Which audio interface for Sonar 5?

G

G. Simon

New member
Hi - I'm new to digital multitracking, I'm planning a new PC-based home studio, and I'd like to go with Sonar 5 as my software.

I understand that not all interfaces mate well with all recording software. Two that I've noticed are the M-Audio 1010 and the Presonus Firepod. Do you think one of these would be a good fit for Sonar 5? Or perhaps a different one altogether?

Thanks!
 
Can't comment on the Presonus, but I've used the Delta 1010 with Cakewalk products for 5 or 6 years with no issues whatsoever. Fine product, IMO.

I believe there is a list on the Cakewalk web site of compatible sound cards.
 
I have been using the Firepod for a year with Sonar 4 and now Sonar5PE. It is a good unit. Unfortunately, mine died last week and was shipped off to Presounus today. Since I already know how this one works, I decided to try something different. I researched and read till the cows came home for the last four or five days. I didn't want to spend $1500 for the RME Fireface 800 and am PC based, so MOTU is not my first choice. I ordered a new MAckie onyx400 today. I paid exactly the same for it as I paid for my Firepod. The reason I went with Mackie is they have tremendous customer support. I've owned an 8bus, and still have a 1642VLZ. They have always been there if I needed them... plus they have a very active forum.
 
I use a Tacam 1082 board. Works great. Has spcial inputs for instruments and Phantom power for vocals. (Not that i got that far yet) About $750.
 
Another confirmed Delta 1010lt compatibility-deal thing. M-Audio and Cakewalk seem to integrate fairly well.
 
most any will work for sonar. the only software that requires specific hardware is protools in which you have to have an interface designed for protools
 
the 1010 LT is amazing, i got it for 180 and it sounds almost as good as a friend of mine's MOTU
 
Hello, I have 2 M-audio delta 1010's (rackmount ones) I have to say I have been a little disappointed with them. Yes they work well with sonor, if you plan on never expanding that is. The say you can hook up multiple units on the same computer with ease, well,.... they LIED! I bought a second one and went to hook it up and they do NOT play nice together. I called M-audio's tech support line, got some punk-ass kid with an attitude problem and very little brain cells, who's first words to me were "your trying to hook up 2???!!!!??? 1010's on the SAME computer? (sounding shocked at the idea)" After insulting my computer (which is currently top-of-the-line and WAY above the spec's required) his best suggestion was that I needed to use a spdif cable between the 2 units to transmit the word clock (apparently the word clock in's and out's on these units are worthless) Needless to say it did NOT work. I wasted $500 on a unit I cannot use (of course they dropped to like $350 the next month) After several calls to M-audio, I have discovered that it is impossible to use more than one unit on the same computer. If you want to expand in the future I would not go with M-audio. I can attest to it being totally possible to run multiple firepods on one computer, as well as being able to say the pre-amps built into the firepod are incredible for the price range. I have talked to people at presonus also and found them to be much more intellegent than those at M-audio. My personal opinion would be to go for the firepod hands down. However if you can afford a little more, I also have a MOTU 24i/o. I must say that I have had very good luck with the MOTU units. The converters are excellent, I LOVE the built in mix-desk software (not big on M-audio's routing matrix) and I have never had a single problem with the MOTU's at all. They can also run many units on one computer without a problem. In fact sweetwater has recently proven that you can run like 10 MOTU units on a single computer with great results. So if you can afford it I would go with the MOTU units (2408, 896, 24i/o, etc.) I run sonor and have never had a problem or concern with MOTU (except that they just now came out with 64bit drivers for their products, even though I have had a 64bit machine for almost a year) As for their tech support, they can be rude on occasion, but they do know what they are talking about. Hope this helps with your decision.


P.S. anyone want to buy an M-audio delta 1010 rack? Barely used???
 
Something not adding up here...I have two delta cards in my pc...#2 synch'd to #1 works fine. The addition was so easy that I didn't even have to reinstall the driver. Plugged it in, set up the inputs in SONAR and have never looked back.

Sorry to hear of your difficulty.
 
punkin said:
Something not adding up here...I have two delta cards in my pc...#2 synch'd to #1 works fine. The addition was so easy that I didn't even have to reinstall the driver. Plugged it in, set up the inputs in SONAR and have never looked back.

