Fireface 400 vs great river mp 1nv + dal carddeluxe

[MarathonMan]

After alot of thinking I made a decision to buy a great river mp 1nv preamp with a carddeluxe soundcard OR the fireface 400. i am interested in your opinions on which would better suit my needs. i had a m-audio firewire 410 before. i sold it and now i'm looking for a preamp and soundcard/converter. this will be mostly for hiphop vocal recording. The sound i'm going for in the preamp is very important so i will try to describe what im looking for. i'd like a preamp that will make my vocals sound round, the higher frequencies not harsh, the low full and distinct. i guess color is what i'm looking for in a preamp. the soundcard/converter i understand the 400 is much better than the carddeluxe but the preamp on the great river would be better for me.

i'm leaning towards the great river and carddeluxe but i wanted to know if you guys can help me further make a clearer decision.

thanks in advance.

[R3k]

Fireace 400

Get yourself the decent Sound card 1ist. Good preamps enough in the FF 400, and it will help you in so many other ways, campared to a Creative or M-Audio Card, say with its converters and such.

What type of Mic are you using? Do you have good monitors, etc.? If you are producing and mixing everything on your own setup (not mixing in a pro studio), then I can think of many pieces of gear worth upgrading if you currently only have 'M-audio' level equipment, before paying through the nose for a sublime preamp, IMO

[MarathonMan]

thanx for replyin.

79 views 1 reply lol come on people

[Pier]

Maybe because the "great river" isn't very "low end theory"...

I have the RME 400, I love it. Now I'm saving for a decent 2 channel pre.

I think its the best option if you cant afford good conversion and good preamps at the same time. I mean first the audio interface, and then the preamps.

[jdjustice]

i'm not familiar with the soundcard you mentioned, but imo the preamp is more important than the converters (as long as the converters are decent).
good converters can be had for much less than good preamps.

my vote is for the Great River with a good microphone, and let the platform you want to use (DAW) help you decide on an interface.


cheers.
~j.d.

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by jdjustice

i'm not familiar with the soundcard you mentioned, but imo the preamp is more important than the converters (as long as the converters are decent).
good converters can be had for much less than good preamps.

my vote is for the Great River with a good microphone, and let the platform you want to use (DAW) help you decide on an interface.


cheers.
~j.d.

i'm thinking i'm going to get the great river i got half the problem solved now the other half is should i get the dal carddeluxe or would you guys recommend me another soundcard/converter? now i dont know what the budget will be, but i'm wondering if i should get a decent one for the time being until i can save enough for a good to great soundcard, what do u guys think? and what and how much would be decent and what would be the minimum for a good to great soundcard converter?

thanks for the advise guys, u guys helped me clearly decide investing in a great preamp is the first step. now lets figure out the rest

[davidperetz]

The Great River is realy Great. good choice for a main and/or only pre that will serve you all the way to pro level.
for the digital card i would recomend to check the lynx.
they are very, very good even on the pro level converters.
i have to say im not familiar with the dal carddeluxe; but i know the rme well and to my taste the lynx are way better sounding.
Enjoy

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by davidperetz

The Great River is realy Great. good choice for a main and/or only pre that will serve you all the way to pro level.
for the digital card i would recomend to check the lynx.
they are very, very good even on the pro level converters.
i have to say im not familiar with the dal carddeluxe; but i know the rme well and to my taste the lynx are way better sounding.
Enjoy

thanks for the reply, i'm curious to know which lynx converter you're refering to and how much would it be?

anybody else have an opinion on soundcard/converter?

[MarathonMan]

anyone?

[sodiumcycle]

Originally Posted by MarathonMan

After alot of thinking I made a decision to buy a great river mp 1nv preamp with a carddeluxe soundcard OR the fireface 400. i am interested in your opinions on which would better suit my needs. i had a m-audio firewire 410 before. i sold it and now i'm looking for a preamp and soundcard/converter. this will be mostly for hiphop vocal recording. The sound i'm going for in the preamp is very important so i will try to describe what im looking for. i'd like a preamp that will make my vocals sound round, the higher frequencies not harsh, the low full and distinct. i guess color is what i'm looking for in a preamp. the soundcard/converter i understand the 400 is much better than the carddeluxe but the preamp on the great river would be better for me.

i'm leaning towards the great river and carddeluxe but i wanted to know if you guys can help me further make a clearer decision.

thanks in advance.

One benefit of buying the external preamp is that is will hold its value if you decide to sell or upgrade. PC audio interfaces get obsolete pretty fast and drop in value quickly.

But isn't the Great River + Carddeluxe going to be much more expensive than the fireface? I have seen them on ebay for $899 -- the GR is going to be over a grand by itself.

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by sodiumcycle

One benefit of buying the external preamp is that is will hold its value if you decide to sell or upgrade. PC audio interfaces get obsolete pretty fast and drop in value quickly.

