You'll need to understand that this card is NOT an audio interface. Its the base card in the MOTU system to which an audio interface must be connected. Think of it like MOTU's version of a firewire card. SO if you were to buy this card you'd need to buy a 24io, 828, or HD192 to connect to it.

If you are looking for a good MOTU card without the need to connect any external synths to it, check out something like the UltraLite or Traveller.

Cheers Man,

Thats stopped me makin an expensive mistake,

Can you remcomnmend any resonable PCIe sound cards?

Cheers

Kev

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Siberian Sun "Forstbite" - Dedicated
Fred Baker "la parts des anges" Siberian sun remix - asot
Nautical Imagery "distant Dreams" Enhanced Recordings
Mannix -v- Kaymak "World gone mad" A State of Trance

Just to let you know, I just need it for produciung with software so its not so much an interface im looking for, just a good sound card

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Siberian Sun "Forstbite" - Dedicated
Fred Baker "la parts des anges" Siberian sun remix - asot
Nautical Imagery "distant Dreams" Enhanced Recordings
Mannix -v- Kaymak "World gone mad" A State of Trance

How about EMU-1820M?

http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?product=9871

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I agree with Palm, if you do not need any inputs, then something like an Audiophile 2496 will do just fine, and its only $99US. Hard to beat that. This is especially true if you are just starting out, no sense in spending wads of cash at this point.

quote:

Originally posted by Eric J I agree with Palm, if you do not need any inputs, then something like an Audiophile 2496 will do just fine, and its only $99US. Hard to beat that. This is especially true if you are just starting out, no sense in spending wads of cash at this point.

Eric J -- be honest with us here, do you work for a hardware/software manufacturer?

anyone who asks about gear i always point them to the most expensive unit saying "learn from my mistakes, i've rebought gear 1000000 times over, i've been thru 4 sound cards in 2 years, 4 midi controllers in 18mos and i could go on"

if you're at all serious about music making, save up... go with the best and you won't have to keep losing money everytime you have to rebuy a nicer piece of gear.


back to the thread topic i own a motu ultralite(after going thru a series of cards) and love it. drivers are rock solid, support is awesome and it sounds great. what's leaning you towards a PCI card if you don't mind me asking?

Echo AudioFire or MOTU Ultralite ftw

AudioFire 12 is a good choice if you want loads of I/O without preamps.

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 Eric J -- be honest with us here, do you work for a hardware/software manufacturer? anyone who asks about gear i always point them to the most expensive unit saying "learn from my mistakes, i've rebought gear 1000000 times over, i've been thru 4 sound cards in 2 years, 4 midi controllers in 18mos and i could go on" if you're at all serious about music making, save up... go with the best and you won't have to keep losing money everytime you have to rebuy a nicer piece of gear.

Yeah but, what if he saves up and spends loads on a top soundcard but then a year or two later, he has stopped producing (family/work reasons) and never needed all the extra bells and whistles that the top card had.

Or he doesn't stop producing but it is some years till he needs a better soundcard. Maybe at which point, there is a new standard of motherboard connectivity (different to pcie) forcing him to upgrade again.

I'm sorry but I have never believed in getting the very best you possibly can UNLESS producing is your profession or you've been doing it for years and years and you know you will be doing it for the rest of your life.

Spending shit loads on a top soundcard when a £60 one will do just as well for what he wants is stupid. If he does decide a few years down the line he needs a better card, so what. He has got a few years use for £60. Can probably sell it on Ebay and get some of that money back.

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I agree, cheap soundcards stink. Iv been through a few soundcards and so far my favourite was the Presonus Firebox.
I guess... if you only need an output and latency/super stability don't matter then cheap ones can do the job.

Don't buy USB soundcards, they always tend to suck.

Next up, Focusrite Saffire PRO 10.
Any thoughts?

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 Eric J -- be honest with us here, do you work for a hardware/software manufacturer? anyone who asks about gear i always point them to the most expensive unit saying "learn from my mistakes, i've rebought gear 1000000 times over, i've been thru 4 sound cards in 2 years, 4 midi controllers in 18mos and i could go on" if you're at all serious about music making, save up... go with the best and you won't have to keep losing money everytime you have to rebuy a nicer piece of gear. back to the thread topic i own a motu ultralite(after going thru a series of cards) and love it. drivers are rock solid, support is awesome and it sounds great. what's leaning you towards a PCI card if you don't mind me asking?

No, I don't work for any hardware/software manufacturer, but the point I was making to the OP was that if you are just starting out, I do not believe that it is necessary at that point to spend loads on a card, or anything at that point. At that point you should be learning the basics of writing, arranging, sound design, synthesis, etc. Once you feel that this is something you truly want to pursue, then you can start buying gear.

It's like those people that want to learn to play golf, so they go out and drop $1,500 on a nice new set of clubs when all they need is a 6-iron and a good swing coach.

In addition, if he is in an all software environment, then it is debatable whether or not he needs some of the high end features of a better sound card such as higher quality A/D converters. M-Audio drivers are pretty stable, so that's not really a concern. There has been some debate on this forum on whether or not working in rates higher than 16/44.1 even makes a difference in an all software environment.

In the grand scheme of things, $99 is nothing to spend on gear, and it's not like if he upgrades later that the card becomes suddenly useless. There is always a use for old gear.

Last edited by Eric J on Oct-13-2007 at 14:32

E-mu 0404 pci is also a nice piece, i have it on my pc, and i'm not dissapointed, for $100 it's money well spent, but i guess delta 2496 is just as good, so it's either of these two, they both deliver.

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