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Upgading sound card... what to get?

I'm currently using the E-mu 1212m which I love but it's lack of I/O is a problem.
So.. I'm looking for a card which has:
- at least 12 line inputs (6 stereo),
- preferably 4 outputs (2 stereo),
- a good software (or hardware) mixer with routing options,
- stable asio drivers,
- digital I/O,
- preferably at least one mic input with phantom power,
- MIDI I/O,
- decent converters,
- under 600$ (or at least in that general area).


So far I've been looking at a few digital mixers that might work (like the Alesis Multimix 16 firewire and the edirol M16DX), but there are prolly better options out there that I'm not aware of.
Any help is appreciated.

ECHO AUDIOFIRE 12 is a beast! i had it and it was the best gear i ever had. but i didnt need so many ins/outs anymore so i sold it.

I agree. Have the audiofire12 for a bit more than 6 months now. Love it.

The AudioFire doesn't have digital I/O or any mic inputs with phantom power.

I think the closest you're going to get is a MOTU 828mkIII ($749 USD street price), or a second-hand/factory closeout 828mkII (probably under $600). I've had my 828mkII for a few years now and love it. It's rock solid, has great converters and clean XLR inputs/preamps, a very intuitive software mixer as well as front-panel access to your individual levels, and a buttload of I/O options. The new software and firmware for the Mark III series with the built-in DSP effects and dual headphone outputs look pretty amazing would probably be very convenient for tracking.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik The AudioFire doesn't have digital I/O or any mic inputs with phantom power. I think the closest you're going to get is a MOTU 828mkIII ($749 USD street price), or a second-hand/factory closeout 828mkII (probably under $600). I've had my 828mkII for a few years now and love it. It's rock solid, has great converters and clean XLR inputs/preamps, a very intuitive software mixer as well as front-panel access to your individual levels, and a buttload of I/O options. The new software and firmware for the Mark III series with the built-in DSP effects and dual headphone outputs look pretty amazing would probably be very convenient for tracking.

True, I'd prefer a seperate mic preamp though myself.
I'm personally not too fond of the 828mk2, have heard a lot of negative things about it's drivers and stability amongst multiple of my friends/close contacts in music... Shit happens I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Storyteller True, I'd prefer a seperate mic preamp though myself.

I do that as well. I run the SPDIF output from my JoeMeek OneQ channel strip into the SPDIF input on the 828mkII, which is clean as can be, leaves my analog inputs and XLRs open to other instruments (hardware synths, more vox, bass, guitar, etc.). It's a very versatile unit. Regarding the drivers, stability was one of the deciding factors for me when I purchased it - I've heard mostly good things about MOTU and have had no problems with it, per se. But, I will add one caveat: you really need to make sure that you have a dedicated FW card with a TI chipset to get the best performance. This is true for most hi-end FW audio cards - if you use a cheap card or a combo USB/FW card, you may experience a LOT of problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Storyteller have heard a lot of negative things about it's drivers and stability amongst multiple of my friends/close contacts in music... Shit happens I guess.

This seems to be a Firewire vs. PCI thing AND a Mac vs. PC thing. I have had a lot of friends who have had serious troubles with the 828 FW, even on a TI chipset, then there are a fwe that have no problems at all. Weird. I use the PCI-424 card right now with a 24 I/O and when I was on PC, the drivers were only marginally stable, but as soon as I switch to a Mac, all my problems went away.

I don't really have a good answer as to why this is other then to speculate that MOTU as a company may throw more resources on their Mac driver development team. Whether or not that's true is something only the people at MOTU would know I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik The AudioFire doesn't have digital I/O

Could someone please explain to me what exactly digital I/O are for? Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by neverforget Could someone please explain to me what exactly digital I/O are for? Thanks

Say you have anything that has digital out like hmm a Pioneer CDJ. You can then connect that digital output into the digital input on your audio interface and get better quality since it isn't being converted back and forth from digital to analog to digital. Then you can output that to anything with a digital input saving more digital to analog back to digital conversions.

quote:

Originally posted by Zild Say you have anything that has digital out like hmm a Pioneer CDJ. You can then connect that digital output into the digital input on your audio interface and get better quality since it isn't being converted back and forth from digital to analog to digital. Then you can output that to anything with a digital input saving more digital to analog back to digital conversions.

Ahh ok, thanks man!

By the way, on the back of some hardware synths I've seen there is sometimes a socket titled "s/pdif", is this to do with "Digital"?

quote:

Originally posted by neverforget By the way, on the back of some hardware synths I've seen there is sometimes a socket titled "s/pdif", is this to do with "Digital"?

Yes - that's a digital input or output. S/PDIF stands for Sony-Phillips Digital InterFace (or Interconnect Format).

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Yes - that's a digital input or output. S/PDIF stands for Sony-Phillips Digital InterFace (or Interconnect Format).

How come it's "Sony" if say for example your using a Virus Ti Polar? Thanks though man

quote:

Originally posted by neverforget How come it's "Sony" if say for example your using a Virus Ti Polar? Thanks though man

Thats just the name if the standard. Sony-Philips developed the standard. Lots of devices use S/PDIF for digital I/O.

quote:

Originally posted by neverforget By the way, on the back of some hardware synths I've seen there is sometimes a socket titled "s/pdif", is this to do with "Digital"?

yep that's exactly what it is for and it bypasses the conversions from digital to analog and back so you don't get any loss in quality etc...

Great, thanks people! Much appreciated

Thank you all for the help. I'll check those out. Motu may be a bit out of reach for me atm, but Echo audiofire seems to be a pretty good deal.

Could someone explain "Phantom Power" to me? Is it a microphone pre-amp or what? Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by neverforget Could someone explain "Phantom Power" to me? Is it a microphone pre-amp or what? Thanks!

It's just a feature (switch) found on any decent mic preamp that sends power to the microphone. Most condenser mics require an external or internal (i.e., battery) power source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power



edit: typ0

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