Sorry to hear of your difficulty.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was able to get them to work a couple of times, but it doesn't last, and there was obvious gliche's. Besides I wanted 20 in's and 20 out's, but bye having to use the spdif I give up 2ins and 2outs on each card which brings it down to 16 total ins and outs. I was terribly angry with the tech support guys, they had attitude problems and literally laughed at me when I told them I was trying to hook up 2 cards on the same computer. EVEN THOUGH the software and advertising says you can easily hook up 4 cards on one computer. I tried different IRQ's, moved the cards to different pci slots, reloaded the drivers numerous times, and everything else I could think of. I had the same problems every time no matter the configuration which could only mean it was the cards not working correctly. Which M-audio's do you have? Maybe it is just the delta 1010 rack's that have this problem. Also what sample rate are you recording at? I am using 24bit 96khz. I noticed the chipset on the M-audio pci cards is actually a VIA chipset. I am not sure if any of you are computer geeks but the simple fact is that when buying a computer for audio the VIA chipset is the hands down worst chipset to get. For audio VIA chipsets are almost useless. Nvidia chipsets are the only way to go, so I thought it was quite astonishing to find that M-audio would be cheap enough to put VIA chipsets on their audio pci cards. VIA is cheap which is why alot of mass computer manufacturers use it (dell, compaq, etc.) because it brings down the cost of building the computer, and unless your recording audio you do not realize how bad that chipset is. One other thing that I wonder about is that the first Delta card I bought was when M-audio was on their own and the second one is after AVID (digidesign) took over M-audio. Was Digidesign unthinking when they took over production and change some of the parts? Thus making it impossible for older cards to coexist with newer cards? We all know that Digidesign has always been one company to "force" people to have to "pay to play" when it comes to their gear. Did they intentionally change the cards to force people to buy their new cards in order to work properly? "Inquiring minds want to know" lol. Either way, I am very displeased with M-audio and will likely not buy anything with that brand name on it in the future. Motu is the way I shall go! (until I can afford all apogee that is :D
 
Lighten up Danny Boy and buy my PC that's already been tested with the RME Fireface. Besides, you already work at a kick ass studio that doesn't have those problems. But that does suck that you lose S/PDIF when you use multiple Delta cards.
I just built a Frankenputer so I can free up my laptop for mobile work. Thunderdome Studios is poised to open for business next month!
 
i use a digi 002 with protools, but my boss and a friend of mine use e-mu 1820m's with sonar 5 and they make some great stuff.
 
Hollowdan said:
Yeah, I was able to get them to work a couple of times, but it doesn't last, and there was obvious gliche's. Besides I wanted 20 in's and 20 out's, but bye having to use the spdif I give up 2ins and 2outs on each card which brings it down to 16 total ins and outs. I was terribly angry with the tech support guys, they had attitude problems and literally laughed at me when I told them I was trying to hook up 2 cards on the same computer. EVEN THOUGH the software and advertising says you can easily hook up 4 cards on one computer. I tried different IRQ's, moved the cards to different pci slots, reloaded the drivers numerous times, and everything else I could think of. I had the same problems every time no matter the configuration which could only mean it was the cards not working correctly. Which M-audio's do you have? Maybe it is just the delta 1010 rack's that have this problem. Also what sample rate are you recording at? I am using 24bit 96khz. I noticed the chipset on the M-audio pci cards is actually a VIA chipset. I am not sure if any of you are computer geeks but the simple fact is that when buying a computer for audio the VIA chipset is the hands down worst chipset to get. For audio VIA chipsets are almost useless. Nvidia chipsets are the only way to go, so I thought it was quite astonishing to find that M-audio would be cheap enough to put VIA chipsets on their audio pci cards. VIA is cheap which is why alot of mass computer manufacturers use it (dell, compaq, etc.) because it brings down the cost of building the computer, and unless your recording audio you do not realize how bad that chipset is. One other thing that I wonder about is that the first Delta card I bought was when M-audio was on their own and the second one is after AVID (digidesign) took over M-audio. Was Digidesign unthinking when they took over production and change some of the parts? Thus making it impossible for older cards to coexist with newer cards? We all know that Digidesign has always been one company to "force" people to have to "pay to play" when it comes to their gear. Did they intentionally change the cards to force people to buy their new cards in order to work properly? "Inquiring minds want to know" lol. Either way, I am very displeased with M-audio and will likely not buy anything with that brand name on it in the future. Motu is the way I shall go! (until I can afford all apogee that is :D
Click to expand...


Wow...that's a lot to take in all at once...I had no idea that they've changed the chipsets rendering a compatability issue. I purchased mine quite awhile back. As I said, the plug-n-play was simply that. If what you're saying is true, I can see a lot of people dumping them on their ear. I personally wouldn't buy from them again if there's a designed incompatability plan.
 
I second the MOTU 896HD...it is a flawless unit, and you can daisy chain them like nobody's business...i've ran 4 of them simultaneously before.
 
i've got the tascam 1844 and it works very well. the only problem glitch is that once in a blue moon you'll turn it on and all the units lights will come on and stay on. but then when you power off-on again its fine. that only happens once in a blue moon and then its fine and works rock solid.

i've also got an Edirol FA-101 which also works great. i use it to record out of the house.

they are both firewire, which works extremely well.
 
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