i've posted here before seeking advise on the selection between the yamaha clp-406b and the roland dp990rf. i prefer the sound of the roland which decay more naturally to the sound of the yamaha. but prefer the heavier key touch on the yamaha which is good for finger strength practising.

then i found some posts here regarding the galaxy vintage d which seems to be better sound than the 2 dp. so i'm now decided to go for the yamaha clp-406b and the galaxy vintage d. i asked about the galaxy in my local yamaha and roland dealers(i am in hong kong) but they even dont know its existence! so could anybody here help me out on the following questions.

1. i've checked the vintage d is available on amazon at $139, do i need to select apple os version or win 7 version, or this package already included both versions?

2. people here said better sound and latency can be obtained by using a better sound card, i can only find the usb sound device at my local store.
Creative sound blaster digital music
is it good enough to do the job?

thanks a lot.

Amazon is where I bought it. It comes with both Mac and Windows versions on the DVD.

I'd suggest starting with your current sound card and then buying something new only if you have latency problems. Don't buy something until you know you need it. Excellent policy in digital pianos.

Regarding the soundcard you mention, it's not one of those used by anyone who has mentioned what they use on this forum. The important thing is that it has good ASIO drivers. I don't see any information about that listed in the description. You might do a little research on it before buying.

Normally what people get is the M audio fast track pro, presonus audibox USB, Behringer UCA202, or focusrite 2i2.

thanks gvfarns, very informative reply. good to know that both os versions are included in one package. i will look for the asio driver thing. thanks a lot. this forum is wonderful!

If you are just going to use a software piano, such as galaxy vintage d, why not just buy a CLP 430, or older CLP 3xx which is even cheaper, IMO. What you really care is the keyboard, namely GH3.

I agree with cosun. If you are using a software piano, save your money and just get the cheapest DP with the action you want.

Be sure to get some good headphones too. Ghetto speakers and cans will hinder your enjoyment.

As gvfarns suggest, try using your internal sound card. You'll likely need ASIO4All to reduce the latency.

If you can achieve low latency, that's fine. If not, you'll need an external sound card.

Note: I found no mention of an ASIO driver from Creative for the Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD. If there isn't one, then don't get that box. Choose one of the others.

According to this article it actually doesn't support ASIO, unfortunately. This is backed up by the fine print here which says that ASIO is not supported on external soundcards, although this page is dated Aug. 2010.

Greg.

you guys are just exceptional and obviously with a lot of passion in music! thanks for your comment.
i will try to use the onboard sound card in my laptop first, if the sound quality is not ok then i will turn to the usb sound card again.

I'm based in Hong Kong as well. Try visit Tsang Fook in Jordan or Tom Lee Interzone (the specialist store next to the main Tom Lee store). These will help you get started to know the network of pro audio shops in Hong Kong.

The Galaxy Vintage D may be available at Tsang Fook but I believe it is available for download anyway.

The Sound Blaster interface you mentioned is a premium consumer product, and it may not have the same features as a professional product in terms of compatibility and latency. You may want to look at those interfaces mentioned by gvfarns. You can give the Sound Blaster a try but your results may vary.

thanks for your information James, i called tsang fook today but they said they dont have galaxy vintage d. they have the ivory ii though but is out of stock at the moment.
i've found that the galaxy vintage d is available for download at soundondemand.com, anyone trie it before? is it good to purchase the download version?

A number of people I know have bought the download version. It's exactly the same as the boxed version, so it's fine.

Just be sure to keep a backup copy of the installation file you download in case you ever need to reinstall. And of course keep your istallation key.

For the people that have a creative sound card there is a project called KX project that has an asio driver for it, by the way it is an excelent driver on this site:

http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/down.php

have fun

Best Regards

Beco

i ordered the ivory ii grand piano at Tsang fook today, but need to wait for 1 to 2 week because its out of stock now. its price the same as on the internet $2700. so it saves me the delivery cost, thanks!