Soundcards VS. Soundcards!!

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Beni79

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thats right...

Im going to buy one soundcard (pci only), and I´m starting to get an headache!


Wich would you choose?

SECTION 1 = 96 kHz cards

1.- M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (95 EUR = 114 USD)
2.- ESI MAYA 44 (95 EUR = 114 USD)
3.- M-AUDIO DELTA 44 (155 EUR = 186 USD)
4.- M-AUDIO DELTA 410 (155 EUR = 186 USD)
or
5.- RME HAMMERFALL LE 9636 (189 EUR = 226 USD)

SECTION 2 = 192 kHz cards

1.- M-AUDIO Audiophile 192 (159 EUR = 190 USD)
2.- ESI JULI@ (125 EUR = 150 USD)
3.- EMU 1212m (198 EUR = 237 USD)
or
4.- EMU 0404 (98 EUR = 118 USD)
:________________________________________________________:


Please tell me wich one you would buy if you had a budget of:

1.- 150 USD or less...
2.- 151 - 200 USD..
3.- 185 USD or more...

This will help a lot to understand what you guys prefer... (of course... if you still having over 185 USD to spend in one of this cards I wrote, would prefer Audiophile 2496 (as an example) you could always say that too! :)
 
what about an E-MU 1820? costs like $399 OR $499 depending on which one you get i believe, but your getting so much more, yout getting some mic pres, etc. there is so much out there. external firewire guys are great too. i have a digi 002r and i absolutley swear by it, but that may be out of your price range. theres the m-audio 1814, the presonus firepods and firebox, and so much more out there.
 
I have a Delta 66 (not on your list) and a Lynx L22 (too expensive to be on your list). The Delta 66 holds up very well in a side by side comparison with the much more expensive Lynx cards, and has digital I/O that the Delta 44 doesn't have. As far as 192K vs 96K, I wouldn't worry about it. Hardly anyone is recording at 96K let alone 192K. See the current sampling rate poll elsewhere in the forums.
 
Can´t you guys stick to the question??...

E-MU 1820 is nice... but HELLO!! 498 Euros = 600 USD!!!! there are a lot of guys like me out there that can´t afford buy those cards. So if I ask you to choose between Black and White.. dont come here and bother me or other interested guys telling that Pink is great!!

WHO CARES!!!! about Pink anyhow!


Delta 66 = 189 Euro = 226 USD... it could be on the list. but Delta 66 its the same that 44, only that you got 6 inn 6 out, instead of 4-4.


by the way... is there any diference between Audiophile 2496 and Delta Audiophile 2496 ??

also... is there any reason to spend 100 euros = 120 USD more for the M-Audio´s Firewire Audiophile? when u can buy the Pci version for 120 USD less?

I guess you guys would prefer to buy M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT before M-Audio Firewire Audiophile? (both cost the same) = 226 USD.
 
RME any time. The only pc card that never gave me any problem.
 
what are you gonna be using it for? How many instruments do you plan recording at a time, etc

A little info goes a long way
 
Havoc said:
RME any time. The only pc card that never gave me any problem.

RME cards are great, but very different than the other contenders because they are ADAT and SPDIF input/output. Thus you would need external converters.
 
I may use it myself, and then I mean I couldnt record more than 2 things at a time... If thats possible! :P (not always)

So would be nice the possibility to record 2 tracks simultaneous.

My music would have different styles, from Pop to Rock, passing thrue Funk and Jazz (did I say jazz? :P hehe... one day maybe) :D
I will have 1 lead vocal, 1-2 back vocal, 1 rythm guitar, 1 lead guitar <-- all of this will be audio (until I get my own bass), but for now, bass and keys would be midi / samples.

but of course... a track at once... (maybe sometimes 2 tracks at once)

this will get into Cubase or Sonar
 
tnen RME is discarded... cause... Im not in need of adat spdif in/out for time being.

I´ve been thinking alot of Audiophile 2496, but.. wonder if the USB version is any better (or is it just so the laptop owners can enjoy the same than big cabinets Pc´s owners)

with Audiophile.. you got the cable inputs, back the cabinet, and I will have the cabinet a bit apart of the screen, and mic... so it doesnt get noisy when I record with the mic.
so... would it be a consideration to have a little mixer in my desk, so I just could connect my instruments there... and not going under the table everytime Im changing instrument?

and then again.. if I get a mixer for that commodity.. I could get one with nice pre´s/phantom (like behringer eurorack or new Xenyx, soon available), and then save money on another Pre?
the thing here is beeing smart.. and not spending lots of hard saved money (for a student)
 
Beni79 said:
Can´t you guys stick to the question??...

E-MU 1820 is nice... but HELLO!! 498 Euros = 600 USD!!!! there are a lot of guys like me out there that can´t afford buy those cards. So if I ask you to choose between Black and White.. dont come here and bother me or other interested guys telling that Pink is great!!

WHO CARES!!!! about Pink anyhow!


Delta 66 = 189 Euro = 226 USD... it could be on the list. but Delta 66 its the same that 44, only that you got 6 inn 6 out, instead of 4-4.


by the way... is there any diference between Audiophile 2496 and Delta Audiophile 2496 ??

also... is there any reason to spend 100 euros = 120 USD more for the M-Audio´s Firewire Audiophile? when u can buy the Pci version for 120 USD less?

