Which Sounbd Card For New G5s ??, Advice requested... |
Tue 15 Feb 2005, 10:49
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#1
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Maniac Member Group: Members Posts: 525 Joined: 03-Mar 02 From: FONDETTES - FR Member No.: 3,674 |
Hi you all,
I am considering upgrading from a G4 to G5 (which one is to be discussed later...), so my Audiomedia III will be have to be dropped except if I choose a G5 1.8.... My questions are, at this time: 1/ which card do you think is the best (rapidity, least latency, sound quality). Within a reasonable price range (200 to 300 $) for a home studio. 2/ generally speaking, are PCI-X cards still better rated than FW ones ? (FW would free us from the problem of slots being changed these times... and probably more often in the future...). I had a look at some cards like Echo Mia-midi, M-Audio 410 too but I could not try them and I think there are some others worth looking at... Thanks for your posts !! This post has been edited by binus: Tue 15 Feb 2005, 10:50 |
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Tue 15 Feb 2005, 20:38
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 52 Joined: 03-Jul 02 From: Congleton - UK Member No.: 5,388 |
Yo binus,
Welcome to the nightmare... It's not a simple question and there's no simple answer - it depends what you want to do. There are quite a number of Firewire kits out there that would do the job. PCI cards are still fine - although M-Audio get a lot of criticism on this site - I've always used their cards and they're fine. (um... with some caveats). I recently went from a G4 733MHz to a G5 2.5x2 - and chose an M-Audio 1010LT. Card works fine. Best to make a list of requirements - and your budget - and make choices from there. Don't kick yourself if you make a mistake - it's all a learning curve. Don't forget to look at Terratec, M-Audio, M-Box etc etc etc. Good hunting. PT |
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Tue 15 Feb 2005, 22:47
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#3
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Maniac Member Group: Members Posts: 525 Joined: 03-Mar 02 From: FONDETTES - FR Member No.: 3,674 |
Hi Phil, thanks for your post.
The fact is that I have a G4 733, is that the beginning of the nightmare ?? !! I'll try to be more precise: overall: sound quality first, rapidity second, latency as short as possible third, price fourth (as I said, around 200 - 300 € or a little bit more, it depends....). Regarding FW and PCI-X devices: of these two kinds which one is the best in terms of sound quality and rapidity (regardless of all other features) ? In other words: if you had the means: what would you choose ?? FW ?? PCI-X ?? and in each of these two categories which ones do you rate among the best ?? Thanks !! |
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Wed 16 Feb 2005, 21:08
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 52 Joined: 03-Jul 02 From: Congleton - UK Member No.: 5,388 |
Greetings Binus,
Well - it's good to see you have a set of requirements and have them in order. So let's take a look at your first requirement: sound quality. Okay - fair point, any musician worth their salt wants sound quality. This is dependant on - not only the sound card but the cables that hold everthing together, the monitors in your studio and the set of ears on your head. Rapidity - ? is that the same as latency - or do you know something here I don't? Which is very possible Binus For this - read the specs on whatever piece of kit you're looking at - also have a think about how your studio is set up and how you work. Price - well you should get a reasonal piece of kit for that price. You may decide to go the way of a Firewire module. If I had unlimited money - I would be running ProTools and a Mixfarm. At the moment I am running LogicPro and the M-Audio 1010LT. Which works for me. Previously I had an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 - that worked okay. Basically - read the forums and get an idea of what various folk think about each piece of gear. If you can get to a good music shop - get them to set up the gear for you and listen - there is no substitute for having heard it yourself. There is an old HiFi 'saying' - never listen to a piece of kit above you budget! Please bear that in mind. Let me know how you get on - your research into this will help all of us in the future. Yamas PT |
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Wed 16 Feb 2005, 22:19
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#5
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Maniac Member Group: Members Posts: 525 Joined: 03-Mar 02 From: FONDETTES - FR Member No.: 3,674 |
Hi Phil !!
Many thanks for this very nice and kind reply!! This morning I had a phone call with a "good" (at least I think so !! music shop and they said that your card (Audio 1010 LT is very good), but, given what I want to do: singing with Midi backing, an Echo Mia-Midi would be perfect... Are you OK with this ?? Once again thank you for the fashion of your reply ... |
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Thu 17 Feb 2005, 10:02
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 52 Joined: 03-Jul 02 From: Congleton - UK Member No.: 5,388 |
Hi Binus,
You're more than welcome. The Echo Mia is a good card - the Echo range has been around for a while - I guess that means they are well liked and respected. It's really hard to guide anyone as to the gear they 'should' buy - we all tend to make a decision and buy gear - then, that's all we know. There are precious few of us that can get to listen to loads of different kit. I wonder how many members of MacMusic actually work in music shops and could give some accurate and objective views on the kit out there - a sort of 'MacMusicians review of gear'. Anyway - good luck with it all Binus - let me (and others) know what you think of the Echo Mia midi. Cheers PT |
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Tue 10 Jan 2006, 06:09
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#7
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 7 Joined: 25-Mar 03 From: Bethesda - US Member No.: 15,031 |
anyone care to offer some insight on this topic? I noticed Apple stopped selling the card I was looking at (M-Audio)... find it peculiar, actually. Oh... wait, maybe this is the one that they were having trouble with. I've been looking at the 1010 ... I just want to do remix stuff--samples and Midi /VST. It's late... I'm tired. I jsut want to read opinions for a while and not think. -------------------- 2GhzG5.2GB.250GB.GeForce7800.23"HD
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Tue 10 Jan 2006, 10:19
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#8
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Maniac Member Group: Members Posts: 525 Joined: 03-Mar 02 From: FONDETTES - FR Member No.: 3,674 |
Hi Subscotty, Hope you slept well !!
I forgot to come back to this thread since almost 1 yr !! Just to tell you that I eventually bought an AUDIOPHILE 192. You have 2 MIDI OUT and 1 MIDI IN. The Noise/Signal ratio is not as good as it was with Audiomedia III but all in all it does a vey good job and I'm very satisfied with it. Good Luck !! |
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