Echo Layla 3G Vs M Audio Delta 1010

[RousseauBABA]

hey guys, im an amature musicians. me n my brother have been workin on some songs (not english). Weve been recording with a cheap soundcard (M-AUDIO....Audiophile 2496) but we think its time to move on. Wer planing to replace our old soundcard with something better and in our budget. my budget is not that high, its aroung 300-500$ (as low as better ). so far ive found two options for my self. Echo Layla 3G (499$) & M Audio Delta 1010 (399$). Id really appreciate if u guys could help me out to get to a decision.

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Basically i only use live guitar, bass, and vocals. the rest of it is pretty much done by reason. and i wanna use rackmount comp, eq, and mic pre. and use em for mixing separately for every track. i hope ive been able to explain what is my need.

thnx in advance

 

[dgatwood]

hey guys, im an amature musicians. me n my brother have been workin on some songs (not english). Weve been recording with a cheap soundcard (M-AUDIO....Audiophile 2496) but we think its time to move on. Wer planing to replace our old soundcard with something better and in our budget. my budget is not that high, its aroung 300-500$ (as low as better ). so far ive found two options for my self. Echo Layla 3G (499$) & M Audio Delta 1010 (399$). Id really appreciate if u guys could help me out to get to a decision.

My advice? Neither. They're both PCI cards, which means that there's about a 30% chance they won't work in the next computer you get and about an 80% chance they won't work in the one after that.

Standard parallel PCI is in a phase-out period that will probably last between 5 and 10 years (my guess is closer to 5 than 10). The closer you get to the end of that period, the more motherboards with legacy parallel PCI will cost relative to their PCI Express (PCIe) counterparts, as the parallel PCI logic boards will be specialized parts with a fairly limited target audience.

Your audio interface is an investment. Unless you plan to outgrow it within a single digit number of years, you'll probably want to get one that will still be useful after more than a few years. For cheap cards, PCI is okay, though not ideal. For stuff like the 3G or the 1010, it just doesn't seem like a good investment in my book.

 

[mentalattica]

dgatwood is correct pci will slowly be phased out in the future.

With that being said, I own both interfaces and there isn't a noticable difference IMHO. The layla has some pretty decent pre's onboard and the 1010 doesn't. Personally I like the Layla's mixing console better than the 1010's but that's just preference.

However my breakout box for the layla died on me (due to hurricane katrina nothing to do with the mechanics) and what drove me towards the Delta 1010 instead of another Layla 3g was it being rack mountable, I didn't need the Layla's Pre's, Price and it's a bit easier on this site to get user to user help since so many people have them.

I compared recordings with both interfaces with the rest of the chain being the same, and didn't notice much of a difference at all. I personally can't say which has the better converters but I read somewhere it was the Layla, don't quote me on that though.

Sorry I can't help you choose, they both are good and I wouldn't really choose 1 over the other as far as sound quality. If you want onboard Pre's go with the Layla, if not go with the 1010 (I got mine $369 new).

But definetely check into a few Firewire interfaces also if your gonna be using it for years to come.

 

[pete_d]

well, just to clear up some minor issues with the Layla3G, the unit is rack mountable, as it includes 2 clip on rack ears to take it up to 19". Also the Layla3G is PCI-X compatible (both 3.3 and 5 volt) and works under Mac G5s. I have a Layla2496 and the thing has been faultless.

If you wanted/needed firewire, the Echofire8 is the same as the Layla3G excepting for the ADAT i/o, but can be daisy-chained for multiple interfaces, where the PCI interfaces can't

finally, the Echo stuff is very stable, and when i tried the 3G at the shop, i found them surprisingly good. at least equal to Presonus firepod pres, which get quite a rap

 

[dgatwood]

Also the Layla3G is PCI-X compatible (both 3.3 and 5 volt) and works under Mac G5s. I have a Layla2496 and the thing has been faultless.

PCI-X is not PCI Express. It is PCI Extended. PCI Express (PCIe) is not compatible with any parallel PCI cards.

The Layla 3G is not compatible with my PowerMac G5. It is only compatible with PowerMac G5 machines built prior to October 19, 2005. Apple has dropped parallel PCI across its model line, and other vendors will follow suit over a number of years.