digital sound card for use with the vf-16

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjoa
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mjoa

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Greetings once again.

I just bought a vf-16 and I am looking for a digital sound card with optical i/o so I can:

1)move raw tracks to my pc for editing and then move them back to the vf-16
2) mix down to my pc

I am looking for the cheapest possible solution. I don't need a/d d/a converters and seeing as the vf-16 only records 16/44 I don't necessarily need a 24bit card. I do need optical s/pdif i/o.

So far, in my uneducated search, I am looking at this card:

m-audio dio2448 ($150 US)
http://www.m-audio.com/m-audio/product.htm

Can anyone give an opinion on this card for these purposes, suggest other cards in this price range for these purposes or tell me if I'm way off base here?

Any input would be apreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 
mjoa,

I just mix down to an extra track on the VF-16 and then save it on a Zip disk in .WAV format. Then I can take it into work, put it on my computer, and use software to mess with it. Or I can just burn it as is to the CDRW on my computer. Most of this is tentative as I have only done it with one program so far, but that worked out fine for the most part. For that you need to get an external Zip drive, a db25 to mini50 cable (I think), a PC formatted Zip disk, and software (if that is to be an integral part of your mixing process). No idea about prices for the software (except for downloadable freeware of course) but the rest could be had for around $100 on eBay. Good luck.
 
You can get the 2448 at mars music for $89. I have one (since January) and haven't been successful in getting it to synch up with my DVD optical outs yet, but it's probably my own stupidity. Their support is not good (the drivers that shipped with my card are nothing even close to what's in the manual, and the ones on their website are 6 months older than the ones that shipped with my card). Also, realize this isn't a fully functioning sound card, it's a digital interface. I have it running parallel with my soundblaster value and it's been a hassle ever since I loaded it. The old 'you get what you pay for' lesson I believe. If you have limited funds and don't mind managing the dual sound system then it's probably a good buy. If you're looking for a full functioning sound card with a digital IO keep looking...........
 
Thanks for your input CrayPhish. I was hoping I would run into somone who actually had one of these cards. I'm just wondering though, can you elucidate a little on what you mean by "it's been a hassle ever since I loaded it"? Are you experiencing compatability issues with the SB card or is the 2448 just buggy?

I realize this is just a digital interface but that is all I need seeing as I plan on doing all the actuall recording on the vf-16 and just using my PC for mixing down and editing. I also wonder what you mean when you say you haven't been able to sync it up to your dvd player. Are you not able to transfer the data at all or is something else happening?

If you could shed some light on these things I would apreciate it and thanks for the info already given.
 
I haven't really had time to work with it much since I installed it. I tried using it with pro tools free and loaded them both at the same time and after that had all kinds of crashes. I quit using protools and haven't had any since, so it's was probably protools causing the trouble. I get more RAM on Tuesday, I'm going to try it again then.

The guy at mars music cust svc said some people have complained about not being able to get the 24 bit to work. I don't really have a need for 24 bit since my FD4 is only 16 bit, so you may want to look into that. Mars music is very cool though, they sent me a return authorization but I ended up not using it. If you buy it from them it sounds like it's not a problem if you don't like it, you can return or exchange. Like I said, the manual is throw-away, the drivers that come with it are integrated to windows, so reading their manual is just confusing and their website isn't much help either. You're basically on your own with this company from what I've seen. Good luck!
 
As for the DVD, my playback is slow after recording. The sound was fine using protools but the synch was at the wrong speed for some reason. Probably user error due to trying too many new things at one time.
 
Thanks for providing the extra info. Looks like I will try it seeing as the vf-16 is only 16 bit as well and like you point out I can allways return it if'n it don't werk rite.

Cheers:)
 
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