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Posted by paulc_dj on Dec-21-2008 21:23:

Audio interface upgrade

Right, I have been using my Audiophile 2496 PCI card for a few years now, but am looking to upgrade am considering a FocusRite Saffire LE. I don't use any external kit, but am thinking about maybe one synth soon, poss a Nord Lead 3. I am looking to get a new Audio Interface, with really good quality AD/DA convertors. I am looking to spend between �100-300 and was wondering what you guys use and what you think the best options available are. I am also looking to get a UAD 1 or 2 to take the load off my CPU. I have budgeted �500 - �700 for this. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers

PC

Posted by Zild on Dec-21-2008 21:28:

If you want really good converters you need to spend more money than that. I would stick with the 2496, but I think the UAD card is a good buy.

Posted by Eric J on Dec-22-2008 00:10:

UAD is a good option, however, good AD/DA is another matter in this price range. IMO, MOTU is the absolute minimum when it cones to decent AD/DA and it is truly the bare minimum. If you want REALLY good, you need to be looking at Apogee products like the AD-16/DA-16, or Lynx Aurora. RME and Metric Halo are a bit cheaper, but their AD/DA is not as good as Lynx or Apogee.

You can get away with the MOTU for recording digital VA synths like the Nord Lead. However, if you had vintage outboard, you'd definitely need good AD/DA if you want to capture all that vintage goodness. With a Nord Lead, you're not going to be missing much with mid-grade A/D.

Posted by RichieV on Dec-26-2008 10:16:

Re: Audio interface upgrade

quote:
Originally posted by paulc_dj
Right, I have been using my Audiophile 2496 PCI card for a few years now, but am looking to upgrade am considering a FocusRite Saffire LE. I don't use any external kit, but am thinking about maybe one synth soon, poss a Nord Lead 3. I am looking to get a new Audio Interface, with really good quality AD/DA convertors. I am looking to spend between �100-300 and was wondering what you guys use and what you think the best options available are. I am also looking to get a UAD 1 or 2 to take the load off my CPU. I have budgeted �500 - �700 for this. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers

PC

UAD is not going to affect your CPU load. Well not enough to warrant the purchase. If you are concerned about CPU load, a new computer will go alot further than a UAD or 4. They made a difference 5 years ago but now a days i think processing is not so much an issue.

Now having said that, i have 2 UAD cards and 2 powercore cards because they have some tools i like. I tried the cracked native sony plugins that were intially released for the powercore and noticed they use less CPU than the powercore legit versions i paid for. I am pretty sure that UAD sticks with the 10 year old video card chips to battle piracy and the CPU argument is just marketing buzz.

Posted by alanzo on Dec-26-2008 15:31:

quote:
Originally posted by Eric J
UAD is a good option, however, good AD/DA is another matter in this price range. IMO, MOTU is the absolute minimum when it cones to decent AD/DA and it is truly the bare minimum. If you want REALLY good, you need to be looking at Apogee products like the AD-16/DA-16, or Lynx Aurora. RME and Metric Halo are a bit cheaper, but their AD/DA is not as good as Lynx or Apogee.

You can get away with the MOTU for recording digital VA synths like the Nord Lead. However, if you had vintage outboard, you'd definitely need good AD/DA if you want to capture all that vintage goodness. With a Nord Lead, you're not going to be missing much with mid-grade A/D.

Everything he said is correct and is probably the best post on this thread. However, to somewhat disagree, it is just as easy to get a synth to sound great on an average ADC as it is with MOTU. I used the Audiophile for a good six years until I finally upgraded.... to a Delta 1010-LT.

MOTU will definitely sound better than M-Audio, but not by much. For me, I didn't see a point in getting a 'mid-grade professional' ADC as it would just take money away from my over-all goal of investing in an Apogee AD-16x. I made the upgrade to a Delta 1010-LT because I needed more inputs and did not see the point in a MOTU interface as it would hardly differ from an M-Audio.

So basically what I'm saying is that if you don't think you'll ever be willing to invest $3,000 or so in your ADC, go with MOTU, otherwise, just use M-Audio until you are ready for Apogee/Lynx/etc grade ADCs.