of your computer.

Software: this was a pain in the rear. It took several tries fiddling

with settings and reboots before I could get any software to record

from the line in. CoolEdit2000 does *not* record from the line in on

it, no matter how much you fiddle with it -- I'm not sure why it does

not function like a "normal" USB audio device. TotalRecorder Pro,

however, does work with it, which is good enough for me. Playing

*back* audio, through it, was no problem from the get-go.

This was operator error -- I didn't RTFM in CoolEdit. All is well now.

Sound quality: Playback quality is great, no coloring of any specific

frequencies that I can hear. Recording quality is as good as the

playback. The optical output is fixed at 48KHz, though, so if you're

suspicious about that kind of thing, you might as well use the analog

output. EDIT - Again, I didn't RTFM. You can select either 44.1 or 48 for optical out. My MZ-N1 doesn't do track marks from the optical output

anyway, so analog is better for automatic track marking. The separate

headphone amp is very nice, powerful but quiet. Have not tested the

mic in yet.

It seems to use minimal CPU power, which I've heard is a problem with

the Extigy. No problems using it on either my laptop's USB 1.1 or USB

2.0 inputs.

All in all, I'm happy with it. It's also really cheap. For me, it

was a better choice than the Xitel MD I/O because it had more inputs

and outputs, was slightly cheaper, and was available locally (and more

readily returnable if need be) instead of buying it online. Ironically

enough, Xitel's N. American office is here in Austin, TX, yet stores

here don't carry the MD I/O.

[pookyhead34]

It also seems to have very good digital I/O. See below from the alt.audio.minidisc newsgroup:

From: pookyhead34@operamail.com (Michael Conner)

Newsgroups: alt.audio.minidisc

Subject: Re: soundblaster mp3+ usb review

References: <d3e43c9c.0307170737.2ea5e51d@posting.google.com> <1AARa.246713$nr.9820648@twister.southeast.rr.com>

NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.27.27.13

Message-ID: <d3e43c9c.0307171627.34684df7@posting.google.com>

"StArSeEd" <starseed@sds.cc.nospam> wrote in message news:<1AARa.246713$nr.9820648@twister.southeast.rr.com>...

> Michael Conner:

> > <snip>

>

> Any chance you can do an S/PDIF loopback recording test? I'm curious as to how badly it

> butchers incoming S/PDIF signals, if at all (ie, whether it limits+resamples them ala the

> SBLive! or keeps them intact ala the Audigy/Audigy2).

>

> The easiest and cleanest way to notice the difference between what it's fed and what it records

> is to saturate the heck out of a 48kHz wave file (for my SBLive 5.1 Platinum S/PDIF loopback

> test, I used +18dB), play it back using foobar2000 or Winamp with the kernelstreaming output

> plugin, and record from S/PDIF-In at 48kHz. Find a particularly nasty spot in the original,

> zoom in 1:1, screenshot. Find the exact same spot in the recorded wave, zoom in 1:1, tweak the

> viewable area until it's as close to being lined up as possible to the original, screenshot.

> Overlay the two screenshots and note any major differences.

>

> http://starseed.dyn.dhs.org/images/kxforum...m/spdifloop.gif (red=orig,black=rec)

>

> If the results are similar to mine, gotta give its digital I/O a big thumbs-down..

>

> -StArSeEd

It actually seems to do a decent job with S/PDIF signals! I followed

your instructions to the letter (used foobar2k w/kernel streaming for

playback.)

Saturated original wave:

http://www.geocities.com/minidisc_junge/saturation.gif

Loopback wave: http://www.geocities.com/minidisc_junge/loopback.gif

The two screenshots layered together:

http://www.geocities.com/minidisc_junge/lo...dsaturation.gif

Thanks for the tip! -M

[Guest Anonymous]

My MZ-N1 doesn't do track marks from the optical output  

anyway, so analog is better for automatic track marking. The separate  

headphone amp is very nice, powerful but quiet. Have not tested the  

mic in yet.  

I grabbed one of these recently, and am also using it to pipe tunes to my MZ-N1. I am using the foobar2000 media player with the "insert silence after each track" plug in, which adds a few seconds of digital silence after each track. With this and Synch Rec enabled on the N1, I get track marks.

You should be able to get it to work too.

I agree with the rest of your review. I am very pleased with mine so far. It was initially a bit buggy with Win2000 on my lap top, but the latest driver has improved that immensely.

Hope this helps.

Den

[tmeg]

I can not get it to record digital recordings to the PC, the SCMS seems to be active, although I thought that the PC does not use this system

Any ideas?

[yznogud]

I use this sound board with a N707, and i have to say that it works fine. If the SB is set to Digital/Analog then my N707 does not trackmark any song but when i record to the N707 with the SB set to Digital Only (the little button beside the USB connection) the trackmarks are added with no problem. Is it because my unit is diferent from yours?

To tmeg:

Isn't the SCMS thing active already in your source, thus not passing digital info to your PC? I'm yt to try this in my SB.

[AlphaGator]

It also seems to have very good digital I/O.  See below from the alt.audio.minidisc newsgroup:

[snip]

> The easiest and cleanest way to notice the difference between what it's fed and what it records

> is to saturate the heck out of a 48kHz wave file (for my SBLive 5.1 Platinum S/PDIF loopback

> test, I used +18dB), play it back using foobar2000 or Winamp with the kernelstreaming output

> plugin, and record from S/PDIF-In at 48kHz.  Find a particularly nasty spot in the original,

> zoom in 1:1, screenshot.  Find the exact same spot in the recorded wave, zoom in 1:1, tweak the

> viewable area until it's as close to being lined up as possible to the original, screenshot.

> Overlay the two screenshots and note any major differences.

>  

> http://starseed.dyn.dhs.org/images/kxforum...m/spdifloop.gif (red=orig,black=rec)

>  

> If the results are similar to mine, gotta give its digital I/O a big thumbs-down..

>  

> -StArSeEd

It actually seems to do a decent job with S/PDIF signals!  I followed

your instructions to the letter (used foobar2k w/kernel streaming for

playback.)

Saturated original wave:

http://www.geocities.com/minidisc_junge/saturation.gif

Loopback wave: http://www.geocities.com/minidisc_junge/loopback.gif

The two screenshots layered together:

http://www.geocities.com/minidisc_junge/lo...dsaturation.gif

Thanks for the tip!  -M

Hi,

The above links no longer work. Did anyone save them? This looks like a great product and the price is right, but it's only good for me if it has bit-perfect I/O with both 44.1 and 48 kHz sources. Has anyone confirmed that it's I/O is bit-perfect at either sampling rate? (I would use this mainly for DAT instead of MD.) I understand that it now works flawlessly with the latest versions of Macintosh OS X (although it is, of course, unsupported).

If anyone did save those graphics, could you please re-post them?

Thanks, AG