Im looking for a sound card between £100 - £225 with as may inputs as possible (want to use cubase v3 external instrument in for my synths) - ideally balanced but I wont have to run long leads so its not too bad.

DOnt mind the idea of second hand so more expensive options with not too high ebay value would be good too

Looking at:

Delta 1010
Tascam FW1804
Terratec Phase 88 or Phase 88 rack

I run XP pro, cubase v3 on a AMD 3500+

Do the TA'ers have any advise or suggestions or cards i should avoid?

FJ

Look into a Motu Ultralite, A buddy of mine recomended it and its the best ive seen. Other than this I would recomend the ECHO 8 or 16 er somthing. But they are firewire.

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I really dig the Ultralite. You can find a 1010 for pretty cheap second hand, but I think the quality of the Ultralite is worth the extra few bucks. You can find it in most stores for around $500.

MOTU Ultralite is £389.99 sterling in the UK at least (not inclusive of shipping). Its almost double this guy's budget.

Focusrite Saffire LE is £224.99 and gets you 6 ins and 10 outs. Its pretty good for the money, but I won't kid you - if you are fanatical about specs you really want the Saffire Pro 26 I/O if you are in the market for a Focusrite card. All the others are just lower spec derivatives of this card.

If you find yourself wanting to spend over £500 on a card then you have a whole load of choice but then you are close to RME Fireface 400 territory.

You may want to consider the EMU 1616M for £269.99 - you get bundles of connections and ADAT/lightpipe. In its price bracket, it is one of the best there is. You can of course get alot better but it will simply cost you alot more.

I have a Delta 1010 which I wish to sell. Its in near perfect condition and comes with all the original software, manuals and its original box (the box is slightly tatty though). I wish to sell mainly because I play guitar and I am sick of not having an instrument level line in.

I use to have an m-audio 1010 they anren't bad but know this:
1 in 5 m-audio comes back to the shop within 3 month of purchase. Some unlucky customer discover the problem even later and can't get a replacement only a repair. Same applies to focusrite and generally in that price range the problem is common so if you go for this option buy it in a store so you can get immediate replacement or from a trusted source. Edirol works well and we actually get very little returns.

My advice to you is to wait and get a serious audio interface like the fireface 400. It's an exellent card worth every penny.

If you don't want to do that (it's totally understandable!)

-Focusrite SAFFIRE LE very good for that price £218
-Edirol FA101 ( I never had one returned ) but it's not my favourite
-1010 m audio as i said before not bad, 8 analog in 8 analog out. its good pci card with breakout box but very far from having the converters of the fireface 400 ( if you recording is what you're really after then wait and save money)

around £200 most soundcards will have converters of the same range. just choose one with enough inputs.

Maybe derivative can make you a good deal.

quote:

Originally posted by Derivative MOTU Ultralite is £389.99 sterling in the UK at least (not inclusive of shipping). Its almost double this guy's budget.

Sorry. I'm just really over recommending people crap just because it fits their budget. Saving an extra couple hundred bucks isn't hard.

quote:

Originally posted by No Left Turn Sorry. I'm just really over recommending people crap just because it fits their budget. Saving an extra couple hundred bucks isn't hard.

Have to agree with that sentiment. I don't think the price range quoted in the original post is reasonable for the desired product type and quality.

That being said, there certainly *are* products in that price range, whatever the quality may be, and I'm not familiar enough with the ones quoted here to say for certain that they are crap, so I'm only making a general observation here, not recommending against any of the things that were posted.

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quote:

Originally posted by No Left Turn Sorry. I'm just really over recommending people crap just because it fits their budget. Saving an extra couple hundred bucks isn't hard.

You are of course right but where do you draw the line? If you can save up enough for an Ultralite then surely, you aren't that far off an 828MKII? And if you can afford one of them, you aren't that far off a Fireface 400. And of course, you will get less I/O so you might as well save for a Fireface 800. And if you have that much disposible income why settle for anything less than an Apogee Rosetta 200?

A fireface 400 will satisify the need of a lot of musicians out there, I'm not sure the extra adat and preamps is that necessary for most of us. being the owner of a fireface 400, I'd say this is a top end soundcard and unless you really need the extra I/o, you don't need to spend that extra money. The firface 800 do feature a few more things, make shure you need them before you go for it.

quote:

Originally posted by No Left Turn Sorry. I'm just really over recommending people crap just because it fits their budget. Saving an extra couple hundred bucks isn't hard.

Totally agree with you, maybe i didnt make it clear but was looking at these prices for second hand gear.

You can pick up stuff like terratec phase 88r firewire, echo audiofire8 and motu 828 mkii cards for about 210 ish so u can get some good quality stuff. Obviously i cant get a motu 24 i/o for a grand but as its such a vital part I do want a quality card.

btw ive heard of some issues with motu and pc's as motu are known for mac interfaces, has this been an issue with anyone?

Terratec Phase 88 Rack Firewire £200 rrp £550

Motu 8Pre £370 rrp £675

Echo Audiofire 12 Really like look of this one, bit like a Delta 1010.

Then I suppose there is the MOTU 828 MK II

THERE Really is alot of choice tbh and its a bit confusing lol

Last edited by flutlicht junky on Feb-15-2007 at 22:14

quote:

Originally posted by Derivative You are of course right but where do you draw the line? If you can save up enough for an Ultralite then surely, you aren't that far off an 828MKII? And if you can afford one of them, you aren't that far off a Fireface 400. And of course, you will get less I/O so you might as well save for a Fireface 800. And if you have that much disposible income why settle for anything less than an Apogee Rosetta 200?

You kind of have a point, but I really don't get what you're trying to argue.

There's a pretty big difference between spending $200 or less for a sound card and paying $500 for one. I don't care what the 2 cards are, the expensive one will be better in quality (of course, being relative to what the person wants in a sound card). When you get up to the $1000+ area, IMO, there really isn't much difference between anything unless you're gonna compare something like Pro Tools|HD192 to a DM-2000.

quote:

ive heard of some issues with motu and pc's as motu are known for mac interfaces,

This has nothing to do with the fact that one has a pc or a mac ! Many firewire soundcard have issue when plugged in Firewire with chipset different from Ti. Ti is the one to go for. In america It's the most common type but in europe you often get a via chipset or else.
Now all mac have ti chipset onboard that'why you'll never hear of issue on mac with firewire audio interface. Rme and motu both need a Ti chipset to work well. So if you buy a new pc, you need to buy a Ti pci firewire card or to get a motherboard with ti chipset on it.

Belkin 3 Port PCI Firewire Card 1394a - TI Chipset it retails at £28

Last edited by Seppa on Feb-17-2007 at 12:56