Soundcard/Interface buying advice

Hello all.

Basically I need some suggestions of good soundcards that will let me hook up my 8 outs to them. If I had the dough I would get the digi 002 rack but thats about a grand, I was wondering if any of you use anything cheaper that can do the same thing, I heard about the audiophie 2496 with four ins, do any of you use it, is recording four sounds at a time too time consuming? I need something that records at high quality and will let me sync up my mpc with whatever multitrack software I settle for.

I've just been browsing the net for cards and have pretty much answered my own question? ohwell, someone may learn something they didn't know before, I looked at some Terratec cards the EWS88MT and the phase 88 both have 8 ins like the digi but both retail under £300, has anyone used these cards?

a lot of times you can research things on your own
just by using Google & this Forums search feature.

we need more members like u Paulio

ST Audio makes a card with 8 ins, and there's also the M Audio Delta 1010... under a grand. Also you might want to look into getting a used Digi 001

I'm running the EMU 1212m (12 ins/outs) and a Behringer Digital 8. The Digital 8 allows me to run the 8 outs from my MPC to the 8 ins and then the ADAT optical sends it to the EMU 1212M for pristine multi-tracking. Total price $450. The soundcard also has midi in and out and 2 1/4" I/O.

I don't think it can be beat for the money.

thanks for the replies dudes

Djames, I was wondering is that digital 8 called the ADA8000 and if you don't mind explaining some stuff to me................
I don't actually know anything about this ADAT stuff, does the signal running from the digital 8 contain all the seperate track information in just one cable, when recorded on the comp do 8 seperate tracks appear with there own volumes as outputted from the mpc.
Does ADAT give better quality recording, don't you lose the "feel" of analogue. Also is it possible to do the same with just one piece of hardware or is it down to budget.

sorry about the quantity of the questions, you don't have answer them all!

I have the st audio dsp2000 card, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's cheap and provides a lot of IO options, but it's pretty noisy and the drivers aren't exactly perfect.

I suppose most ADAT (interface) solutions are divided into one interface card that you put into your computer and one AD/DA box that you put in your rack. There's only one cable between the AD/DA box and your computer, but you get 8 separate channels of digital audio in/out.

When shopping for interfaces, you will most likely want to use 24 bit (for dynamic response) and at least 96khz sample rate.

paulio wrote:thanks for the replies dudes

Djames, I was wondering is that digital 8 called the ADA8000 and if you don't mind explaining some stuff to me................
I don't actually know anything about this ADAT stuff, does the signal running from the digital 8 contain all the seperate track information in just one cable, when recorded on the comp do 8 seperate tracks appear with there own volumes as outputted from the mpc.
Does ADAT give better quality recording, don't you lose the "feel" of analogue. Also is it possible to do the same with just one piece of hardware or is it down to budget.

sorry about the quantity of the questions, you don't have answer them all!

1) the signal running from the ADA8000 is sent via optical cables from the ADAT I/O on the back to the ADAT I/O on the computer.
2) Yes, it shows up as 8 seperate tracks in your multi-tracking software. I use Nuendo 1.51
3) The quality is excellent and IMO it does not lose the analog feel. You can run up to 24 bit 96 khz, I use 16 bit 48 khz.
4) It is possible to do the same with one piece of gear such as the MOTU 828 firewire and a few others, but the Behringer ADA8000 and the EMU 1212M together only cost around $400. Plus the setup is just like any of the higher end interfaces (a rack to a PCI card) only better because the 1212M has 2 1/4" ins and outs, and MIDI that I run to my mixer so I can record my sound modules from my mixer and control my computer level throuhg the mixer too.

So let's say you have a Mo Phatt and your MPC. You have 8 tracks from the MPC and 2 from the Mo Phatt. Using this setup you can multitrack all 8 of the MPC tracks and also one of the Mo Phatt tracks all at once. I am happy with it.

