"C-PORT" or "OMNI STUDIO I/O Box with DELTA-66," That is the $400 question.

E

Enrique Mahecha

New member
"C-PORT" or "OMNI STUDIO I/O Box with DELTA-66," That is the $400 question.

Dear friends


All my components for my new AMD 1700+/Abit AKR7-RAID upgrade have arrived <giddy>. The only thing I STILL DON'T HAVE is the AUDIO CARD!.. and I need to make a decision as quickly as possible so I can order it.

This is my second post more or less on the same subject. The first time I knew very little about ADIO RECORDING CARDS. This time I know a lot more but I am having trouble deciding which one to get.

Your help please!

THE BACKGROUND: (Trying to anticipate the questions you will ask me). When I started planning the components for my system, I thought the S B AUDIGY PLATINUM EX ($215) would do just fine. Then I started thinking maybe I can get something better so I went to your website. I am not a "musician" but I pretend to play a little bit of guitar (acoustic). I also dabble with an electronic piano (midi). Although I've never done it, I would like to be able to record several tracks (lead, second guitar), add piano and voice, mix them, do loops, edit them, the works! and burn it on CDs or tape.... you get the picture. All this for FUN by the way. All this to be done by myself or possibly with one more person.

The first time, you guys basically recommended the <C-port ($399)> and the Delta-66. Someone also recommended the <M-AUDIO OMNI STUDIO I/O and DELTA 66 ($399).>. The LITERATURE sounds wonderful on both!... And I am having a HECK OF A TIME deciding which is best!!!!..... They both seem to have "everything" I need in one package. they EVEN COST THE SAME!..

I know the C-PORT has 8 inputs/outputs, whereas the DELTA-66 only has 4 inputs/outputs.

** Is this enough to tilt the scale in favor of the C-port???

Another question I have not been able to get a clear understanding on: One of these two cards (delta or c-port) can do the same as a "regular" Audio card (such as the SB AUDIGY PLATINUM series) and a lot more????.. In other words I don't need two Audio cards, do I????…. In Video for instance… you need 2 cards. The regular video card and the Capture card for editing etc? I hope this is not the same with Audio, IS IT?


Thank you so much for your help and I look forward to your feedbac

have a Happy New Year! :p

Enrique
VA, USA
 
the cport sounds better than the delta 1010 in some recordings. but usually the 1010 sounds a little better but not much. in the average stereo system you'll never know which is the 1010 or the cport. at 399 no card sounds as good as the cport.
 
Hi guys
I have the C-Port.It is actually 10X10 full duplex with the stereo S/PDIF added to the 8 channels on the breakout box.32 channels of midi and ASIO drivers that claim latency something like 5 m.s.
I use Fruity Loops with the C-Port ASIO drivers to play .wav samples and I can't hear the lag.
A BIG factor is the breakout box having the AD-DA converters,which places it AWAY from all that stray RF inside the P.C.Just my 2 cents.
Tom
 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK GUYS!.. :P


Unfortunately I don't hear enough to convince me on buying either card now.

$400 is quite a bit of cash... it would be by far the most expensive component in my system. It's not the money, if I were buying the right thing... but I would HATE myself buying something this expensive.. to possibly regret it six months from now. I mean for that amount of cash you want something that will carry you at least for two or three years.

Win XP is brand new, and I am sure that will affect everything in the computer industry. I'll wait six months or until I am sure of I what I want.

I will buy a SB AUDIGY ($65) for now. I will just hang around here you guys until I learn a lot more.


Thanks again and best wishes in the coming year to all in this great board!


Enrique
VA, usa.
 
thats a good idea...you can get your feet wet using it to record and when you do decide on an audio card, you can still use the Audigy for midi/soundfonts (im assuming it does that?).....
 
I just sold my "trainig wheels" card (Darla24). What I found through a year of using it was that I wanted onboard midi capability and more INs that OUTs! I also want to have control over input levels. Decent pres and outboard converters are important too. I don't exclude wanting to have digital I/O in the future.

