RE: Soundcard upgrade!

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SublimeKid

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RE: Soundcard upgrade!

Hello, I've been into recording as a hobby for about a year now and I am looking to upgrade my soundcard. I have beenusing a M Audio Mobile Pre for jotting down acoustics and vocals.

I am looking to upgrade to an 8-channel card. Card choices I have narrowed down to are the Echo Fire 8, M Audio Delta 10/10, and the Presonus Firepod. I want to go Firewire for the mobility but PCI will be fine if I must. My budget is currently 1200$. Am I better off saving up for external pre's and getting a card without any or will internal ones do? We will be recording drums guitar bass and vocals. Again, 1200$ is what I'm looking to spend now. 2000$ max. in about a month.

Thank you in advance for any input or recommendations!
 
I've gone through a few of the 10-channel interfaces out there, and the one that really stands out to me is the Echo Audiofire. It's got some great converters on it, and the mic pres / universal inputs on channels 1 and 2 are very usable, and are a major bonus.

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I use a presonus firepod, and it has been wonderful. I don't know about converter comparison with the Echo, but they have certainly served me well. The driver stability on the Firepod has also been top notch.
 
Also, you might want to look at the Mackie 400f. Forgot to mention that one. The converters are solid, and the built-in preamps on that one will be more than good enough for whatevery you might be working on right now.

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I use a Echo Layla 3G (PCI sibling of the AudioFire line) and have been very pleased with it. Converters are great (great stereo field, good production of highs and lows) - it's also rock solid. I imagine you could expect the same from the Audiofire and Echo has a good rep for drivers.

I owned a Firepod last year and thought the pre's were pretty decent, really decent for the price, but I opted to move to the Layla 3G and invest in some better pre's, and I had good luck with Echo previously. Ohh yeah, and the software console is nice.

Presonus pretty much addressed the shortcomings of the Firepod with their new Fire "device" (can't recall the name right now, sorry) which is due out sometime in the near future (I think).
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, (which I very well may be), but I thought that if you used a breakout box like the pod. that it completley replaced what the sound card does? If so, then why would you need to upgrade the SC. doesn't the pod take care of all the ad/da conversions?
 
Do you recall any websites that had a preview of the new version or upgrade of the Firepod? I really want to check that out because I have been impressed with everything I have read about the Firepod so far and if the next one improves upon and stays in relatively the same price range I will probably hold off and purchase that.

Thanks again everyone!
 
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