Sonusman Question . . . or maybe other Gadget Lab users ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mountaineer
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Mountaineer

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Sonusman,
I know you use a Lynx card, but thought you would be the best to offer advice here.
I've decided to move up to 24 bit sampling with my studio and still stay on a budget, selling off some old analog stuff to break even. I upgraded to Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, which supports 24 bit, and now, I want to upgrade my sound card. I've decided on Gadget Labs, mainly because of price and reputation, but, I'm stuck on whether to shell out an extra $150 for the Wave 824 vs. the new Wave 496. The major differences are obvious: eight I / O vs. four. For my purposes, I can see using up to four, but never eight, so , I have no problem with the 496 as far as inputs.

Other differences include a full 19" rack and XLR inputs on channels 1 & 2 on the 824, vs. a 1/2 rack breakout box and no XLR inputs on the 496. Not enough to sell me on the 824 yet.

What I thought you could help me out here on are the subtle differences, based on specs :

The 824 has a dynamic range of 106 / 105 dB vs. 110 / 100 dB on the 496 . . . does this
mean the 824 has better A/D converters to hold a 1dB range from clipping to floor ? Hell, I don't know if this is a plus or minus ?

The 824's frequency response is 10Hz to 20kHz, + - 0.1 dB vs. +- 0.2 dB on the 496, with the Hz range being the same. Again, the result of better converters ?

The only minus on the 824 is it's maximum sample rate is 48 Hz ( the 496 offers 96 Hz), but only my dog would really care about that. I don't think I could hear the difference, besides, it is only useable through digital I/O anyway.

The big question for me ? Is the 24 bit sound I'll get from the 824 going to be better than the 496. If not, I'll probably spend the $150 on a audio snake and a new mic cable.

Thanks !

PAPicker
 
hmmmmmm.....I have not looked into the Gadgets Lab card for awhile. I would be asking myself though if it has an NT driver. Mainly because even though you may not use NT, you may want to use 2000, and if it works on NT, good chance that it will work on 2000, or will soon have a 2000 driver.

Next, are these specs provided from an independent source, or what the company brags? Companies usually provide the "best case scenerio" specs, and not the true life ones. So, you gotta watch that. Next, the whole +/- is the built in comfort level they use for their specs, so, in most cases, it will be right on the money.

I would go for the 8 I/O, just because you will want more I/O down the road and it will cost you more to get it then than it would now. Also, if you still don't think that you need the extra 4 I/O's, then you need to find out if the other card's 1/4" I/O's are balanced or not. If they are unbalanced, I wouldn't throw any money towards it at all. You WANT balanced connections.

About your 96Khz opinion "only my dog will hear the difference", well, so will you. Doubling your sampling rate WILL provide for much better detail in the high end of the record source, and I don't care what anyone has to say different about that, it will. But, if it only offers it at the digital I/O, well, you would need another converter that will do it, so, at the price of this card plus another converter, you should think about another card instead if 96KHz is important to you down the road.

Ed
 
the gadgetlab cards do have an NT driver, and from what I hear, very solid. PAPicker, I could save you money possibly. Look here https://homerecording.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000117.html you might be interested in something here. About the i/o they're all balanced and either +4 or -10, switchable. I've never had problems with mine and the sound is pristine.


ametth
 
ammeth...What are you doing, getting out of recording, getting different equipment, just have some extra stuff, or none of my business.

Ya that would be a good deal. I paid around $620 for the 8-24 and the spdif. None of them are that old yet and are guaranteed for 5 years.



[This message has been edited by monty (edited 03-14-2000).]
 
Ed,
Thanks for the reply. First, I work alone and don't plan on ever recording professionally. I may use 2-4 tracks at once. Sometimes I like to record acoustic guitar and bass with mics and POD or D/I. But 8 ? I don't see it. My real concern is the converters on the card. Yes, the specs came off the GadgetLab site, but I've read nothing but praise on the cards. They do have NT drivers and I will switch to 2000 when I'm comfortable with it or 98 gives me problems . . . hasn't yet.
The Wave 496 is new and does have balanced TRS I/O and +4 or -10dB. At this point, I'm not concerned with 96KHz either. I do want a quiet card and good D/A converters. Thanks again for the help.

PAPicker
 
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