Recommend me a good soundcard! Please.
Hotsauce84
8,450 Posts
I'm currently using an M-Audio Audiophile USB which is cool, but anytime I unplug anything from it for whatever reason it takes me forever to get it working again. All I need it for is to record mixes and rip vinyl. Nothing fancy, really. I'm just sick of the huge headache I have trying to get the USB thing to work. Rebooting this, reconnecting that...ugh.A friend of mine suggested the M-Audio Delta 44 ($100-$150) which he has been using for years, but I figured I'd ask my 'Strut hoLmeses for your opinion.Keep in mind, you're dealing with a tech-deficient dude so please dumm it down for me!Thanks!Herm
Comments
Saw this after I posted. Nevermind.
I recommend, as I did to Oliver, Echo Audio products. Small CA company, simple drivers, great customer service and an attention to detail. Pro-sumer for sure but still high quality, clearly better than m-audio/prosonus/Tascam/Edirol etc.
It might be worth tackling your USB issues a bit before making another purchase.
Word, if you're just dumping mixes then no need to go all out. I have a lexicon Omega that I've been very pleased with. They make a smaller super-basic unit called the Alpha that sounds like it would be up your alley.
There's another option that is a bit more roundabout, but it opens up some different possibilities. you could buy a pocket recorder--MD, M-Audio, Edirol, or whatever else--record your mixes to that, and then just dump them via usb to your computer.Its super easy because when you plug the recorder into the computer it comes up as an external drive, so you just drag and drop. The advantage to this is that you could bring the recorder to your gigs and record there as well, without having to have two computers. Since you already have a soundcard it might be a more interesting choice, and it will open up other possibilities.
The Duet is basically a portable version of the Ensemble, same AD/DA, preamps, etc. Apogee is known for its quality converters, Digidesign.. not so much.
Dunno what you're trying to spend but this is legit and there are real pros who swear by it...
http://www.blacklionaudio.com/Modifications/Digi+003R
They do a mod for the MOTU series too that really breathes life into the dull-sounding A/D their units have.
From a techincal standpoint the Digi 002 / 003 has all the right parts, but Digidesign is such a POS company that they cut corners unnecessarily and basically cripple their product. It still sounds good, not as good as an Apogee (if you don't need all those channels itd be worth considering selling the 003 and buying a Duet) and actually has top-notch converters, but the power and circuitry is designed poorly. Using an external clock also seems to help the 002.
The thing with Apogee is that all they do is make converters, so they are working way harder on the sound of their product than Digidesign who is caught up trying to make these complicated all in one box systems, and essentially just popping converters in a box that has different power drains running all over the place.
I don't think M-Audio is a particularly terrible company I just don't really see the point in Herm trying to upgrade across their product line - its all the same in different colored boxes, really.