Beginner Card Audiophile 2496?

[nagal]

Everything I have read/researched points to the Audiophile 2496 as the way to go for a beginner. I am going to be doing some audio, midi, drum loops nothing hardcore *yet*. Is there another card I should be looking at?

Thanks,

Michael

[sabianq]

i like Gina Echo for a starter card.

very quiet with lotsa head room and a true 24bit encoder

[AndyH]

The Audiophile does a very good job, the specs are excellent. If you are considering it you have probably looked at its capabilities. The Gina, along with quite a few other cards from various companies, brings you more options for more money. If the Audiophile does the things you need to do, you should have no reason not to like the results it produces.

[nagal]

I'd love to get an Echo Gina but thats not in the budget right now. The specs on the Audiophile seem good, the reviews I have read give it some good marks. Even if I do replace it down the road, the price on it won't kill me.

[AndyH]

I suspect it would be very difficult to impossible to tell the difference between any recordings made with these two soundcards, even though the specs on the Echo card are a little better. However, just to be sure, since you post yourself as a beginner, you do realize that if you want to input via microphone, you will also need a decent microphone preamp for the Audiophile? The Gina, and many other soundcards, including some from M-Audio, have microphone preamps on board, but the Audiophile is just basic line level input (plus midi and S/PDIF, of course).

[nagal]

I will also be getting a small little mixer with microphone inputs to handle that issue.While probably not as good as a stand alone mic pre-amp it will get the job done.

As far as me telling the difference between the Gina and 2496, it will never happen as my hearing is pretty shot from a variety of things. This is just a hobby for me so nothing is truly critical but I do want to have some decent gear to work with. :)