I guess you guys would prefer to buy M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT before M-Audio Firewire Audiophile? (both cost the same) = 226 USD.
your attitude will just reap similar attitude. If want help lighten up. But as far as the question goes you will just get even more headaches because everyone has there own personal experience with just ONE of those cards and not the others. You will get opinions from those who have heard of others opinion on a particular card and not from experience with that card. so you will get answers that will go on and on.
I’ve own the emu-0404 and its worked good. But others have had their issues with it and say they will never buy another emu product. However Im buying the upgrade emu1820m because I liked the emu0404 and its virtual mixer and the options I have. but if you have never used an audio interface before then you may get a recommendation for another card that may be simpler. Like just plug it in and hit record and it works right out of the box.
 
thanks for your answer... and.... my attitude is just fine ;)


Would be nice if people just took time, and answered like... if I had that much money, I would go for that one..

that will tell me wich is prefered by people like me, wanting to buy or already have, and can talk of experience.

If you were happy with the 0404 (just tell me that you would buy that one) <-- in its price range.
and if you got more money, you would get the 1820m

Thats the kind of answers Im looking forward too

Could be nice to make a balance after some days, and some answers of course..

btw: if you got a specific card... why is it?... cause when you had an amount of money you buyed that one and no the other... why? thats also nice to hear, from people.
 
Beni79 said:
my attitude is just fine ;)


If that were the case, then you would have gotten a lot better answers, a lot sooner.

The fact that this thread is like a ghost town consisting of you talking to yourself ... says an awful lot about how much people like you (or dislike you). Draw your own conclusions from there.

.
 
Beni79 said:
by the way... is there any diference between Audiophile 2496 and Delta Audiophile 2496 ??

If I were guessing? The FireWire card is probably a newer model, which probably means better converters, but no guarantees.

Beni79 said:
also... is there any reason to spend 100 euros = 120 USD more for the M-Audio´s Firewire Audiophile? when u can buy the Pci version for 120 USD less?

How long do you plan to own the card, and how long do you plan to own your current computer? Parallel PCI is officially a deprecated standard. Vendors are already beginning to transition from PCI to PCI Express (PCIe), which is not compatible with existing PCI cards. For those of us on the Mac platform, it's a moot point already, since Apple has pretty much dropped PCI support across the board, with the possible exception of the Xserve. That's worth considering if you are even remotely entertaining the possibility of a platform change in the next few years.

Since it's an external bus, FireWire is pretty much guaranteed to be usable long after it becomes impractical to make a PCI card work with a modern motherboard.

The real question is how many years we're talking about. It's anybody's guess, really, but if I were guessing... maybe 3 years before the off-the-shelf computer manufacturers stop shipping PCI machines entirely, and 5 years before PCI is relegated to specialty motherboards. Probably 10 years before it is completely unavailable. These are, of course, guesses, and my guesses may vary by as much as 3-4 years, depending on how cynical I'm feeling on a given day. YMMV.

Figure out where you are on that curve---do you build your machines or buy them? Are you willing to spend more on a machine/motherboard in the future to keep using this card? How frequently do you replace your computer/motherboard? How expensive is the interface, and how many years do you plan to keep it before you upgrade to something better? Based on the answers to these questions, decide whether investing in PCI hardware makes sense for you.

In my opinion, for a low-end card like a Delta 44, it makes perfect sense to go with PCI, since you'll probably outgrow it (or nearly so) before PCI becomes an issue. For anything significantly above that, you'd be better off saving your money and buying a FireWire interface, IMHO.

Beni79 said:
Delta 66 = 189 Euro = 226 USD... it could be on the list. but Delta 66 its the same that 44, only that you got 6 inn 6 out, instead of 4-4.

The Delta 66 has one other big difference from the Delta 44. You can use more than one Delta 66. Those extra two inputs and outputs are digital S/PDIF connections. This allows the Delta 66 to slave off another device's clock (or vice-versa). If you ever need more than four inputs, you would have to replace the 44, while you could simply augment the 66 with another interface. (*)

* Technically, synchronization might in some cases be possible through software tricks with the 44 (but only between two Delta cards). However, while this is theoretically possible, it isn't recommended, and is likely to be unreliable at best, unusable at worst, and unpleasant in general.
 
chessrock said:
If that were the case, then you would have gotten a lot better answers, a lot sooner.

The fact that this thread is like a ghost town consisting of you talking to yourself ... says an awful lot about how much people like you (or dislike you). Draw your own conclusions from there.

.

Please...

where am I talking to myself?.. I just ask something, and need an answer accordingly to my needs... thats all.

Seriously, dont you think we are old enough to be objective? (like dgatwood, is taking his precious time to answer some doubts I had... and I will write a new post, just to thank him)
 
dgatwood: Thanks for your great and valious answers :)

About the PCI standard (until almost now)... and now the new PCI-E is a fact I didnt thought about.

I builded myself my pc, and I think my motherboard will still be great for about 2-3 years (I hope!!!) its an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe with a 2.8 pentium 4 (OC´d to 3.6) with 2gb ddr PC3200.

But I really dont know, if I will update the motherboard in 2-3 years, so... I have to take this thought with me some days.. before I do something wrong. (If something dies on my pc, then.. I would have some problems!, cause I would need to buy everything new (almost).

About the Delta 66: nice feature that one.. but I think I dont need that much tracks, at least for some years. cause I have enough with 2 (simultaneous). cause its only me who is going to use this, and if I bring some fem singer, she would record over my work :)

Thanx again mate... I will take your advices and wisdom with me :)
 
about pci-e's i have a board that supports 2 pci-e's ... any ideas when they'll release soundcards or interfaces via pci-e ??
 
no idea mate.. maybe they wont?... I mean, it is not a need for the big guys, having the Usb and Firewire connections. It will just be outboards (with a box and inputs) in the future I think.

If some1 know better... please correct me
 
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