move on up (sblive ---> Audiotrack Inca88 ???)

A

AbeLowsmoker

New member
Hi,

I'm currently struggling with pops and clicks on my sblive (kx Audio ASIO driver in Sonar 2.2) and need more inputs to record drums etc as we want to record live demo's so I need a cheap <£150 ($200) 8in8out soundcard.
I have a 16 track mixer (Alesis 1622) which I will use as pre's for the drums, and I can use the 2 (superior?) pre's on board the inca88.
Have looked into the Audiotrack Inca88 and can get a good deal on this card (20 bit 48Khz recording on 8 channels) but I cant find many reviews on this cheap but functional card.

I'm not looking for perfection in quality but just good quality digital multitracking.

so... to my question... does anyone own an Inca88, will I be wasting what little money I have buying it? are there any major concerns with the card.

any feedback would be much appreciated

thanks
 
I hav'nt heard any good reviews on those cards. I think you should be looking for a 24bit card.
You can get some good buys for the reliable delta series interfaces on ebay.
 
delta1010LT?

thanks stealth,

I've seen the delta 1010 & LT version and would like one of those, but the cost saving could be almost 100 bucks buying the inca88.
I haven't read any reviews of the inca88 either, so I am reluctant to fork out if its gonna be rubbish.
I may settle for the delta 1010LT
 
Last edited:
SONAR 2.2XL & Inca88...

Yo, AbeLowsmoker...
For those setup you mentioned, you may want to catch our very own member : moskus

PM him, or visit Cakewalk forum above this Computer recording & soundcard forum...

I got a feeling he got what you need...

;)
Jaymz



...please consider Pre-ordering Homerecording.Comp CD's Vol 2 :)
 
Audiotrak INCA88-review by Moskus

Ivan (at the SOS-forum) asked me to write a review for the Inca88. This is it...

The Inca88 (http://www.audiotrak.co.uk/products/inca88/index.shtml) has the following features:
* 8 ins and 8 outs, with a -10 dBv in/out-level.
* S/PDIF out in optical and coaxial connections (no digital in)
* 2 of the outs can be used as headphone-connections (both stereo)
* 2 of the inputs have mic. amps
* Drivers: MME, WDM, ASIO and GSIF
* It boasts of 1.5 ms latency with WDM-drivers and 3.0 ms with ASIO-drivers.
* And of course it's a full duplex card...

Connections
The 8 ins and 8 outs has it own shielded breakout-box. Now this is good if you plan to do a lot of signal-routing like me. I use it with a Spirit Folio F1 mixer, and the setup works great. The breakout-box is made of plastic, and to bo honest, it feels plastic. But don't let this throw you off, it gets the job done. I only wish that the box could be rack-mounted, somehow... I've never tested the mic.amps because of the F1, but my guess would be worse than my mixer and better than i.e. Creative's mic. input. The headphone-amps get the job done, and it's a great feature that should be mandatory on any of the "more expensive" cards...

I only use the optical SPDIF connection when recording to Minidisk, and it sounds good enough (better then my old SB Audigy, anyway). I don't really know about digital connections, so ask somebody else...

In use
I've seen a lot of cards in use, but that doesen't mean that I know about a lot of cards. The only cards that I've used before the Inca88 was from Creative's line of cards (I think I've owned one of them all), but let me ashure you that the difference between Audigy and Inca88 is HUGE! This card has better drivers, lower latency and better sound quality and it's not that more expensive compared to the Platnium and EX editions of Audigy and Live.

The latency figures from Auditrak is spot on, if you have a fast system. It seems that with the new drivers (v 3.60), the latency with ASIO-drivers droped to 1.5 ms as a minimum. I run it perfectly now with Sonar 2.2 (yeah!), ASIO-drivers and 2.9 ms latency. It's rock stable (some expeptions, I'll get to that) and with 25 tracks and 3 effects (of the Cakewalks FxNNNN-series) on every track, and CPU usage will get no higher than 70%. With WDM-drivers and a latency of 4.4 ms that would give me around 80-85% CPU usage. But someone told the that that's is one of the differences between ASIO and WDM-drivers...

The WDM-drivers doesen't seem to be happy with DVD-software or MP3s either when you set the latency buffer to 64 samples. The sound would suddenly after about 2 hours playback turn itself into a sawtooth-wave. Hmmm..... This problem has disappeared when increasing the latency to 128 samples. Nice!

