I want awesome converters but I can't spend apogee money... what are my alternatives?

[HeatWAVS]

I would love to get an apogee but I don't have that kind of loot, short of selling my kidneys... lol right now I'm using an audiophile 192 what kind of upgrade can I get in the $500 range (used or new) that would give me a noticably better sound. If at all possible I'd like for it to have midi I/O as well so I can sell my 192

Thanx in advance

[John The Cut]

EMU 1820M

[Jules]

Buy second hand?

[sekim]

1212M for two channels or 1820M for 8 + ADAT.

But I don't think you'll notice a huge difference over what you have now...

[Junkie]

Motu's are pretty sweet.

RME?

[WEAPON_X]

i second the second hand, or maybe take a look at rme multiface+pci card, which go quite cheap since multiface II came out recently.
i use the multiface combo myself quite often, and i am still astound how decent they hold their ground against much more expensive converters. however, do not expect apogee or mytek in this price range

[Reggie Love]

Lynx... or better still second hand Lynx. Then RME to my taste I guess. But still Lynx.

[Randy]

I bought a used Lynx 22 in that price range and i am very happy with it.
To my ears it is a big step up from the audiophile 24/96, thouh i never heard the 192. Was also a step up from the motu 24i/o imo.

If you get a lynx, i suggest keeping the audiophile for midi. It's a good stable midi card imo.

Good luck and have fun.

[kylepdownes]

i got an old rosetta 48 on ebay for $500.

[big-king-rb]

i use two rme adi 8-ds

they are great!..... i think it sounds like the apogee.

i read a test by sound on sound ... they found the same hardware in the rme adi 8-ds. and the output signal gain is much better with the rme. on the apogee the output gain is different betwen the channels! i think it was the apogee rosetta 800.

cja... ludwig

[John The Cut]

Originally Posted by big-king-rb

i use two rme adi 8-ds

they are great!..... i think it sounds like the apogee.

i read a test by sound on sound ... they found the same hardware in the rme adi 8-ds. and the output signal gain is much better with the rme. on the apogee the output gain is different betwen the channels! i think it was the apogee rosetta 800.

cja... ludwig

louder always sounds better

[ozraves]

The best converters (as far as sound) I've found for more than two channels under $1,000 are the EMU "m" series which includes the 1820m. I've tried several.

Kurzweil Rumour gives you value as well as you get the effects. You just plug it into your M-Audio card.

[warhead]

$500 E-mu "M" stuff does seem like the reasonable choice. Other than that used or keep your money for a while...

War

[AudioGaff]

Count me in! The EmulatorX Studio package (1820M) is the best value in quality and price that I have come across in a very long time if not ever. I've pretty much only been using it as a personal song writting setup, but the results are as good or better as I've gotten in my studio with my two HD24XR's.

[catfish11]

emu 1820m

i got one and a digi 192 and some cranesong spider
ones, the emu is well in the range of the other's

[mac black]

for another 400$ you can get a lavry ...

[andiji]

I'm also in the process of upgrading my firewire audio interface - yes I'd love a Prism Orpheus, but I can't afford one.. I'm trying to avoid paying for an Ensemble. From what I've read its the wordclock that can make one of the biggest differences.
I don't really need top mic preamps - I go to a studio if I need top mic/pre-amp combinations - just quality line ins so I'm thinking what about something cheapish like the Tascam FW1804 (£200 in the UK at the moment) and a good wordclock generator like the Mutec MC-3 SmartClock (£380)

Or would it just be better to go for a RME 800...

[to-pse]

I'm using both: an EMU 1212m and a RME 9632.

Advantages EMU:
-better Converters
-internal effects (up to 48khz), to use some reverb for tracking for example

Advantages RME:
-lower latency possible
-Totalmix can create more flexible routing (I could create four different
headphone-mixes for example)

The EMU is quite a bit less expensive though...

Tobias

[living sounds]

With converters everything is important. Sure, better clocking will improve the sound, but you'll only really benefit from it if great op amps are used. Those (as well as the clock), however, are very sensitive to power noise, so great care has to be taken of the power supply as well. And you'll need high quality caps, bypass caps,...
Plus a great circuit design is vital.

Sadly, if you want all this, it's going to cost a lot.

[wiz1der]

used mytek 8x96

can't be beat....

