Possible To Increase Sound Card I/Os With Breakout Cable?

D

Doctor Varney

Cave dwelling Luddite
Supposing I bought something like this:
Professional Recording Equipment Accessories: Shop Our Selection of Audio Equipment Accessories, Custom Engraved Panels and Custom Audio Cables - Dsub to XLR AES Breakout Cable

Would it be possible to increase my amount of inputs and outputs to my sound card? Or is the number fixed by the sound card itself?

The card is an E-MU 0404 internal which uses DSP Patchmix; a virtual mixer to which I can add as many channels as I want. I currently have a breakout cable from the serial connector which converts into jack inputs = 2 in / 2 out + optical and MIDI in/out. What I need to know is whether there is potential to physically connect more audio and MIDI inputs via breakout or if there is a fixed number of channels available on this sound card.

Thanks in advance

Dr. V
 
I am not sure man. Why do you not just get an interface with more channels than you need, so you don't have to worry about it later?

I have no clue as to the workings of your E-MU, so I may just be talking out of my arse....
 
Because if it worked, it would be a lot cheaper than buying a more expensive interface. If it worked, then buying a new interface would be a waste of money and I wasn't planning on getting a new interface anyway.

Cheers

Dr. V
 
Doctor Varney said:
Because if it worked, it would be a lot cheaper than buying a more expensive interface. If it worked, then buying a new interface would be a waste of money and I wasn't planning on getting a new interface anyway.

Cheers

Dr. V
Click to expand...

Good point. I wish I had something more to give....

Wait, you expressed the E-MU as being an internal sound card. I Googled, and it looks like an external (USB 2.0) interface. Am I wrong here? If this is the unit, then there is nothing you can do to expand your inputs with it.

Just buy a US 1800 dood. $189 at Sweetwater now.....
 
Dood, just the description of the E-MU from their site, makes me want to cringe. Sounds like it is directed at selling BS. It just sounds that way to me....
 
No, the sound card is internal PCI. What you've linked to is the external, USB version.

The E-MU is a generally well received and trusted as reliable product. Been around for a very long time and many of the older pros still swear by them.

I don't have $189 to spend right now.

What part of the description strikes you as BS?
 
No, it will not. Whatever the spec of the card you have is, that is how many i/o you get. There is no way around this.

Cheers :)
 
Sell the Emu , buy an interface with more inputs.........save on headaches !!

As far as I'm aware you cant expand interfaces and you wouldn't really want to , unless it's with a breakout box or cable that the manufacturer of the sound card has made especially for that card, or it's with the good old fashioned way of putting a mixer on the line inputs of the card. Either way that card still has the same amount of inputs and outputs that it came with !!!
 
jpb123 said:
Sell the Emu , buy an interface with more inputs.........save on headaches !!
Click to expand...

As I've said I do not intend to buy another interface. At least, not until this one stops working. It's not posing any headaches as it is, I just wondered if it were possible. A second hand EMU 0404 would not fetch very much money.

As far as I'm aware you cant expand interfaces and you wouldn't really want to , unless it's with a breakout box or cable that the manufacturer of the sound card has made especially for that card, or it's with the good old fashioned way of putting a mixer on the line inputs of the card. Either way that card still has the same amount of inputs and outputs that it came with !!!
Click to expand...

Also, as I've said, the break out cable is attached to the serial connector on the sound card to give 2 inputs and two outputs. Which is why I asked if using a breakout cable wired with more jack sockets would work. The DSP Patchmix software for this card has no limit on how many strips I can call up for inputs - which was another reason to make me wonder about this.
 
The number of inputs/outputs is determined by the audio interface, specifically by the number of analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters it contains. The cable adaptor won't change that--in fact I'd be surprised if you got any sound at all even on the existing channels.

Some professional mixers use D-sub connectors for their inputs and outputs in order to save space. The norm is to wire your own cabling into a D-sub male connector. That part you found would have saved me a lot of time about 13 years ago!
 
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