Conclusion
I think that if you need multiple ins and outs, this is the best card if you're on a budget (as I am). Ok, so it doesen't support 24/96 and doesen't have digital in, but that would add to the price, right? On a scale from 1 to 10 it's a 9. IMHO... ;)

-Moskus



Test system:
Motherboard: MSI K7T266 Pro 2 (VIA chipset. Yeah I know....)
CPU: AMD Athlon +1900 (1600 MHz)
RAM: 512 MB DDR-RAM
Network: SMC EZ 10/100 Mbit
OS: WinXP (and Win2000)
 
Interesting

I literally just found out about this card, i was going to get the 1010lt, but there are some terrible stories about the drivers for this card.

For the price it looks good, doesnt seem to have to many bad experiences linked with it.

Edd
 
alfalfa said:
Would you mind testing the inca 88 with the right mark audio analyser program and posting the results? I too am interested in the sound quality of this budget card.

http://audio.rightmark.org/
Click to expand...
I have tested it with the RMAA-program, but I can't get you the results right now. I can in august (when I return home to my DAW, I'm reassigned at work for the summer).

Maybe I posted them at the SOS-board. I'll search. If I remeber correctly the results weren't bad, but mind you it's not the same quality as the Delta 1010 or RME Hammerfall. But it beats the crap out of the Creative cards (in 16/44 anyway, since Inca88 is not a 24/96-card)... ;)
 
The RMAA-results:

Frequensy response, dB: +0.01, -0.04
Noise level, dB (A): -93.1
Dynamic range, db (A): 88.8
THD, %: 0.0048
IMD, %: 0.014
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -85.1

:)
 
Thanks moskus. Just confirming were those results for 16/44? Do you remember which version of rmaa you used?
 
Yepp, that's the 16/44.1-results. There's no 24/96... :)

If I remember correctly, it was version 4.6. But maybe it's wrong. I did the test 6 months ago.
 
thanks moskus

really. your information is invaluable and quite rare, I can't find useable reviews of this card anywhere, so thanks, you have helped me make my decision. Inca88

I've got a price of £128 including breakout box, pci card PLUS Midi add on card, so I'm well pleased.... my DAW is almost complete!!!
 
moskus said:
£125?? That was cheap. :)

You're sure it's not the fake one? :confused:
Click to expand...

erm... they advertise here..

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw2_artikel-150799.html

.. and they seem pretty reputable.? who knows.

they advertise an "E-band" model (but I don't understand the diff, not branded AudioTrak is all I can see)..

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/eband_anda008__inca_88_oem_prodinfo.html?iwid=2

.. but I dont know about the fake one.

is there something I should know?

I'm about to buy so you could really help me out here moskus / guys

thx in advance
 
Yes, that's it!

You see that about a year ago the "E.BAND ANDA.008 (INCA 88 OEM)" was sold as "Audiotrak Inca88 OEM" and it's made in Spain. Obviously, Audiotrak (from Japan) got pissed off and sued the company producing the OEM-version.

Basically it was exactly the same card. Audiotrak was speculating about stolen card-plans, etc... BUT you can't use Audiotraks drivers for the OEM-version, meaning the card itself is useless! I've heard a few users of the OEM-version complain. The card doesen't work at all (well, you can record and playback, but latency is 100ms+++ and stability is out the window)...

What I'm trying to say:

Get the original!
And you're right! It's only €189,-! That is cheap, you lucky bastard! :D
 
roll on the 28th

thanks moskus, I now have confidence to buy this model. your advice has been top notch... you are, as they say, "The MAN"

just have to wait till the 28th to order (I get paid then)

oh well........................................................................












.......................mmph...........................
 
Re: roll on the 28th

AbeLowsmoker said:
thanks moskus, I now have confidence to buy this model. your advice has been top notch... you are, as they say, "The MAN"
Click to expand...
Thank you! Always nice to hear! :)
 
Not sure anyone mentioned this, but the audiotrak cards are made by the egosys guys (kind of their budget line) and use a similar driver model. The drivers on the egosys cards are really quite good. The routing is VERY good...much easier than on the Delta I currently use...
 
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