[Stisse]

Not meaning to hijack the thread.....

But....

Does anyone know of a nice FW, USB or PCMCIA (is it still called that?!?) for my fine little laptop? 2-8 AD channels should suffice....


Sorry for interrupting...


Stisse

[hurd300403]

Originally Posted by Stisse

Not meaning to hijack the thread.....

But....

Does anyone know of a nice FW, USB or PCMCIA (is it still called that?!?) for my fine little laptop? 2-8 AD channels should suffice....


Sorry for interupting...


Stisse

RME Fireface 800.

and stay away from USB when dealing with audio.

[pikapikapi]

Originally Posted by hurd300403

RME Fireface 800.

and stay away from USB when dealing with audio.

Whats wrong with a usb interface such as the e-mu 0404 usb?

[hurd300403]

Originally Posted by pikapikapi

Whats wrong with a usb interface such as the e-mu 0404 usb?

USB interfaces & hard drives seem to have additional strain when it comes to streaming things compared to Firewire. I don't have any numbers or tests to show for it, and i'm too lazy to look it up, but in my experience I've had WAY better latency times, less drop-outs, and an overall better experience when using firewire. Using FW vs USB won't make a difference in sound quality...just performance (i'm pretty sure).

Anyway, just do some searching around here and you'll see what I mean about USB & audio applications.

peace

[Stisse]

Don't want to interrupt the ongoing discussion, so I started a new thread over here:

Need a 2-8 ch soundcard for laptop. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by hurd300403

USB interfaces & hard drives seem to have additional strain when it comes to streaming things compared to Firewire. I don't have any numbers or tests to show for it, and i'm too lazy to look it up, but in my experience I've had WAY better latency times, less drop-outs, and an overall better experience when using firewire. Using FW vs USB won't make a difference in sound quality...just performance (i'm pretty sure).

Anyway, just do some searching around here and you'll see what I mean about USB & audio applications.

peace

[sexxy]

Originally Posted by HeatWAVS

I would love to get an apogee but I don't have that kind of loot, short of selling my kidneys... lol right now I'm using an audiophile 192 what kind of upgrade can I get in the $500 range (used or new) that would give me a noticably better sound. If at all possible I'd like for it to have midi I/O as well so I can sell my 192

Thanx in advance

i dont like apogee rosetta800 AD

i had m-ap192
i have emu 1820m, rme hdsp9632, lynx AES16

save more $$ and go for:
Lynx Studio Technology, Inc.
L22 or TWO-B 2in-4out or TWO-A-4in-4out, or TWO-C-6in-2out
thumbsup
has no midi.
but...
Lynx L22/TWO/AES16 has the best Asio and DirectSound Drivers
L22/TWO have same AD akm chips as emu 1820m, Esi EX8000 / 032, way better AD than RME FireFace800 / HDSP9632 / M-AP192 / Digi001/002R

AES16 has the best WordClock, but no AD/DA
SynchroLock(TM)

or creamware.com Home or RME-audio.com

RME: Support TechInfo

if you are looking for DA, les$ than $1000us.
Mytekdigital.com
Lavry
Lucid
Drawmer
etc...

[SFTPH]

Apogee Duet $495. Got mine the other day and it sounds stellar. No midi or digital I/O, though.

[andiji]

Digigram Pocket VX for your PCMCIA slot... they do a 4 channel one now. I have the old 2 channel one and they have really really nice D-As. What I'd call 'proper' D-As. Totally portable - always there, S/PDIF in and out, you can even plug a dynamic mic straight in..

[andiji]

Originally Posted by living sounds

With converters everything is important. Sure, better clocking will improve the sound, but you'll only really benefit from it if great op amps are used. Those (as well as the clock), however, are very sensitive to power noise, so great care has to be taken of the power supply as well. And you'll need high quality caps, bypass caps,...
Plus a great circuit design is vital.

Sadly, if you want all this, it's going to cost a lot.

Thanks! Somehow I knew it wasn't going to be simple!!
p.s sorry for my previous post - it was in response to the hijacking re laptops.. see above

[AlexLakis]

How about a reasonable two channel A/D (no D/A) with SPDIF?

I'd like to expand my DIGI 002 + Rosetta 800 setup with an extra two channels of A/D...I'm concerned about the clocking, tho...