What is a good list of Audio interfaces to consider? I was looking at the M-Audio Delta 1010Lt. Its $220 new and add $25 for a TRS to RCA snake to get to a patch panel I have. So Im wondering what other used multi input units might fall in that ballpark price that might be better? I dont know that it makes a difference whether is PCI or Firewire (I have firewire port). Im looking for at least 6 inputs (bal or unbal) and 1 stereo out to power amp and 1 stereo out to headphone distribution. I have a mic pre so built-in pre not necessary but would hurt to have anyway to remove clutter. Im thinkin I want 24wide and 48K sample min (older units as used). Are there any to avoid? An Ebay search by price shows this in that ballpark. a) Aardvark Q10 (out of business now? too risky to get?). b) Digidesign 001 c) Digidesing M-Box d) Motu 2408 MkII (firewire?) e) MOTU 2408 w/PCI 324 Are there others to consider? Where is a good place to look for used gear besides Ebay? thanks for any tips.!
Aardvark went out of business for sure, but the drivers are available on several different support sites. If you can pick up a new Q10 for $200-$300 it would still be a good buy given the features. The issue I'd be concerned with is the latest drivers released were for SP1, so whether or not SP2 will cause problems I can't say. I'm using the Q10 with SP1 to insure stability.
My son bought a firewire M-Audio interface for his laptop from another Gear Pager, and we both think it's really nice for the $$. I'd go with firewire because the transfer rates are faster than with USB, which results in less latency.
Sorry for high jackin the thread but would you mind posting a link or two for those Aardvark support sites? BC
OK..thanks...Ive heard enough that i will avoid Aardvark. Apparently some folks are holding off going to SP2 cus it has problems
True, but the USB2 interfaces are just hitting the market and for the most part don't seem to be cheaper than Firewire.
Just a note on the firewire v. usb2 saga: Theoretically, USB2 is faster. However, USB2 cannot sustain the speeds in all the tests I have seen. Firewire has a different architecture which allows it to sustain speeds and makes it faster in the long run compared to USB2, but that could change... Jeff
How important is it to have four or eight independent channels heading into your computer? If you can live with two you can save. Also, if it's not for a notebook, go for PCI. There are all kinds of things out there. The m-audio audiophile 2496 has low noise and excellent sound and is cheap. It has analog stereo in/outs plus SPDIF. Are you recording yourself or a small combo? You can get one of those for <$100 and then a Mackie 1202 pro for another couple hundred. I just bought an old Seasound Solo for an old computer I got for free. For $100 it has a great interface and a couple of good mic preamps. Discontinued but an active user base who have actually developed stable XP drivers. I'm not suggesting you buy either of these but you can make lots of things work.
