RE: Sound Card Advise

djsanjeev · Post by **djsanjeev** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:46 pm

Hi all
I currently Have a Toshiba Laptop.Its fairly old so am upgrading to a MBP(cant decide between 15"LED screens or 17"),any suggestions???

I use the old laptop with M-Audio FW410.I am some what sattisfied with the audio quality of the sound card but would you recommed a better sound card(FW or USB).Was looking at the Motu Ultralite as an option
Please help!!

dootdoot · Post by **dootdoot** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:26 pm

The Ultralite is a good upgrade from the FW410, the price is right, and would be a great match for the MBP. Other candidates, but more expensive, are the RME Fireface 400 or 800, and the Metric Halo 2882. You get better converters and preamps in the MH and RME, but you aren't getting 4x the perfromance for 4x the price.

15 v 17 MBP? Mine is a 15" MBP 2.16 and I went for some portability over the bigger screen of the 17". The new LED display just makes the 15 that much more appealing, IMO.

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:39 pm

Stay the hell away from m-audio gear. The 410 is especially bad; I'm comforted to know that I'm not the only forum user who's had issues with them. Their hardware is notoriously cheap, and the drivers (more on the mac side) have loads of bugs.

Funny story -- It's been over a year or two since I got rid of my 410 and got a firebox (which I since sold). I came into the office one weekend to get some work done, and needed to do some testing against a soundcard that could do 96Khz... and unfortunately, the only interface around the office that could do that was the 410. I downloaded the drivers, followed the installation procedure exactly, shut down, plugged in, booted up.

When my MBP booted up again, I got a window saying that the soundcard was "updating the device firmware"... as soon as I could think to myself "why in the hell would a soundcard have firmware on it?", my mac grayscreened (kernel paniced) and crashed.

Promptly uninstalled the drivers, etc. Screw m-audio.

teknobryan · Post by **teknobryan** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:46 pm

M-Audio sucks.....

except for the Imposcar

that's nice.

charliechristian · Post by **charliechristian** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:52 pm

EMU 0404 USB is an option as well

http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp ... 15185[url]

djsanjeev · Post by **djsanjeev** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:12 pm

How about the TC Electronic Konnect Live.Is it any better .It promises on board dsp

The fireface is a good option but way too expensive.

I have a RME-Multiface for studio rig.I could use it for my mobile gigs but will have to connect it thru the PCMCIA RME card.Any way to bypass this and connect it directly to the Firewire 6 pin port

tnx

ScholarlyGent · Post by **ScholarlyGent** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:18 pm

I've had great luck with the line six toneport KB37. Its a great combo of a sound card and control device, however, it could definitely use more assignable knobs and buttons.

Trat · Post by **Trat** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:34 pm

djsanjeev wrote:How about the TC Electronic Konnect Live.Is it any better .It promises on board dsp

The fireface is a good option but way too expensive.

I have a RME-Multiface for studio rig.I could use it for my mobile gigs but will have to connect it thru the PCMCIA RME card.Any way to bypass this and connect it directly to the Firewire 6 pin port

tnx

Friend of mine waited months for a bugfix. After the bugfix there still are pops and clicks in Ableton so he cannot perform with it on stage.

Most important aspect of these type of products are the drivers. The ones RME supply are considered to be among the best in the industry. I bought a RME Fireface 400. Cost something but IMO it's the best card out there for general use.

IMO it's not expensive (overpriced), but it may be more than you can afford.