M-Audio Vs. Echo Mia (Unbal Vs. Balanced inputs)

  • Thread starter Thread starter lapieuvre
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lapieuvre

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Hi,

I am planning to buy a sound card, I wanted to buy the M-Audio Audiophile, but the inputs are unbalanced. They say it can handle 20 ft. of unbalanced wire without problem. The problem is, I have a Mackie console, say if I use a 10 ft. wire then I must use only 10ft. wire for my instruments (except the mics which are XLR's thus balanced). What will it do to the sound after 20 ft?

I then plan to buy Echo Mia with midi inputs which is 319.99 Can$
compared to 239.99 Can$ for the Audiophile. Is the price worth the difference?

Thanks,

Thierry Angers
 
If you keep your audio cables away from noise sources like power cables and video monitors, and keep the cover on your computer, you shouldn't have much trouble with unbalanced lines in a home studio environment. The 20-foot limitation would be for each individual line, not a total for all unbalanced lines.

There may be other issues that might justify the price difference between the Mia and the Audiophile, though. I'll leave that for others to address. For what it's worth, I'm very happy with the Audiophile.

DonF
 
Anyone else want to comment on this?
I use the analog ins on my Audiophile 24/96, but have recently thought about getting the Mia for the balanced analog ins. Would the benefit be worth swapping out cards? Fyi, my cable runs are short...3feet, from my mixer to the computer.
Thanks
 
I have a Mia acrd and I like it very much. I use the inputs unbalanced anyhow so I can't really comment too much on the superiority of balanced inputs. I like the Mia for it's conversion quality, I think it sounds great. You could check out my stuff to hear the card in unbalanced 16 bit mode by hitting my www button.

I don't think it's too big a deal to go with the cheaper card, a lot of people are very happy with the Maudio stuff.
 
The Mia has slightly better measured sound quality and the balanced inputs could reduce noise even on short runs but I dont think the improvements are worth uprading your Audiophile for. If you didnt have a soundcard then I would say buy the Mia but since you already have an audiophile then I wouldnt bother. If you want an upgrade consider getter a higher quality converter to go into the digital i/o of your audiophile.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll check out your stuff soon Jake-owa. I think I'lll stick with the M-audio card.

Alfalfa, I don't much about converters, I thought that's what the soundcard covered. Also, I use an analog mackie board to mix and send to the computer. Is there a way to mix down from my Mackie to the SPDIF on the Audiophile if I were to get an additional converter?
Thanks in advance
 
how to record drums?

hi!
I dont really have a home studio right now, put I am planing on building one this summer.
My current setup is a typical sound blaster live 5.1
I will change the soundcard... I was browsing around and I heard about the Echo Mia... I also heard about the m-audio audiophile. The Echo Mia is said to be a better sound card.
I the realised the echo mia had 2 ins and the audiophile 4 ins...
When I get my sound card, I will record bass, drums and guitar, not all at the same time, but I wonder, how will I be able to record drums if I have 2 ins because I will have to use more then 2 mics to mic up the drum...
A mixer is maybe a solution, but I would like to know, how can you edit the drum after feeding the mic in the mixer then into the sound card?

Could someone with an echo mia or someone with a lot of knowledge tell me how I could record drums with a 2ins soundcard? thx a lot guys
 
The audiophile has exactly the same number of inputs as the mia. 2 analog ins and 2 digital ins. You might be thinking of the delta44 that has 4 analog ins.

I use my lexicon mpx200 effects processor to use the 2 digital ins on my mia giving me 4 analog inputs. You might also have some equipment that has digital outputs that you can use to give you 4 ins on a mia or audiophile.

Otherwise get a delta 44/66 or equivalent if you want more than 2 tracks for drums and dont want to premix.
 
Re: how to record drums?


Recording buddy of mine has a MIA that I had bought some time back and I've kind of loaned it to him permanently..lol

I've got a 1010 but I'll tell you...those MIA cards are damn good. They have some good conveters and if you check the specks they have a higher dynamic range than the 2496. But no MIDI.

My bud does drums with the MIA but uses a mixer. I don't know what the exact I/O he's got going but he's 6 or 7 mics. I'm sure he's just routing everything to a couple outputs so he doesn't have each drum on it's own channel. It does work but a 1010 is obviously a better choice when doing acoustic drums.
 
Re: how to record drums?

tenkas said:
When I get my sound card, I will record bass, drums and guitar, not all at the same time, but I wonder, how will I be able to record drums if I have 2 ins because I will have to use more then 2 mics to mic up the drum...
A mixer is maybe a solution, but I would like to know, how can you edit the drum after feeding the mic in the mixer then into the sound card?
[/B]
Click to expand...

Get the m-audio 1010 or something equivalent to record drums. You need 1 input per mic. Else you have to do a really good mix and a really good drummer to have good result in a 2 in sound card.

Thierry
 
The Mia's (non-MIDI) can be had for around $100 both on Ebay and places like GC in the states are blowing them out to make room for the MiaMIDI's...

I own 2 Mia's and I'm happier with their simple drivers and setup than I was when I owned the Delta 44 and now I have 8 ins (4 Analog, 4 Digital SPDIF)...
 
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