Soundcard question

T

timtimtim

Member
I have just bought a new computer: Desktop-LNIK8PG Intel (R) core (TM) i7-7700 CPU@4.2GHz, 64-bit Windows 10, but my old soundcard m-audio Audiophile 2496 will not plug into the motherboard slot. Does this mean I need to buy a newer soundcard? If so can anyone recommend a good one. I don't need multiple inputs, I only need one L line input, one R line input, L output and R output analogue. It must have good immunity to digital interference from the computer.
 
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timtimtim said:
I have just bought a new computer: Desktop-LNIK8PG Intel (R) core (TM) i7-7700 CPU@4.2GHz, 64-bit Windows 10, but my old soundcard m-audio Audiophile 2496 will not plug into the motherboard slot. Does this mean I need to buy a newer soundcard? If so can anyone recommend a good one. I don't need multiple inputs, I only need one L line input, one R line input, L output and R output analogue. It must have good immunity to digital interference from the computer.
Click to expand...

Yes, a good many modern MOBOs no longer have IED slots. I had a struggle 3 years ago to find one with just two for my own 2496* cards.

I am sorry to tell you that your options are now very limited or expensive! The best route would be a PCIe card from RME but arm and leg. The Juli@ is well respected but I have NO idea how it plays with Win 10.

Apart from those two I can think of nothing else and in any case the W10 'THING' looms large.

You need to be looking at USB interfaces and I can recommend the Native Instruments KA6.

*Bit cheeky this but...If you still have the original discs for the 2496 would you PM me?

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
*Bit cheeky this but...If you still have the original discs for the 2496 would you PM me?

Dave.
Click to expand...
Hey Dave, Years ago I had the 2496 in one of my PC's. I usually never throw anything out. I can't recall..... are the disks 3.5" floppies or was it a CD. It may narrow down what I'm looking for. If it was floppies I may even have them backed up on a drive.

Edit....
Found the PDF on my computer. Appears to be 3.5" floppy

Your Delta DiO 2496 box contains:
• This instruction manual
• The Delta DiO 2496 adapter card
• Driver diskette for Windows 95/98 installation, control panel software
• M AudioTM warranty registration card
 
arcaxis said:
Hey Dave, Years ago I had the 2496 in one of my PC's. I usually never throw anything out. I can't recall..... are the disks 3.5" floppies or was it a CD. It may narrow down what I'm looking for. If it was floppies I may even have them backed up on a drive.

Edit....
Found the PDF on my computer. Appears to be 3.5" floppy

Your Delta DiO 2496 box contains:
• This instruction manual
• The Delta DiO 2496 adapter card
• Driver diskette for Windows 95/98 installation, control panel software
• M AudioTM warranty registration card
Click to expand...

Eeek! I still have a floppy drive! Like you, I can't bear to part with technology! I WILL give it away to a good home. I still have a box of discs somewhere. But no, I distinctly remember the drivers, Ableton Live Lite and Protools (which never fekkin' worked!) came on CD.

What I am missing you see is the original Control Panel that does much more than the new one. There is also a guy over at SoS who cannot shift his 2496 off 44.1kHz!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
What I am missing you see is the original Control Panel that does much more than the new one. There is also a guy over at SoS who cannot shift his 2496 off 44.1kHz!
Click to expand...

Do you know if it had a specific name, Dave? Like Presonus have Universal Control and Motu have Cuemix.
 
*Bit cheeky this but...If you still have the original discs for the 2496 would you PM me?

Dave.[/QUOTE]

I bought the 2496 second hand so I'm afraid I don't have the disc.

I only need stereo line in and stereo out so I suppose it will have to be USB. Do you get 110dB SNR, low distortion, etc with USB? And will it work with Reaper multitracking?
 
ecc83 said:
Eeek! I still have a floppy drive! Like you, I can't bear to part with technology! I WILL give it away to a good home. I still have a box of discs somewhere. But no, I distinctly remember the drivers, Ableton Live Lite and Protools (which never fekkin' worked!) came on CD.

What I am missing you see is the original Control Panel that does much more than the new one. There is also a guy over at SoS who cannot shift his 2496 off 44.1kHz!

Dave.
Click to expand...

PM'd ya with a zip file I think is the drivers and control panel
 
timtimtim said:
Do you get 110dB SNR, low distortion, etc with USB?
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Record with 24bit word depth and you'll get 144db of range. Most manufacturers these days are making very quiet preamps so you'll probably have no problem with 110db snr. Conversely, 16bit word depth only has a 96db range, but it is still very good and with most pop music, you won't hear any noise.

timtimtim said:
And will it work with Reaper multitracking?
Click to expand...
Yes.
 
Thanks Mark, will try those files on the desktop tom', they look like they might work.

