Soundcard question

or how is this little thingie?

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html 

if you work with windows, i'd go for the tapco. m-audio has not the best drivers for windows. if you work with mac, i'd go for the audiophile cause it has midi. if you want to connect a mic or a guitar directly to the soundcard and you don't need midi, go for the fasttrack (it has better sample-specifications than the premobile)

i had the first sound card, m audio audiophile, big big shit for what i had to do, no preamp, only cinch output, shotload of problems with the drivers... so dont buy this one imho... The tapco one looks nice,  be sure of what u need before you buy anything

so M-audio is not good with windows? and what about the latency with the tapco?

and mr Falcon030 introduced me to the firewire soundcards...are there some firewire soundcards in the price range i'm looking for? 

i never used m audio, but ive heard that it bugs often.. i have  a tascam us428 ( a big one..) but their US144 is quite good, i would ve bought that one..  and its only 159 on thomann.de :) 

What kind of soundcard are you looking for? What do you want it to be able to do? How much do you wonna spend on it? Do you want it to be USB, FireWire or PCI, or you don't care, as long as it works?

Originally posted by : AnaesThesiA

What kind of soundcard are you looking for? What do you want it to be able to do? How much do you wonna spend on it? Do you want it to be USB, FireWire or PCI, or you don't care, as long as it works?

well i have +- 150€ i was wondering if a firewire wouldn't be better coz i heard that firewire doesn't work on the processor but works alone...for the PCI i don't know...can i plug that in my laptop? hmmm i want it to have low or no latency when i play my music...as for the entries...i don't need much...1 guitar and 1 MIC should be enough...i'm looking more for the exits (like using with TRAKTOR or sumn) now i have the behringer xenyx 1204fx but the soundcard that comes with it is so shite and i realise i don't need so much entries... hope this helps

If you don't mind having no breakout-box you can maybe buy the emu 1212m. The problem is: You should have two pci-ports so if you working on a laptop this one is out of the question. There also is another one, the 1616m which connect via a breakout-box linked to a connection card in your pcmcia port. Here the problem is the price 300€ and up.

The 1212m is in the price range of 150€ http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?category=505&subcategory=491&product=9872 I have one and I'm quite satisfied. e-mu just brought out new Vista and Xp drivers

Originally posted by : gozno  well i have +- 150€ i was wondering if a firewire wouldn't be better coz i heard that firewire doesn't work on the processor but works alone... for the PCI i don't know...can i plug that in my laptop? 

mmm i want it to have low or no latency when i play my music...as for the entries...i don't need much...1 guitar and 1 MIC should be enough...i'm looking more for the exits (like using with TRAKTOR or sumn) now i have the behringer xenyx 1204fx but the soundcard that comes with it is so shite and i realise i don't need so much entries... hope this helps  [/quote]  About that thing about FireWire: bullocks on a stick. FireWire makes it possible though to feed the external hardware trhough the FireWire port, instead of having to use an external adaptor (for the current, that is). USB does that too, but can deliver way less power. On the other hand, FireWire isn't as "plug and play" as is USB. Most USB devices you can just plug in any time you want, and it'll work. Try that with FireWire, and curse at the moon.  About that thing about PCI: i doubt that, so you probably should stick with USB or FireWire indeed.   There's the Alesis I/O2, which is pretty cheap (139€), USB, doesn't need an externap power supply (feeds through USB), has 2 mic/instr inputs, and some outputs i don't know by heart, +48V Phantom Power Supply, which is pretty neat for a USB fed device (i'm guessing it's not really 48V). Apparently, it works rather well. There's also the Lexicon Alpha, but i don't know too much about that one... Costs 140€, and has about the same features as the Alesis if i'm right. Might be interesting to look for a second hand Motu 828 (MKI, not MKII... is better, but also way more expensive ;) ) . Bigger, bolder, more beautiful, but only 48K max, which is a bit of a petty, but not too much, considering you're prolly not gonna work in 96K anytime soon... Hope this helps you a bit.

PS: damn, these [quote] thingies are nasty.

i never had any issues with firewire. firewire is way better for streaming audio than usb, since usb is cpu-dependant. this causes the usb-buffer to run out when there are heavy cpu-peaks, while firewire goes on smoothly. proof: firewire can easily handly more than 30 audiostreams of a soundcard, whereas usb-soundcards stick to maybe 6 streams (in and/or out). i have a motu, and it's on of my best purchases so far. never any problems, good warm sound, superb interface, sturdy, many I/O, no hassle with installation,... way better quality than that Mbox i also have.