Audiophile 2496 / Deltas

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rathpy

New member
[Moved this thread from newbies]

Please answer some dumb questions and help me make a more informed choice for the M-Audio cards…

Q1.
If I want to connect 3 MIDI devices (say a Pod, a keyboard, and a drum trigger-to-midi device), I only need one MIDI output and input from my PC, so long as I can chain the devices via MIDI through ports on the devices, right??? (I know the POD doesn’t have a through port).

Q2.
Can I get an Audiophile now and add a Delta 44 to it later? How seamlessly would this work? Would latency be increased?

Q3.
To process a pre-tracked DI’d guitar through my Line6 Pod and be able to listen to the effected mix I’d need 3 outputs: 1 for the guitar part + 2 for monitors, right? (Sorry, may seem obvious, but I haven’t played with this stuff before).

Q4.
If the above scenario means that the Audiophile by itself is insufficient (because it has only 2 outs), could I use combination of an Audigy (OEM card only) with either a Delta/Audiophile. This would give me all the connection numbers/types I need, provide soundfont hardware sampling, and be cheap. But what are the downsides???

Q5.
The M-Audio cards by themselves don’t have a headphone output, so what’s a good way for switching to headphones for tracking? (If the Audigy could be used with the M-Audio cards, I could use its headphone outputs, couldn’t I?) Please note I already have an Audio Buddy on order and I only need 2 mic pres, so I really don’t want to spring for an Omni I/O. My guess is that I either require 2 dedicated outs for a set of cans, or be able to switch in outboard between monitors and cans. Do I need a headphone amplifier to drive a set of Sony MDR-7506’s? A cheap Behringer MX602A mixer? (but then I’d loose any benefits of card balanced outs, and extra mixer noise would be added to the monitor signal?). Hmm, I ‘d don’t have a clue here.

Regards,
rathpy
 
1) Technically yes.

2) Yes. How seamlessly it will work is extremely difficult to say. The drivers support multiple card synch, and I think that the delta and audiophile both use the same drivers...I'd think it should work ok on paper...but in real life? Some people can't get ONE soundcard working right :)

3) You'll always need at least two outputs for monitoring. You are correct.

4) A Delta44 would give you 4 ins and 4 outs at only about $50 more than the audiophile, but you'll need a card to do MIDI. Technically yes you could use an audiophile and a soundblaster for what you describe, but that would mean using the soundblaster's converters which are not as good as the audiophile's to begin with. An audigy + Delta44 seems like a better bet. Note that you can get an audigy for like $40; don't buy the more expensive versions.

5) No soundcard to my knowledge has a dedicated headphone output. I mean some soundcards can drive headphones, but.... What are you monitoring with now? There are lots of possibilities...a mixer with a headphone amp is one...a standalone headphone amp is another...if you're using an integrated amplifier (like for a home stereo) for monitoring it should have a headphone amp.

Slackmaster 2000
 
5) I’m monitoring on HR824’s from an AWE64. Talk about mismatch :D. I haven’t played with it much because I’m just getting started, and latency is so bad on this PII computer (I’m replacing it with a new powerful one). The AWE64 does of course have headphone outs, and I was wondering if I got the Audigy, could I use its headphones socket? Or would this sound too crappy?

4) Ok, Delta44 + Audigy combo sounds great to me, in theory at least - 4 ins, 4 outs (all balanced, matches HR824s, Pod, and Audio Buddy, yippie), midi in & out, headphone output, hardware sampler, (S/PDIF stereo in/out?), (plus maybe stereo in & out from the Audigy that I would only ever use in a pinch). Do these cards commonly work together? Or is it a gamble?

Headphone amplifier alternatives if I couldn’t / can’t use the SoundBlaster headphone outs:
- I don’t own a home stereo unfortunately.
- A mixer. Geezz, I was hoping to get away without one of these. A Behringer MXB1002 is the lowest priced one I can see that has balanced ins & outs (I’d like to preserve the balanced path if I get a Delta). And you can’t bypass the gain/EQ can you?
- A search on the Internet seems to show there aren’t many clean 1 or 2 output standalone headphone amps. Any recommendations?

Regards,
rathpy
 
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