soundcards

Well, at long last my new computer is coming (within a month or so)...

Based upon recommendations on this forum and elsewhere, I'm leaning
toward the "M-Audio Audiophile 2496" as the possible, reasonably
priced, soundcard I will use with this machine.

Any comments or other suggestions? The 2496 has support for ASIO
drivers which, I'm hearning, is necessary for use with the new
softsynths...

Aside from Sibelius 3, one of the main aims of my use of this new
machine will be exploration of microtonal softsynths, so I would like
to make sure I'm getting a card that will work with these...

Thanks!

J. Pehrson

At 04:12 AM 4/19/2004, you wrote:
>Based upon recommendations on this forum and elsewhere, I'm leaning
>toward the "M-Audio Audiophile 2496" as the possible, reasonably
>priced, soundcard I will use with this machine.

I'd say go for the M-Audio Delta 44... something that supports unbalanced/balanced 1/4" inch. If a mic pre or having S/PDIF (digital input say for use with a DAT) is important check out the M-Audio Delta66/Omni combo (slightly more than the 44).. I recommend Ebay for these items...

Of course your biggest enjoyment will be pairing your new computer/audio interface with some small decent project studio speakers... Mackie HR624s are what I recommend for this price range.

The laundry list of small improvements goes further of course.. :)

Rick:
>it only rates the M-Audio card at 40Hz to 15kHz with line in/out, even at
>high sample rates. That's not very good. Can other cards do better?

Jon:
>Well, their specs say "Dynamic Range: D/A 104.0dB (a-weighted), A/D 100.4dB (a-weighted); THD: less than 0.002%; Freq. Response: 22Hz - 22kHz, -0.4,-0.4dB

Phew... That must have been a review for an early model Audiophile 2496 as the stats from the link Rick posted were poor.

One of the most important stats to examine when buying a sound card is its dynamic range. This stat is a big determining factor on the quality of the card (and your recordings). None of the prosumer companies, MAudio, MOTU, Aardvark, etc. promote this stat much; sure all of them will boast 24bit/96khz, but that is not the limiting factor of the interface.

Most prosumer interfaces are now pushing upwards of 104 to 108 dBA.

I progressed from a Delta 44 -> Aardvark Q10 -> LynxStudio LynxTwo..
The LynxStudio interfaces being the low mark for pro interfaces; coming in with a dynamic range of 115dBA. It is remarkably better than the Delta or Aardvark cards I previously used; to improve on it I'd need to spend at least $2k for outboard converters; The Benchmark DAC1 and ADC1 being high candidates there. The nice thing about the LynxStudio card is that it also provides AES ins/outs that are necessary to connect external converters.

LynxStudio does offer the LS-22 which is a 2in/2out version, but that is still a little pricey (~$600), but so worth it if you don't need a lot of ins/outs.

Best,
--Mike

Ah, Mike! - so good to 'hear' your voice again!

(for those of you new to MMM, Mike/Catharsis is one of our premiere "Technology Experts" in terms of electronic music production)

{you wrote...}
>Of course your biggest enjoyment will be pairing your new computer/audio >interface with some small decent project studio speakers... Mackie HR624s >are what I recommend for this price range.

You may not have intended it for me, but that is a very timely tip, as I'm wanting to get some project monitors - thanks!

>I progressed from a Delta 44 -> Aardvark Q10 -> LynxStudio LynxTwo..

I got my Aardvark LX6 around the time you moved to the Lynx, and I've been very happy with what I can do with it - certainly hit my sweet spot for price/performance.

Mike, sometime when you get a spare moment let us know what you've been doing musically - I always enjoyed your pieces/mixes...

Cheers,
Jon (who says "fear not, List, it won't be all tech...")

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Catharsis <catharsis@e...>

/makemicromusic/topicId_6119.html#6146

wrote:
> At 04:12 AM 4/19/2004, you wrote:
> >Based upon recommendations on this forum and elsewhere, I'm leaning
> >toward the "M-Audio Audiophile 2496" as the possible, reasonably
> >priced, soundcard I will use with this machine.
>
> I'd say go for the M-Audio Delta 44... something that supports
> unbalanced/balanced 1/4" inch. If a mic pre or having S/PDIF
(digital
> input say for use with a DAT) is important check out the M-Audio
> Delta66/Omni combo (slightly more than the 44).. I recommend Ebay
for these
> items...
>
> Of course your biggest enjoyment will be pairing your new
computer/audio
> interface with some small decent project studio speakers... Mackie
HR624s
> are what I recommend for this price range.
>
> The laundry list of small improvements goes further of course.. :)
>
> Rick:
> >it only rates the M-Audio card at 40Hz to 15kHz with line in/out,
even at
> >high sample rates. That's not very good. Can other cards do
better?
>
> Jon:
> >Well, their specs say "Dynamic Range: D/A 104.0dB (a-weighted),
A/D
> 100.4dB (a-weighted); THD: less than 0.002%; Freq. Response: 22Hz -
22kHz,
> -0.4,-0.4dB
>
> Phew... That must have been a review for an early model Audiophile
2496 as
> the stats from the link Rick posted were poor.
>
> One of the most important stats to examine when buying a sound card
is its
> dynamic range. This stat is a big determining factor on the
quality of the
> card (and your recordings). None of the prosumer companies, MAudio,
MOTU,
> Aardvark, etc. promote this stat much; sure all of them will boast
> 24bit/96khz, but that is not the limiting factor of the interface.
>
> Most prosumer interfaces are now pushing upwards of 104 to 108 dBA.
>
> I progressed from a Delta 44 -> Aardvark Q10 -> LynxStudio LynxTwo..
> The LynxStudio interfaces being the low mark for pro interfaces;
coming in
> with a dynamic range of 115dBA. It is remarkably better than the
Delta or
> Aardvark cards I previously used; to improve on it I'd need to
spend at
> least $2k for outboard converters; The Benchmark DAC1 and ADC1
being high
> candidates there. The nice thing about the LynxStudio card is that
it also
> provides AES ins/outs that are necessary to connect external
converters.
>
> LynxStudio does offer the LS-22 which is a 2in/2out version, but
that is
> still a little pricey (~$600), but so worth it if you don't need a
lot of
> ins/outs.
>
> Best,
> --Mike

***Thanks so much for the info., Mike, and nice to see you're posting
again...

Joe P.