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External Souncard Choices?
Hi guys
I'm considering returning my Xone 3D and replacing it with a Xone 92, external midi controllers and an external soundcard. I now use Ableton on an iMac to mix with (stopped mixing with vinyl completely). The internal soundcard of the Xone 3D is a piece of crap, and it's cut the sound twice on me now, as well as sending random midi signals from time to time.
Initially i thought having an "all-in-one" solution would be great for playing out at clubs, i now don't care if i have to take a few separate pieces of gear with me. I need a system that's reliable. So my question is, what external soundcard would be best?
My needs:
At least 8 line out ports (i know the Xone 92 only has four channels but for future use/mic channels?)
At least 8 input channels (1 for each output)
My iMac has firewire 400 and USB 2 so it'd be good if the soundcard had both (though i think firewire has less latency so probably a better option).
Midi in/out is essential.
Sound quality, obviously the higher the better.
I imagine I'll have a budget of around $1000AUS so try to keep it within that amount
Thanks in advance 
Re: External Souncard Choices?
Haha, I came to the same conclusion with my Xone 3D, and sold it. The new Xone 2D looks more promising for use with the 92... it has more soundcard outputs and half the MIDI control of the 3D. Not sure if you've seen that, it's not ideal but has some nice features.
A very popular and well made soundcard for ableton is the Motu Ultralite.
When you say 8 outs/8 ins, are you talking in soundcard (mono) terms? Or stereo? A 16 out/16 in soundcard will be very big and very expensive.
I think an ultralite and a couple of faderfox controllers would result in one very nice ableton setup!
| quote: |
| Originally posted by ���|E Hi guys I'm considering returning my Xone 3D and replacing it with a Xone 92, external midi controllers and an external soundcard. I now use Ableton on an iMac to mix with (stopped mixing with vinyl completely). The internal soundcard of the Xone 3D is a piece of crap, and it's cut the sound twice on me now, as well as sending random midi signals from time to time. Initially i thought having an "all-in-one" solution would be great for playing out at clubs, i now don't care if i have to take a few separate pieces of gear with me. I need a system that's reliable. So my question is, what external soundcard would be best? My needs: At least 8 line out ports (i know the Xone 92 only has four channels but for future use/mic channels?) At least 8 input channels (1 for each output) My iMac has firewire 400 and USB 2 so it'd be good if the soundcard had both (though i think firewire has less latency so probably a better option). Midi in/out is essential. Sound quality, obviously the higher the better. I imagine I'll have a budget of around $1000AUS so try to keep it within that amount Thanks in advance |
Yeah i was looking at the MOTU Ultralite.
I'm not exactly sure on the right terminology, but i want to be able to play 8 tracks simultaneously. So however many channels i need to get that?
Maybe if that's too expensive i'll have to go for a 4-5 'track' soundcard initially?
As far as the Xone 2D goes, I'm not sure on the price, but to be honest, i don't have a use for that gigantic jog wheel they stick in the middle of them. They should get rid of it and replace with more knobs, more buttons, and more space between each controller.
Oh dear, 8 tracks? The would be 16 outs. That's a lot of tracks!
Don't forget you CAN combine as many tracks in ableton as you want tied to one output... that might work well for little drump loops and such.
As for the 2D, the jog is actually kind of nice if you map it to clip scrubbing. You can select a clip and zip forward and backward in the clip quite nicely... good for finding loop points and all that. But yeah, the rest of the layout is not perfect, but usable if you are primarly mixing on a mixer.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by ���|E Yeah i was looking at the MOTU Ultralite. I'm not exactly sure on the right terminology, but i want to be able to play 8 tracks simultaneously. So however many channels i need to get that? Maybe if that's too expensive i'll have to go for a 4-5 'track' soundcard initially? As far as the Xone 2D goes, I'm not sure on the price, but to be honest, i don't have a use for that gigantic jog wheel they stick in the middle of them. They should get rid of it and replace with more knobs, more buttons, and more space between each controller. |
Try m-audio 1814 firewire interface.
More than enough i guess
From looking around i think i have 3 options ....
1: MOTU Ultralite = $ 750 AUS
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite
2: Echo Audio Fire 8 = $700 AUS
http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/F...Fire8/index.php
3: M-Audio Firewire 1814 = $700 AUS
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_...e1814-main.html
The prices are rough, but i have a few questions.
1: The Echo Audio Fire 8 say it has "8 balanced 1/4 analog outputs". Doesn't this mean i can have 8 'tracks' playing perfectly? i.e. I don't need 16 outputs?
2: Which of the above 3 is the best?
Thanks guys!
I would go the Audiofire. Echo have a pretty perfect rep for driver stability. M-Audio I would avoid at all cost. As someone who has owned a firewire audiophile, they're complete garbage. MOTU would be my second choice, actually it would be very close margin between the MOTU + Audiofire.
"8 balanced 1/4 analog outputs" means 8 mono outputs. Thats 4 stereo songs at once.
What kind of laptop do you have? Check what kind of firewire controller it has. If it isn't texas instruments firewire, you shouldn't use a firewire card - pcmcia/express card would be a better bet. USB would be better too, but it probably won't be bus powered.
VIA or any other firewire chipset is just asking for instability. I assume that is a high priority, considering you are djing.
How about a Focusrite Saffire PRO 10 i/o?
Iv been looking at one of these because I would also need those mic pres.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by echosystm I would go the Audiofire. Echo have a pretty perfect rep for driver stability. M-Audio I would avoid at all cost. As someone who has owned a firewire audiophile, they're complete garbage. MOTU would be my second choice, actually it would be very close margin between the MOTU + Audiofire. "8 balanced 1/4 analog outputs" means 8 mono outputs. Thats 4 stereo songs at once. What kind of laptop do you have? Check what kind of firewire controller it has. If it isn't texas instruments firewire, you shouldn't use a firewire card - pcmcia/express card would be a better bet. USB would be better too, but it probably won't be bus powered. VIA or any other firewire chipset is just asking for instability. I assume that is a high priority, considering you are djing. |
I've used the Echo AudioFire 8 with both my PC laptop and my newer MacBook. It's flawless. I never understand why more stores don't stock the echo cards (..."we can get you one in 3 days - blah blah"). You can order one online but be careful and make sure they have one in stock before paying for it so you don't end up waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive. We also use a bunch of AudioFire 8's at my work for some custom setups and they work well.
Their technical support is awesome as well. Not related to Dj'ing but we had a problem at work with it streaming 5.1 from the digital out and the guy who writes the driver contacted us directly and updated the driver within a couple days!
Thanks azone! I'm looking to pick one up as soon as i arrange to swap my Xone 3D over.
And thanks to all the other guys who posted, especially Ryan, you usually post very useful information, cheers mate
Re: Re: External Souncard Choices?
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Ryan0751 A very popular and well made soundcard for ableton is the Motu Ultralite |
had some issues at first, though this update sorted everything out:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en
now I love it . I didn't even think about the fact that 8 outs = 7.1 analog. 
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