But isn't the Great River + Carddeluxe going to be much more expensive than the fireface? I have seen them on ebay for $899 -- the GR is going to be over a grand by itself.

no, the dal carddeluxe is only 350(new)

any soundcard/converter suggestion?

[tdoranpalmer]

Personally you are better off with the Fireface 400, and a PCI firewire card and just use a standard sound card for playback.

The fireface gives you alot of growth, where the Card Deluxe will not.

Yes, the Great River Pre will be superior to the RME but at least you have two to start with on the 400.

Plus for the money of the GR+Carddeluxe you could get the 400 and FMR RNP which will be just as good as the Great River.

Unless you have really good ears you will not notice any difference in preamps in this price range.

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by tdoranpalmer

Personally you are better off with the Fireface 400, and a PCI firewire card and just use a standard sound card for playback.

The fireface gives you alot of growth, where the Card Deluxe will not.

Yes, the Great River Pre will be superior to the RME but at least you have two to start with on the 400.

Plus for the money of the GR+Carddeluxe you could get the 400 and FMR RNP which will be just as good as the Great River.

Unless you have really good ears you will not notice any difference in preamps in this price range.

thanks for the post! I see where ure coming from but i've decided the wiser decision is to get the great river preamp and invest in a decent soundcard/converter for the time being until i could save money and replace the soundcard/converter. I think this would be a smarter long term decision, especially after i heard the great river in action and love the sound. now my only problem is figuring out this soundcard/converter issue.

i'm hoping someone can give me some options other than the carddeluxe. I'm curious to know how much of a price would it be to get a decent quality soundcard/converter and how much more would it be to get a very good one.

so as far as which to get i've made my mind the great river is the choice. so help a brother figure out the other!

peace

[tdoranpalmer]

Well, I know there are many other sound cards on the market, but look at the

RME HDSP 9632 http://www.rme-audio.com/english/hdsp/hdsp9632.htm

Only about a hundred buck more then the Card Deluxe but the expansion possibilities are almost endless.

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by tdoranpalmer

Well, I know there are many other sound cards on the market, but look at the

RME HDSP 9632 http://www.rme-audio.com/english/hdsp/hdsp9632.htm

Only about a hundred buck more then the Card Deluxe but the expansion possibilities are almost endless.

anybody have experience these? i wonder if there is a sample from say a shootout... how does it compare to the popular emu 1212m, 1820 and the echo etc... thanks for the suggestion, i'll be now researching haha

until then bring it people

[MarathonMan]

anyone else, i'm ready to buy but i need this audio interface thing resolved! so help

[Bill Lorentzen]

Get a Yamaha i88X used for $350 or so. They have nice converters and 2 very good preamps. 8 in and out plus spdif and ADAT I/O.

Installing the drivers can be a bit tricky, but once its working you will dig it. I like mine.

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by Bill Lorentzen

Get a Yamaha i88X used for $350 or so. They have nice converters and 2 very good preamps. 8 in and out plus spdif and ADAT I/O.

Installing the drivers can be a bit tricky, but once its working you will dig it. I like mine.

i dont need the preamps bro, i just need an audio interface. a soundcard wit a good ad/da converter. lets say my price range is 300-500, what is the best in that range?

maybe that helps simplify things.

[lkaven]

I've had a CardDeluxe for five years now, and I've found it very impressive, capable of serious work making serious records. It is surprisingly impervious to noise. After using it, I did not need to hang on to my Apogee Rosetta 96k. A single card makes for a great two track recorder. Good sounding D->A too.

Luke

[MarathonMan]

Ok peoplel, here's an update.

I bought my Great River 1nv preamp for 900(new) and I am happy with that choice. This solves the preamp choice issue, so now I would like to continue this thread by focusing on the audio interface area.

i've researched and hopefully could help simplify my situation for you guys.

all i need is 2 channel(stereo) ad/da converter wit NO PREAMPS(dont need extra anything). My number one priority is sound quality. As far as budget, i am willing to consider anything considered low end. What i really hope to accomplish is having ad/da converter that will help me get the best(or close) out of the great river.

i saw a few suggestions i liked.

Lynx(which one)
RME HDSP 9632

anything else?

[MarathonMan]

Originally Posted by MarathonMan

Ok peoplel, here's an update.

I bought my Great River 1nv preamp for 900(new) and I am happy with that choice. This solves the preamp choice issue, so now I would like to continue this thread by focusing on the audio interface area.

i've researched and hopefully could help simplify my situation for you guys.

all i need is 2 channel(stereo) ad/da converter wit NO PREAMPS(dont need extra anything). My number one priority is sound quality. As far as budget, i am willing to consider anything considered low end. What i really hope to accomplish is having ad/da converter that will help me get the best(or close) out of the great river.

i saw a few suggestions i liked.

Lynx(which one)
RME HDSP 9632

anything else?