Multiple interfaces

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Running Cubase SX with a Delta1010lt right now. I want to be able to record a band playing in unity (full drum miking, vocals, guitar amps or direct), so I need 16-24 simultaneous tracks.

Some guys at guitar center said that if I got something new it wouldn't work at the same time as my 1010lt. I'm not sure if that's true, but either way I've been looking at the M-Audio Firewire 18/14 plus the Octane8. Or the Presonus Firepod. I know the Firepod is chainable to link two of them. As I said above I don't know if they can work while the 1010lt is running. I would prefer to buy just the Firepod or Firewire 18/14 and then the Octane or another pod later.

So, any thoughts on which setup to go with? Or about the compatibility?
Oh, and I have preamps on my mixer so the ones on the Firepod are not absolutely necessary in making a decision. Thanks.
 
Can you afford an Alesis HD24 and an RME 9652? New you are looking at about $2100, used about $1400. This gives you 24 ins and outs. Also, it puts you back on the PCI bus with rock solid RME drivers. Another bonus is that you can take the HD24 out to record remotely and then dump it back into your DAW through the RME. With the Alesis you can just put it in input monitor mode. This way you can record your tracks right on the DAW via the three ADAT optical ports, and at the same time you can route the Analog outs to your console (if you have the channel real estate or tape returns on it). By routing the analog outs to the console, you don't even have to think about latency on your live tracks. The Alesis converters sound way better (in my opinion) than anything I have heard by either M-Audio or Presonus. With the RME it will also allow you to upgrade to Lavry, Apogee, Mytek or whatever converters you might want to should budget ever present itself. Basically, the whole setup can grow with you.
 
Actually I hadn't thought about ADAT. Back in 1996 I bought a Roland VS-880ex when I started, and at the time the technology of ADAT overwhelmed me. After checking out your suggestions, it looks a lot easier now... For value it beats what I was thinking about, 24 tracks versus 16. Only problem is it's a big money output all at once. I liked how you can chain several HD24's together, although the RME can perform 52 at a time? Not sure if I read that right. Irregardless I'm sure my computer couldn't handle that many at once anyway.

I would still be interested to know if the 1010lt would still be able to run at the same time, if only for the midi input (it's my only current input, although I'll probably get a 4x4 midisport or something soon).

Thanks a lot.
 
You may be able to use the midi form the delta with some other sound card. The option I suggested is a little spendy, but I don't think you can get that many channels of conversion that sound that good any other way without spending a lot more. The RME card has 24 channels of optical in, and 24 out. As well as s/pdif in and out. It goes up to 96k. Thats how they got the name "9652". And they are all simultaneous on the RME, but not on the Alesis. What is your computer config? You might be surprised at how many tracks can be transfered at one time on it.
 
My comp:

P4 3.0 1mb L2 cache 800fsb
1 gig PC3200
Running XP Pro
Cubase SX 2.0, Wavelab 4

Question:
Recording to the HD24 and then dumping would be fine, but if I wanted to record through it straight to DAW, how many tracks could I record at once?
 
The cheapo solution would be to buy another one or two 1010LT's and run them all side-by-side.
 
All good suggestions.
I have run multiple cards of different manufacturers for years without a bit of difficulty.

If I could afford the HD set up as mentioned I'd buy it for myself for the very reasons mentioned, but your cheapest is to add another PCI card interface.

Tom
 
There is no doubt that the cheapest solution is to run multiple 1010's. I have heard from others though that the 1010 seems to have more driver issues when paired up though. Of course, this does not mean that you specifically will. The reason I like the other way I mentioned is that it also adds a pretty significant step in quality and flexibility to the chain.

As far as the Alesis track count goes with the set-up I mentioned above. The Alesis (when combined with the RME 9652 or HDSP9652) allows 24 channels of simultaneous conversion. This, to me, is the only real place where the system could fall a little short. I believe that with 3 1010's you can run 24 tracks in at the same time as 24 tracks out. With the Alesis, you just get 24. You could record all 24 at once, or record on 16 while playing back 8 from the DAW etc.... If you kept your M-Audio (does the 1010 work at all in standalone? ), you could run the s/pdif out of your DAW into the s/pdif on your M-Audio and use the M-Audio to temporarly convert the stereo output from your DAW to analog so it could be monitored on your console. This gives you simultaneously 24 inputs through the HD24, and 2 outputs through the 1010. If the 1010 doesn't work that way you can use 22 inputs simultaneously on the HD24, and 2 outputs.

Even with the system I mentioned above, there are a few limitations, but most home recordists won't reach those limitations. I do however believe that any home recordist could use better sound quality if it were available to them.
 
xstatic said:
As far as the Alesis track count goes with the set-up I mentioned above. The Alesis (when combined with the RME 9652 or HDSP9652) allows 24 channels of simultaneous conversion. This, to me, is the only real place where the system could fall a little short. I believe that with 3 1010's you can run 24 tracks in at the same time as 24 tracks out. With the Alesis, you just get 24. You could record all 24 at once, or record on 16 while playing back 8 from the DAW etc....
Click to expand...
Are you sure about that?
 
xstatic said:
There is no doubt that the cheapest solution is to run multiple 1010's. I have heard from others though that the 1010 seems to have more driver issues when paired up though.
Click to expand...

A friend of mine runs 4 LTs together. He's not recording music though, it's actually a phone recording/call logging system.

However he's had no issues with the drivers
 
Like I said, I have just heard form others who couldn't seem to make them happy together, but there are definately people out there whose multiple 1010's are running just fine:)
 
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