Looking for a new Stereo soundcard

  • Thread starter Thread starter malcolm123
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malcolm123

malcolm123

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Whats a Good Card or device that I can hook straight to my monitors for processing?

Right now my chain is *.wav > Motu 2408 ( Adat Stereo)>Motu (Analog Stereo) Out > Monitors. I use this chain when I do processing.

I want to weed out the Motu and get a better interface for this purpose. All I need is to come out of the PC > Digital > to Monitors.


Or maybe a Good D/A > To monitors for this purpose.

I dont need extra channels, pres,etc for this interface. I just want a clean path from *.wav to Monitors.


Any advice welcomed.

Thanks

Malcolm
 
Check out the RME line. You should find one with limited ins & outs with excellent quality and drivers. Or perhaps a Lynx 1.
 
anyone familiar with the Benchmark DAC1?

Is this any better than the Motu2408?


Thanks

Malcolm
 
The DAC-1 from Benchmark is probably the best suited product for monitoring. Many of Mastering engineer use them for the very thing you sound like you want to do...oh and yes, its better than a Motu.

SoMm
 
Son of Mixerman said:
The DAC-1 from Benchmark is probably the best suited product for monitoring. Many of Mastering engineer use them for the very thing you sound like you want to do...oh and yes, its better than a Motu.

SoMm
Click to expand...

thanks SoMm.

And yes thats what I want to do. But notice I said "Processing"

LOL

Im getting there !!

Malcolm
 
No more Dac-1

Ok,
The DAC-1 I was getting fell through the cracks, meaning Im not getting the one I was promised!! After construction, room treatments, monitoring and a few other pieces Im working on now,, funds are gonna be kinda tight based on the budget im working with. I looked at the cards listed above and didnt see anything that would give me just Stereo outs. From reading the DAC-1 seems to be the piece I need for processing, but funds may fall short. So my question is, are there any other cards that may be close to the DAC-1 that may not cost as much? I have enough gear to run my monitors from puter, but would I really kill my chain by using a cheaper soundcard where the difference would just jump out at me. I looked at some of the M-Audio products and they are obtainable, but would I be really screwing up if I took this route? Would there be that much of a difference to justify the two price ranges?


I would hate to have to come out of my pocket to get a DAC-1 to be used in a place other than my own personal studio.

Any suggestions or comments welcolmed... again.

Thanks
Malcolm
 
ChristopherDawn said:
Can you afford the Lucid stuff?
Click to expand...

Thanks Man, I took a look at it. I think for 700 bucks I would go ahead and add the rest and get the DAC-1. Plus the inputs would require me to run spdif or coaxial out from another device with converters and it may weaken the signal seeing that from my pc I only have 2 digital output options, being my Motu 2408 and my SB Audigy2.

Matter of fact, I need to read somemore on the DAC-1. I need a device that has it's own computer interface card so I can go straight wav in different formats through the new device straight to the monitoring system.

Im not sure if using spdif or coax from one digital device to another would cause degration based on the weakest piece of gear though.

Thanks

Malcolm
 
malcolm123 said:
Im not sure if using spdif or coax from one digital device to another would cause degration based on the weakest piece of gear though.
Click to expand...

In theory you could get some jitter artifacts. Your best bet is to use AES/EBU rather than SPDIF and have a dedicated word clock. SPDIF is most prone to jitter over all the digital formats.
 
Why not the Lynx? I have a Lynx one for doing just what you stated. Getting sound from my PC to biamped monitors. Granted the Lynx one will only do up to 24bit 48khz. I think you will find that Lynx has the best sounding converters out of soundcards that have the converters on board. It may even sound better than some of the outboard stuff. The Lynx 2 stuff has more i/o's and are configured differently depending on what model you get. The Lynx one will do higher sample rates but only in digital. Look on ebay for used cards. The Lynx will give you that wow factor. I like it better than any prosumer 24/96 card.

Kirk
 
Thanks Guys,

Im leaning towards the Lynx One.

I few guys on another board even stated that these were pretty good cards. I just stopped reading on it and settled with the DAC-1 after I was told I could get one for a really good price due to a place closing down.

Not to knock the other cards though, im just looking for something as clean and pro as possible under 700 bucks or so.


Malcolm
 
I've heard great things about the Lynx cards. That would probably be your best bet if you can't get the Lucid or anything above.
 
DAC-1 is definitly you best bet for strictly D/A purposes

if your looking for A/D and D/a Lynxtwo is impossible to beat for price and performance...great A/D's and good D/A
 
malcom your a genius

i had a problem with mixing i am going from my sound card to my mixer to hear my mix wow..i am going to try going to my monitors and not the mixer...that might fix the problem thanks for some much needed info!!!!!
 
joeydahlia said:
malcom your a genius

i had a problem with mixing i am going from my sound card to my mixer to hear my mix wow..i am going to try going to my monitors and not the mixer...that might fix the problem thanks for some much needed info!!!!!
Click to expand...

LOL

No Genius here man. The chain Im using would be for processing. But if your trying to mix in the box and your having problems because your going through a mixer, I think reading Blue Bears article would help you more than going straight to monitors. Keep in mind that your monitors should be active meaning self powered. If they are not then I would surely avoid running through a home stereo. Whats your gear setup?

And Welcome

Malcolm
 
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