OP, the 2496 being a PCI card gave pretty low latency and will run down to 64 samples. Not many sub £400 USB AIs can do that the one exception AFAIK is the NI KA6 which will run even lower at 32 samples even on a PC of lower spec than yours, mine is an AMD 6core 3G black.

Chilli. 144dB is of course the theoretical dynamic range of 24 bits but analogue I/O cannot get close to that. The best noise floor I get with my 2496 is a raw -98dBFS but always with a 50Hz hum blip. I would therefore estimate weighted noise to be a bit better than -100dB? My KA6 yields about -103dBFS so probably -110 weighted.

Dave.
 
I don't want latency, so PCI it is. Any recommendations? I've found 2 cards: ASUS STRIX Soar 7.1 and Sound Blaster Zx which both have 116dB. It doesn't mention latency though.
 
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There is this..ESI MAYA44 eX – Thomann UK

I shall have a look around for some speccs' and reviews but the card has been around a long time so any problems would surely be known. Will check W10 operation,but...

Don't sweat the noise floor issue. My KA6 and 8i6 are both quieter than my 2496s but the latter has never been a problem. I cannot remember what of if you said what you were driving the 2496 but its noise output is very, very unlikely to be better than -90dBu.

Yes, you can use so called 'zero latency' monitoring but even if you wanted to hear PC processed sound, my KA6 has LOWER latency than the PCI card.

Thousands, milions(?) of home recordists use USB interfaces and HR forum gets VERY few posts about latency issues and even those few that do come here are usually setup problems and soon fixed.

Oh! And DON'T get a Sound Blaster of ANY kind! Great replay quality I read but FA use for recording.

Dave.
 
The attached shows the Maya card to be of very similar specification to the 2496, in fact the ESI card has 4dB more output headroom. There are W10 drivers.

I do in fact have an ESI 1010e multitrack interface (PCIe card plus 1U rack on an umbilical) No issues with noise or sound quality although it is never used "in studio anger" it merely does sound for my 'domestic' PC in my living room (long story!).

I see the card version has the same patch panel as my 1010e, very versatile no doubt but largely defeats this old valve amp jockey! I have managed to set it up to record internal PC sound such as Radio 3. Fortunately you don't need it for everyday functions. (mind you, I never really got to grips with the 2496 CPanels!)

FWIIW, I found ESI UK to be very helpful people and got me working with my AI because Thomann, blast 'em,never did send the driver CDs!

Dave.
 

Attachments

  • MAYA44_eX-English.pdf
    1.8 MB · Views: 30
Thanks Dave. I'm convinced - MAYA 44 is what I want. It has more channels and options than I need but that's not a problem. As to latency, I suppose because my computer is fast I can use 48? BTW what does 48 mean - how long a time delay is it? I hope the connector will fit my motherboard.
 
timtimtim said:
Thanks Dave. I'm convinced - MAYA 44 is what I want. It has more channels and options than I need but that's not a problem. As to latency, I suppose because my computer is fast I can use 48? BTW what does 48 mean - how long a time delay is it? I hope the connector will fit my motherboard.
Click to expand...

48? Do you mean 48 samples? If so, plenty fast enough. One stringent test is playing a MIDI keyboard and triggering software sounds and I think most folk are happy at 128 samples and many can cope with 512.

Your computer MOBO surely has at least one PCIe slot? That will be fine. Note the Maya uses jacks whereas the 2496 was RCA. You can get nice blingy, Gold RCA to 1/4" jack adaptors and they are very reliable. S/PDIF is optical as against Copper co ax for the M-A but you have not mentioned digital and the converters are only about $15 and work fine.

Dave.
 
If you find the Maya 44 sorts you out T, will you come back and tell us please?

I ask because there is a guy over at SoS forum with a 2496 and similar W10 problems and he might also want to stay with an internal card.

Dave.
 
I will solder jack plugs on the pre-amp wires. Incidentally I made the pre-amp using extremely low-noise op-amps recommended by mshilarious who was a very knowledgeable guy, pity he's gone. I hope large jack plugs have better contact than 3.5mm jack plugs which are crap.

Tim
 
timtimtim said:
I will solder jack plugs on the pre-amp wires. Incidentally I made the pre-amp using extremely low-noise op-amps recommended by mshilarious who was a very knowledgeable guy, pity he's gone. I hope large jack plugs have better contact than 3.5mm jack plugs which are crap.

Tim
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Good man! A warning, although Neutrik plugs are about the best you can get but the pitch of the 44's jacks might be a bit tight for their rear clamp? Decent quality 'straight' plug will be fine but I would go for Gold. No audio advantage but a dream to solder.

Do you recall the type number of the low noise chips?

Dave.
 
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