Sound quality issues

So, I'm running my synth to my mixer, then into my audiophile. Whenever I record my synth onto Ableton the sound just looses it's beefyness, and just generaly sounds more shit. It's definately somthing to do with my soundcard, and I have no idea how to fix it. I thought I might be able to eq the warmness back in, but it's not just an eq problem, plus im not skilled enough to get it sounding perfect. Any suggestions.

maybe your soundcard is shit? i used to get a similar(ish) problem with a built-in card.

what kind of synth?

the audiophile shouldn't be a problem.. it's a great wee card.

check the sample rate of your input.

check your input level.

try some subtle compression and a bit of eq.

the reason i ask what type of synth, is that if you're recording analog to digital, you will be reducing the frequency range at the top end by a good long way.

while this doesn't affect the audible portion of the sound, it removes the hypersonics, and thus anmy harmonic interference caused by these, right down through the freq spectrum.

one way to combat this is to record at 24/96. doesn't solve the problem entirely, but goes a good long way to retaining the richness of the original analog tone.

basically it's the crux of the analog/digital argument.

this happened to me to, get a soundcard with better a/d converters or get a rackmountable a/d conv.

the synth in question would be a K-Station if i'm not mistaken. so digital VA.

Try the 24/96 recording as PB suggests, and add some gentle compression.

If I use an RME or my Eventide convertors (£6k piece of h/w), 9 times out of 10 they're fine... but if I'm recording my Pro One or CS-60 then no way

those are probably my two most interesting sounding synths, and just going through one stage of conversion, whether it's on my old M-Audio, or my new RME, and you loose at least 60% of the sound

there was some japanese research which suggests this subjective but unquantifiable loss in 'quality' is to do with nonlinear ultrasonic frequencies... basically, frequencies which electrical gear produces well above the range of human hearing, but which affect the subjective nature of sounds we hear and our reactions to them

as soon as you digitize a sound you have to fit it in frames - so unless your ultrasonic frequency divides down directly from 96,000, you're going to get this shutter effect - the frequencies are still there, but they're chaotic... they're known as transient switching frequencies

it's been proven you can't consciously hear whether they're in the audio signal or not, but it has a drastic effect on the quality of the audio you think you're hearing... the nonlinear ultrasonic frequencies also trigger the human stress response

you get this chaotic aliasing effect in all the high frequencies that don't divide perfectly down - even well within the normal hearing range

i don't know about the K Station, but just because a synth uses simple digital architecture doesn't mean its sound is easy to catch... the JD990's are impossible to record properly - even D50's rarely sound as good... they've both got these really fantastic sounding convertors...

not the kind of convertors you'd want in a soundcard of course...

same with an Emu sampler - record the output into a sampler and you lose that Emu magic

get one of these

I record in 24/96 and I suggest that you try that.