Looking for soundcard - need advice

[Assaf]

Hello everyone,

I've been considering getting the RME Multiface for a while because of their reputed quality, customer support and absence of bugs in the system, but the card's 8 analog ins/outs seem a bit like overkill to me, and I'm reluctant to spend money on something I'm 99% sure I won't be using. I was therefore wondering whether there are any cards out there that measure up to the RME Multiface in A/D conversion (or are slightly worse, but not by much) but aren't so pricy due to less analog ins/outs? Also very important to me are good customer support, good drivers (GSIF support), low latency (I'll be using Gigastudio as a sampler), MIDI connection, and preferrably 4 analog ins/outs. My intentions are using the computer as a sampler/audio recorder (with outboard sequencer & mixer). Moneywise, I *could* get the RME Multiface and "get it over with", but like I said, I'm reluctant. (Do RME make any simpler cards? I've been to the homepage and didn't see any.)
Any suggestions will be highly appreciated!

[salomon]

Check out the Aardvark DirectPro 24/96. It's a 24 bit 96 kHz card with 4 XLR Mic/1/4" Line Inputs, 6 line Ouputs, 1 headphone,S/PDIF, 16 midi chanels, DSP effects, phantom power, shielded PCI host card, multitrack software, asio drivers. I have been using it for over a year and I am pretty happy with it. It is an excellent card with excellent sounding quality.
It had a lot of good reviews. Their web site: www.aardvark-pro.com. (http://www.aardvark-pro.com.)
Good luck
Salomon

[Assaf]

I recall checking the card out a few months ago (yes, I've been debating this for that long ... ) and reading some posts on various newsgroups about bad win2K drivers (which I use). Is that still true? What OS do you have, Salomon?

[Assaf]

I would like to mention one more thing - my reason for looking for 4 analog ins. I have a Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro, a synth and a synth module, so I thought of plugging the Mackie into 2 of the ins and the module directly into the other 2, bypassing the mixer to reduce any noise. Is that a wise thing to do? Or would it be cost effective to look for a card with only 2 analog ins and forget about it?
(Since I brought it up already - can you tell me how do the Aardvark's preamps compare to the Mackie preamps, in case you got a chance to work with both?)
Cheers!

[1eyedbitch]

aloha assaf

about the DP24/96. i bought it two weeks ago, fully aware of the drivers issue.
there are beta drivers under development, and they suppose to be better than the original XP/2K drivers.
but still, the drivers are aardvark's disadvantage.
about the pre-amps, i never heard the mackie pre's but the aardvark pre's are nice, they're a little bit noisy but they sound good, i recorded bass, guitar and sm58 through them, and they seem to do a nice job.
don't expect to hear a proffesional pre-amp, because they're not, but they are not suppose to be, considering the price i think the quality you get is good.
i bought the aardvark, because for me it looks like the best deal (my other option was the c-port2000), but i know that RME are suppose to be better quality.

besides that i think they have some kind of sale in music-shop for RME, i would check it anyway (-:

[Assaf]

Hey 1eyedbitch,

Regarding your choice of sound card - what made you favor the Aardvark over the C-Port? (in our humble country the Aardvark is priced at 4625 NIS ~ 1000$ and the C-Port at 3150 NIS ~ 670$) - a significant price difference, although there doesn't seem to be any significant difference in specs (except for the obvious built in effects of the Aardvark and the unbalanced lines of the C-port which aren't a problem since I'm running in a tight space, so no long cables). Could you please afford your insight? Thanks.

[joemix]

How about the EgoSys WamiRack 192X? GSIF support and better specs than the Aardvark. Less $$ too. I'm thinking about selling my problematic Aardvark for a pair of them.

[1eyedbitch]

about the WamiRack i also considered it (you can find it for the same price as the aardvark) but i read a review about the headphones output and the preamp's having a very low level, so i wanted to check the card, but where i live they only had the wavterminal and not the wamirack, so i passed.
between c-port and aardvark, well... they are more or less the same price here. and i heard great reviews everywhere about the aardvark convertors+preamps (even from users who comlained about the drivers) so i went for it. about the DSP effects, i wouldn't let those affect my choice (for two reasons: 1. there are only 3 effects. 2. they sound like sh@#T)
in general about the aardvark as far as i see it, this are the disadvantages:
1. unstable XP/2K drivers
2. DSP effects are almost useless (except the eq)
the advantages are:
1. a lot of options (4 input+preamps, 6 outputs, midi in-out, s/pdif I/O, headphones output)
2. good sound quality (considering the price).
3. easy-to-use interface
4. well designed breakout box (looks nice and doesn't take too much space)

as for me, the aardvark is exectly what i need- the I/O combination, midi, ASIO2 support, and about the drivers- i knew it before purchasing the card, and i don't mind installing win98 system just for audio work (although in the meantime i'm working with the XP and it's usually OK).
i'm pretty sure you allready read all of the specs, so that's all i have to say for now.

good luck

[GZsound]

I would check out the TerraTec EWS 88 MT card. They seem to be a pretty good card for the money. I recently installed the EWS 88D and except for bundled software (MicroLogic and Sek'd Samplitude) problems, the card works great with my regular software (Sound Forge, Cool Edit) and was very reasonably priced.

It is now supported by Fostex.

[diminished]

BTW,i had the WAMIRACK 192x and returned it.whether it was deffective or the design.
the headphone volume was unecceptable,i mean,you could barely hear it on full blast.and if you are gone be using the xp drivers for AARDVARK?then you should make sure it is fixed permanantly.other than that problem,dp24/96 and the q 10 are very sweet units(good quality).