All of these issues are addressed with the C-Port. I'm impressed with the reviews I've read here and elsewhere on it. I'm even looking forward to the flexibility of the bundled software: virtual and interactive patchbay and "rack" connectivity. I've researched the manufacturer a bit and have side-lind my concerns about them going belly up any time soon. They seem stable and still very active in their R&D department.

The fella at pcrecording.com gave it a rave review and has volunteered to do comprehensive re-write of the operating manual which was difficult to digest in its euro-babble form!
When the revised edition is available, I'm oredering mine.
 
An omni studio can be had for cheaper than $ 400..just do a bit more looking around, I got mine recently for $275 shipped
I'm also using it with an AMD based system and lemme tell you this box rocks..Audio recordings are high quality and very stable, latency is very low.. something like 2 ms in nuendo
Make sure you get the newest drivers from the M-Audio webpage
 
JohnyC

I have looked!... in all the usual places (many named here) unless there is a deep secret somewhere I am not aware of. $275 would change the picture for me... by $125 exactly! <smile>

Could you help me? em22153@yahoo.com


Keep talking guys... I am listening! Happy N Ys! :D
 
Hmm.. on second thought...

Maybe I don't really know that much about FINDING these special places... (good prices)

Usually - on anything - I find the information to purchase an item by checking:

Forums (*most realiable in the final count*)
Google.com (web)
Pricewatch
Cnet
Zdnet

Ebay... I don't touch... I understand this is mostly for used items.. AM I WRONG???

Well that's it. Those are my sources. Usually after spending a number of hours checking around, a picture emerges. IS THERE MORE? :confused:


Enrique
 
Your Call Man

I own the Delta 66 OMNI Studio package and I it was a pain in MY ass to get up and running, but it was my first time ever even seeing the "insides"of my computer, much less installing a sound card, and getting it's control pannel functions to work with my Logic Audio Platinum software that i had bought a few months earlier and didn't understand. So I dumped it all on mysefl all at once and I paied the HUGE price of techie breakdown. Learning curve has a whole new meaning to me by now. But anyway, any normal person could probably pull it out of the box, pop it in, set the controlls, fling down a few tracks of guitar, burn it to CD and have it in the mail to Mtv in an afternoon. It sounds great. but like I said, I have nothing really tangiable to compare it too. I read a hundred articles in several magazines from Britain and the US before I bought it, and they went on and on about the qualityof the pre-amps that come in the OMNI. It really is a great card. Unless I was trying to build a full on $80,000 pro studio, I wouldn't ever switch to another card/pre-amp set up. Of course everyon's needs are different. I am only myself. I do the drums and bass all Midi with a seperate MidiSport 2x2 interface. I prefere to keep my audio interface(s) and audio interface seperate. But that is a personal preference. Now this C-Port thing boasts external conversion. Well the Analog-Digital converters (ADC) on the Delta 66 are top notch as far as I know, and I earn my living in the DSP department of Texas instruments, so this is what we do all day at work. The fact that the conversions take place outside the PC can't makea fuck load of a differnece to me unless you have CPU clock speed issues. I mean don't get me wrong there are obvious advantages to external data conversion. But at the price tag that this guy is wearing... the difference can't be so much.

The Omni is cheaper and it will do everything that I MYSELF need it to do. You have to weigh your finances against your needs, and just do not be dazzled by inputs that you will probably never need. I mean, sure a couple of inputs more never hurt anyone, but if you are a one man band like me, then when will you ever have to record that first chair flute while you mic up the percussion section?

Good Luck, now that I have probably not been much help.

Mike
 
The fact that the conversions take place outside the PC can't makea fuck load of a differnece to me unless you have CPU clock speed issues.
Click to expand...

The issue isn't one of CPU speed, but of RF noise deveoped inside the case.

You guys got snow in Munich yet? :cool:
 
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