I/O card matter with ex. DAC?

[sweetshoes18]

I am contemplating whether or not to get an external DAC for my setup. If I do this, (Ill be buying a new I/O interface) does my I/O interface matter? All I need if I get an external dac is an I/O with alot of In's and Outs correct? I assume that the circuitry is much more pure on more exspensive systems but will it make that much of a difference?

There are big differences in sound quality say between a presonus Firepod and a MOTU HD192 ---- only because of the DACs... So if I use an External dac, will it really make a difference?

If this is the case, Ill just buy 3 Firepod hookups to get real multitracking.

 

[dgatwood]

An external converter (AD/DA) has to output a digital signal, which is generally either S/PDIF or lightpipe. The FIREPOD does support S/PDIF, but that only gives you two channels per FIREPOD, so three of them would support at most 6 channels of external converters. Chances are, what you would really want is ADAT lightpipe, which can support converters with up to 8 channels each.

That said, why use external converters at all when there's not that much difference between that and the converters built into decent audio interfaces these days? Or is that what you were asking? I'm not sure if A. you're asking if the external converter will help or B. you're asking if it matters what audio interface you use if you're going to use external converters anyway....

The big difference between the MOTU HD192 and the FIREPOD is not the converters. The HD192 is an old PCI design (compatibility problems await within a few years if you go that route), but in every other way, it makes the FIREPOD look like a toy. 12 analog inputs and outputs, plus word clock for higher quality synchronization between multiple devices, plus built-in level meters, coupled with generally higher quality construction, IMHO.... It's just a different animal.

If I were going to point you to something, I'd point you towards the MOTU 8Pre. It's only about $50 more than the FIREPOD, but it has ADAT lightpipe for better expansion, and in my experience, it generates less CPU load than the FIREPOD. YMMV.