Hope that helps.

thanks for the help fellas, Im a little closer to figuring out where to go next.
I was wondering Djames if your setup allows you to sync your mpc with Nuendo and do you run it through a mixer aswell as the digi 8 and the emu? or are you refering to the mixer on the mpc. also don't you use your mpc to trigger your sound modules, I looking to get me one of those too. I appreciate your help, I'm at a stage of only having an mpc and recording beats to minidisc, I thought about getting a harddisk recorder but software I think is a better option and I want to be sure Im purchasing the right equipment and not wasting money heading in the wrong direction. got to be sure you know.

No one mentions the RME Multiface - I have it and is a great product. 8 1/4" ins and outs, plus adat, spdif, AES, wordclock - anything you'd ever need, basically. Plus one midi in and out. Very reliable, very good sounding. A little more expensive, (8-900) but worth it in my opinion. Also the echo layla is supposed to have a very good sound and is quite a bit cheaper.

It's not just functionality with these items, if you are concerned about sound realize that a big issue is the quality of the A/D and D/A conversion. Crappy converters = crappy sound. I have looked at this issue on high-end audio forums everywhere, consistently people will say that for those on a low budget (under $550 or so) the layla can't be beat.

If you are going to be using External Sound Modules and VST instruments I would advise that you do some homework on which one of the cards you like the most have the least amount of Latency.

Getting a quality Sound is a beautiful thing, but if the card has a thing for latency you will have a Good Sounding card that can't effectively be used.

Once you start getting into music production more you will discover the things you can do. You may have never even considered using programs such as REASON, Cubase SX, Novation V Station, MOOG

But once you get things running you may want to bring one of these into question and you might find yourself looking for a more suitable sound card.

Take low Latency into consideration before making your final decision.
It could save or cost you a couple more geez down the line.

Just a lil FYI , ya dig.

first of all thanks for everyones input, much appreciated.

cashtill
yeah thats important mos definitly, but how do you know how much latency theres goona be unless you try it also isn't it as much to do with your computers spec. Ideally I want to get pro tools with the digi 002 rack but currently its just to expensive for my budget,

I've heard that you can only run pro tools with pro tools hardware and not with other brand interfaces, do you know if theres any truth in that cos I just spotted an interface from m-audio that looks the business and it doesn't cost alot, I'm also tempted by djames's method/setup.

check out the m-audio beast

http://www.maudio.co.uk/index.php?do=pr ... 63d4eb5c72

I've seen it for £420 at digitalvillage.co.uk or without the breakout box for £230, whereas the digi 002 rack is a grand

P.S. oh yeah whats FYI?

paulio wrote:first of all thanks for everyones input, much appreciated.

cashtill
yeah thats important mos definitly, but how do you know how much latency theres goona be unless you try it also isn't it as much to do with your computers spec. Ideally I want to get pro tools with the digi 002 rack but currently its just to expensive for my budget,

I've heard that you can only run pro tools with pro tools hardware and not with other brand interfaces, do you know if theres any truth in that cos I just spotted an interface from m-audio that looks the business and it doesn't cost alot, I'm also tempted by djames's method/setup.

check out the m-audio beast

http://www.maudio.co.uk/index.php?do=pr ... 63d4eb5c72

I've seen it for £420 at digitalvillage.co.uk or without the breakout box for £230, whereas the digi 002 rack is a grand

P.S. oh yeah whats FYI?

For Your INformation = FYI

Doesn't the digi 002 rack have 4 mic preamps? Do you need this? If not, you're paying for stuff you don't need. I think it would be a big mistake for a new user to go the pro tools route. 3 years ago a mac was the move, now PC is very stable and much cheaper. If you go pro tools you are going to be missing out on a lot the cool stuff you can do on PC, since Pro Tools doesn't really support 3rd party products. Yeah I know the 002 is shiny and I know they have lots of marketing but the up and comers these days are on PC with Nuendo or Samplitude or even Logic 5.5. The best cards for PC are not always heavily marketed. The rme multiface is a better choice for you I think, I get a consistent 3ms latency no matter how much crap I'm running. Also Lynx cards, and again, the Layla. Also, Steinberg makes a version of the multiface that's about $100 bucks cheaper, called Nuendo Audiolink or something. Don't buy because something "looks the business". Research the products.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dl ... +multiface

bout the same price, right?