Had It With Soundcards

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Levey

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I hate to do it but .. I have to start somewhere, again. Ive been recording midi and audio on my pc with a delta 44 and a gadgetlabs 824 almost every day for several months and Im back to asking about what soundcard would work best for me. Ive read other posts but still need more info for my setup.

The delta is cool but doesnt have midi. I now realize how badly I need it. It also has only 4 ins and outs. I have a feeling that the future is going to call for 8 of both.
The gadgetlabs card was cheap.. cheap due to the fact that theyre out of buisness and its tough to maintain. note to self: never buy cheap again for any reason.

It looks like I will need a card with midi and 8 ins and outs. (that seems like the round number with most companys) I dont need anything for adat. all that will be done by a nearby studio.
At the moment I have three devices that I would like to use midi with. a drum machine, a triton keyboard and a kurzweil keyboard. im trying to sell the kurzweil if anyones interested. k2500s well treated. In the future I will have some modules and a sampler in the setup. Will I need a card with a word clock or something along that line. i know that my triton works with timeclock. will this matter. midis a bitch.

The question really is, what card can i purchase new that will have the midi + the 8 ins and outs + anything else that Im forgetting and not have to be replaced in the near future. I also want to be able to record on all 8 channels and monitor on all 8 at the same time. or is this possible with most newer cards? the computers pretty speed so it can handle this.
the cards that have come up so far are:
- delta 1010
- echo layla
- motu
- aardvark
I think Im forgetting some but thats a few to throw out for some feedback. Are any of those troublesome with a setup like mine? The one that holds up the most so far is the layla. but 20bit? hmm. Just something else to think about. thanks for the feedback. Its always helpful here.
 
No, no, dude - the 824's a GREAT card! I know this because I have one myself. In fact, if you make me an attractive offer, you can have mine! Then you'll have 16 CHANNELS! Makes my eyes moist just thinking about it... :D
 
even if the drivers are all current isnt there still hardware complications that show up as it is used with a newer computer.
dobro. do you use any other soundcard besides the GL
 
No - just the 824. But it's starting to piss me off, and I'm in the market for a new card. I'm looking at the Delta 66 because from all reports, it sounds good, I don't need more than 4 ins and outs, it does 24/96, and it's got spdif. But I just got Fruity Loops, and it's a blast, so I'm thinking about MIDI.

Question: is it possible to get a 4 in/out card, and then daisy chain another one to the first later on if you need more channels?

Oh, I forgot - no, no complications using the 824 on a brand new computer, as long as you use Win98 - the last generation of 824 drivers was designed for Win 98.
 
If you need MIDI badly, just buy a cheap SBLive card and run it WITH your high-end audio card.

I bought a 24/96 card (Echo Mia- it does what I needed and the price was right) and left my SBLive in the PC. They work great together. I run the Line-out from the SBLive back to my mixer and let it handle all my MIDI and Soundfont stuff.
 
Levey,

First of all, if you are gonna expand your midi studio, then whatever you do, dont get rid of any sound modules. In other words keep the Kurzweil unless you are gonna replace it with another sound module/synth right away...

Based on what you have already..here is what i would suggest

Im assuming that you are using a computer midi sequencing program like Cakewalk.. correct..?What you are gonna need to tie the midi sequencing software to the outboard synths is a midi interface..for what you have already you need to look at maybe
a 4in 4out midi interface...take a look at the Midiman interfaces
or motu...i run both..a parallel Motu interface and the midiman 2x2. For maximum flexibility..get an interface that can generate smpte...most of the interfaces that have 4 ins/outs also have smpte capabilities

Also you are gonna need a mixer ..at least 14 channels..this way
you will have the computer playing your midi sequences and you will be routing the audio outs from your external synths ..(which with the Triton..6 outs...the kurzweil 4 i think and your drum machine and its outs into the mixer..and take that 2 track mixdown and record it back to the computer via the delta card
you already have..or to whatever mixdown medium you prefer to choose...any audio that you have recorded within the same project could be submixed within the software and routed to mixer also via the audio cards outs.

You didnt mention how much money you wanted to spend but
the above mentioned scenario is about 6 to 8 hundred dollars
and simply keeping the 4in 4out audio card which will do just
fine in this set up..

Just something else to consider..if you need clarification holla back!
 
