Replacement for GadgetLabs Card?

M

Michael S

New member
I've been using a GadgetLabs Wave Pro 8/24 for nearly two years on a Win98 system with Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. I've been extremely happy with it, but when I built up a new recording computer and wanted to load Windows 2000 so I can take better advantage of the new SONAR software, I couldn't get the card to work with W2K. It was only then that I found out GadgetLabs went out of business and ther ain't no support from here on in.

Can anyone recommend a good replacement that works in W2K and XP? I do need the 8 ins & 8 outs. I record mainly analog (guitars, vocs, V-drums, etc).

I've looked into the M-Audio series and heard a bit about the MOTU units. Is there any advantage to going the firewire route?

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Michael S.
 
There are Windows 2000 drivers at the gadgetlabs site, with special installation instructions. Did you find those? I don't think they do WDM or ASIO though, so no low latency mixing :(

I don't think that there is a deal as good as gadgetlabs anymore. I remember the 824 was like under 400 bucks right? It's a bummer that they went out of business.

Slackmaster 2000
 
The Delta 1010lt is 10in/10out (8analog,2 s/pdif) for $379...drawback is that it has unbalanced RCA plugs.....but it does come with 2 preamps.....
 
Michael, I am in exactly the same position as you, using a 824 with Windows 98SE. Fo the moment I am content to stick with what I have, but if I had to switch cards the Delta 1010 (as Gidge mentioned) would be looked at, also the Aardvark Q10 ( http://www.aardvark-pro.com/direct_pro_q10.html ).

Slack, From what I have seen on the Gadget Labs discussion board on Yahoo ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gadgetlabs/ ) it doesn't seem like anyone has been able to get the unit to work correctly under 2000. I'm considering taking a crack at it myself, just to see if it can be done, but for now I'll probably just hang with Win98.
 
Reg,

I tried to help S8-N get his 824 working on 2000. It *worked*, but he was getting dropouts after 8 tracks or so, even though the rest of his system rocked. I could only conclude it was the Gadgetlabs. Major bummer really.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slackmaster, thanks for your condolences, but I had downloaded the instructions and spent about 5 hours trying to get the card to take, and that was on a clean install of W2K. I could never get all of the conflicts out. I did read posts about the poor performance from people that did manage to get it installed, so I decided to cut my losses. For now, I went back to my Win98 setup and do my mixing in SONAR with the W2K setup...but that's a one way street.

Gidge & RWhite, thanks for both of your input as well. I did see the 1010LT but I'm spoiled with the current rack mount breakout box. Also, if I'm reading it correctly, the rack boxes are included with the 1010 version priced at ~$500-$600 . The built in mic pre-amps would be a plus (and render my beloved Midiman Audio Buddy useless).

'Tis a shame that Gadgetlabs went under. It must have been due to poor business sense or poor marketing because their product(s), at least that 8/24 was one heck of a deal. By the looks of all the posts on the Yahoo eGroup started by Gadgetlabs, a fair number of people bought it.
 
Wait a second.....

I have an 824 running successfully under Windows 2000. You really can make it work, but you've got to follow their instructions EXACTLY. There are SUPPOSED to be conflicts if you install it correctly - it still works though. You really should try it again - maybe we can walk you through it - it would save you some $$$. I can get well over 24tracks with plugs on a Athlon 650 w/ a Asus K7V mobo (via KX133 chipset even!!!). I get an occasional pop when I get really high track counts, but thats about it. But, I did have some trouble with Cakewalk (lockups, stuttering, etc.) - Vegas is smooth though.

What are your system specs?
 
Thanks Gnarled,

I have an ASUS A7V266-E motherboard with an AMD XP1500+ CPU, 512 MB RAM, all brand new. I am running Windows 2000 with the latest service pack and SONAR (with the latest patches) for my recording software.

I can tell you that, even with the memory conflicts that appeared when the driver was installed, I could hear the windows startup sounds (noise?) upon boot-up, through the card's output, but it sounded crackled and would end with a loud buzz for about ten seconds, then go away. At that point, I figured SONAR should recognize it. But when I run SONAR, it only showed the on-board sound card from the motherboard. I disabled the on board sound card and repeated the process - same result. I even reinstalled W2K on a reformatted hard drive and left the motherboard sound card disabled through the whole process with the same result. At one point I even managed to have all of the conflicts go away in the driver configuration, but it never resulted in me seeing the card in SONAR.

I have not tried installing Cakewalk 9 under W2K to see if it sees it. I will try that, but, ultimately, I wanted to use it with SONAR to take advantage of the improved features.

I'm encouraged to hear that you've had that many tracks running under that configuration. I've seen nothing but complaints on the Yahoo eGroup for this card under W2K!

Thanks for your help.
 
Moral of the story: The best sound card in the universe is just a door stop without good drivers.
 
The GL has good drivers...for Windows 98.....

just because all this awesome software(Sonar) comes out doesnt mean you have to jump on the bandwagon......

you could always track in 98 and mix in 2000 with just a cheapo stereo card with half decent converters
 
Well, sounds like you tried about everything I would have - it actually took me quite a while to get it going. I had to turn of the onboard audio for my mobo to get it work among other things. I don't see reason why it shouldn't work with your setup. But, if you went through the whole series of instructions they layed out - turn off plug and play, change to standard pc, etc. I guess that about does it. Doesn't sound like you're up for another attempt anyhow. Good luck.
 
Gidge, you are thinking just what I have been. I'll probably leave my "studio" PC set with Win98 and Cakewalk, but I will put either a A2496 or a Mia card in my upstairs PC, with set it up with XP and maybe Sonar
 
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