Which soundcard to use for a G3 Macintosh.......

Danica

New member
Hi guys, new to the forum and glad I found you. I have a midi studio with synth modules, etc, and all I need now is something to complete my own studio so I can make my own music. I have an old Mac OS 10 operating system controlling all my synths and now need a sound card to be able to dump my left and right channels into my G3 computer and convert the analog audio to digital to be able to burn my songs on a CD. Anybody have an idea what is a good sound card to use for these older Macintosh computers that can do this? Thanks in advance :)
 
Hi there,
Wow, that's an old machine. But if it works, it works. :)

What version of OS 10 and what recording software are you running?
 
Hi Steenamaroo, yes its old but works perfectly for my needs. I am using Opcode Studio Vision for my Midi recording software. The G3 is an OS 8.something or other (lol)

I want to run out of the audio output of my analog mixer into the soundcard to convert it to digital so I can then burn my songs onto a CD. I'm just looking for something old and don't need anything modern and pricey for my system. Any ideas what kind of a soundcard will do this?
 
Last edited:
We'd need to know the exact OS version to make sure drivers are available, I'm afraid.

I'd hate to recommend something then find out it's not supported on your OS version.
If you're not sure click on the apple logo and then click 'about this mac'.
 
I just looked up driver support for tascam us122, and it seems to be covering the entire osx range.

It's not a bad little unit and it's got two line ins, which is what you're after.
It's also got two mic preamps, just incase. ;)

Just have a quick google to make sure it's compatible with your recording software.
 
Thank you so much for the help Steenamaroo. I just turned on my old dinosaur and it has an operating system of 8.6. I will definitely be looking up this tascam us122 sound card to learn more about it. Thanks again for the great help :)
 
I just looked into this tascam us122 and it connects via USB. Unfortunately my Dinosaur has no USB. Is there a sound card of some kind that will give me audio inputs into my G3 that will work?
 
I just looked into this tascam us122 and it connects via USB. Unfortunately my Dinosaur has no USB. Is there a sound card of some kind that will give me audio inputs into my G3 that will work?

I have an old Mac Performa in my basement running a Sonnet G3 400 MHz accelerator card and the last version of Opcode Studio Vision Pro I found for free on the Internet (maybe 4.5 or something like that?). One of the three different Mac OS I can pick from on different drives is OS 8.6. My old Digi 001 soundcard and breakout box works with SVP under this OS. If I recall correctly, the standard Pro Tools drivers/extensions for the Digi 001 worked alongside the standard SVP install without me having to go fish for drivers or extensions. If you do not mind used equipment, old Digi 001 cards and breakout boxes are cheap on Ebay.
 
No usb? Does that make it an old beige model?

Those have pci. The simplest solution would be a pci USB expansion card.
 
Last edited:
the EMU 1820 was a really nice unit, I wouldn't be surprised if someone sent you a free PCI recording system...one laying around. I gave mine away.

another option is getting a USB pc off Craigslist many old pc's can be got for $30, $40.

I have old magazines where the G3 was "pro" line, 16bit/44.1khz hasn't changed....but what I found was the plugs being added to the tracks is what killed the dinosaur pc.

from 2005-
Duff-Man says...I will second the recommendation for the Presonus Firebox - it works extremely well right out of the box and uses the built-in OS X drivers - no messing around with m-audio's flakey drivers. The Firebox is a firewire device though, not usb (meaning, it is better than a usb device...)....oh yeah!
 
I started with a Tapco LINK.USB in 10.3 on a B&W G3. You might need to go OS X and a USB card to get in the ballpark--hopefully somebody can help you out.
 
you'll need another computer.
as 2 ghz processor is my recommended absolute minimum for analog recording. maybe a 1.4 ghz mac if you're running 8 channels but the latency buffer would have to be set really high.
don't give me wrong the 400mhz would do fine for midi sequencing. Tent Reznor did that for years before upgrading (this last year, lol. his old junk is being sold on ebay)
 
Back
Top