So, how much you guys want to sell you Gadget Labs for??
 
ametth said:
So, how much you guys want to sell you Gadget Labs for??
Click to expand...

i got a 424 for you if you want. it only works with 98....for the cost of shipping... it yours...

hey why don't you save yourself some $$$$ and get a StAudio c-port.... 8ins/8outs midi in, out, thru, they go for $399
 
8 channels, midi, digital i/o, preamps, software - what *doesn't* it have? At $399, my guess is that what it doesn't have is quality sound. Am I wrong?
 
If you have the Delta 44 and it is running problem free, you like the sound quality and everything works well with your system, then I would say the Delta 1010 is probably the way to go.
 
elbenj - I see I left out some. Im recording on a PC with logic delta and cubase latest version of vst/32. I had an older version of cakewalk but never got comfortable with it. Im using my triton for sounds and some midi sequencing, and same with the kurzweil. I do plan on replacing the kurzweil keyboard with a sound module in the future and controlling it with the triton keyboard. the drum machine is not a really important part of my setup. I try to take it with me when I know Ill be away from my keyboard and the computer and use it as a scratch pad to store drums and some accompanyment sequences. when I get back to my only computer I put the sequences in. Im running all of the audio outs into a mackie 1402vlz. it has 6 mono with preamps and 4 stereo for the keys.
I see I need a card that can generate smpte. does this somehow relate to the midi time clock used by the triton?? i should get it anyway I guess. maybe ill post that in the midi section. here at school we use a mac with a studio4 by opcode for all the midi hookups. you think maybe i could do something like that for the pc. say.. midi into a studio4- type midi and smpte interface and then audio and midi into a delta 1010 or motu.
m-audio midi stuff is USB. how tight is the timing for ya?
the price is a factor in all of this but if its worth it ill spend over 600, but not too much. hope this doesnt limit my options. thanks for the help everyone. this gives my professors ears a bit of a rest.
that staudio card looks pretty good by the way. if its good why only 400$. they might put themselves out of buisness like gadgetlabs did.
 
Isnt the best way simply to buy another delta 44? You canlink them you know. Why mess with something you are used to and it s a great card.

Then just buy a USB interface. They are dirt cheap.

Bob's yer uncle's brother - 8 in 8 out with midi for several devices and you've saved yourself a good bit of money in the process.
 
C9 - I might take you up on that 424 if you are serious. Dobro & all, I'm pretty damn happy with my GL 824. Of course I almost never do MIDI, but I have played arround with some MIDI tracks (using CW9) and had no problems. Yes it sucks that the company went under, but thats life. It was definately the best bang-per-buck card at the time I bought it and I'm still having fun with it.

Just because there is no new drivers coming out should not mean that it will not work with anything after Win98. However I was not planning on updateing that computer past W98 anytime soon, since it is working fine now. I will be installing XP on a different system this weekend, just to check it out.
 
dobro said:
8 channels, midi, digital i/o, preamps, software - what *doesn't* it have? At $399, my guess is that what it doesn't have is quality sound. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

the C-port has great quality. sorry :) can't nothing match it for the price. i've heard recordings with the c-port then the same recording done on a motu 2408mkII and the c-port sounded much better. to me it sounds almost like the delta 1010, but the highs are better. i'm getting one for my studio.

http://www.c-port.net
http://www.Satudio.com

RWhite said:
C9 - I might take you up on that 424 if you are serious. Dobro & all, I'm pretty damn happy with my GL 824. Of course I almost never do MIDI, but I have played arround with some MIDI tracks (using CW9) and had no problems. Yes it sucks that the company went under, but thats life. It was definately the best bang-per-buck card at the time I bought it and I'm still having fun with it.

Just because there is no new drivers coming out should not mean that it will not work with anything after Win98. However I was not planning on updateing that computer past W98 anytime soon, since it is working fine now. I will be installing XP on a different system this weekend, just to check it out.
Click to expand...

yea i'm serious. the price of shipping which is a few $$. the card works fine but it doesn't work under 2000 or xp and i run xpPro. i have the midi connector for it too. ummm there is a gadget labs Yahoo forum still, and some one was writing wdm drivers for the 824 and the 424, i'm not sure they were made though. let me know if you want it.
 
I also have the C-Port and will vouch for it as a great price-feature combination.It is a 24/96 card that is 10X10 (including two S/PDIF on the daughtercard) with midi.The external breakout box also has the AD-DA converters which is better noise rejection than having the converters inside the PC. Here's a link to an mp3 I did using the c-port,j-station and a cheapo casio keyboard.


Tom
 
I used whatever email you registered with. HR does not display emails.
 
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