Soundcards

Hello.i know very little about soundcards and what u need to look for in one.all i know is i want a good one that will last me a while.i wanna be able to run midi and connect crap to it…i have been thinkin about getting a motu 828 mk 111.but its expensive and i tot i shud ask for sum advice b4 i waste my money like an asshole.is this worth getting?will it work well with renoise??is there ne other soundcards u wud swear by???heres a link to the motu soundcard http://www.thomann.de/ie/motu_828_mk_iii.htm

A lot of people swear by MOTU and they are definitely a good make. Really we need more details about your set-up, requirements and budget before making any comments though.

Also firewire is a minefield. Unless you can confirm your computer works well with firewire audio interfaces (maybe even specifically that one) it may be worth looking at another solution.

I wouldn’t touch Motu at all. I’ve had bad professional experience with them and a 828mkII just dying for no reason whatsoever. Scant technical support from the company, if any at all.

If you want a cheaper firewire option have a look at the Presonus Firebox.

ok well u can get a usb version of this,its the exact same???what is the difference between firewire and usb 2 ports and connections???thnx for replies.i dont wanna waste my hard earned dough…

also my budget is up to about 800-900 euro.

Laptop or desktop? Use on single computer or multiple? How many in/outs you need? Pre-amplifiers required or not. Come on mate, put in some effort if you want some help!

If you got that budget, have a look at RME Fireface400.
At least so far I’ve not heard anything bad about them in terms of drivers and support.
I’m thinking of getting one myself but haven’t bought one yet.

Then as already stated, check the firewire card you’re going to use if it’s good or not (check the internet). FW have been problematic, most often the answer you get is to get a FW card with TI FW-chipset (Texas Instruments).

I personally plan on getting the RME Multiface II. Mostly due to nobody using TI for the firewire chipset and many machines, even fairly high-end, not having firewire at all. Does mean you might have to fork out a extra couple hundred for a second Hammerfall interface card if you want to use it on both a laptop and desktop though. Not feeling quite rich enough at the moment though and sufficing with onboard sound on my lappy…

ye the rme seems to be mentioned to me a lot.im using a single laptop,4 ins and outs minimum.im gonna look into that rme,it sounds good

Stay away from the presonus at all costs
It uses a DICE II firewire chipset and the drivers for that are totally horrendous
Besides some odd one off bad customer support cases by MOTU (they do happen wityh MOTU now and again who knows why) they make the best soundcards on the market bar non with RME coming a very very close second
By this i mean not only build and record quality but also driver qulaioty and the roundtrip latency too

DONT ever believe a manufacturersw quoted latency or the drivers reported latency either
Do the roundtrip test to find out the real latency and see how much the manufacturer has hidden in driver reported latency (You would be shocked especially at the presonus)

Bungle

thnx for warning me bout that,but ur reply has boggled my little fat head.its a toss up between the motu and the rme???and im not sure wich to get.my laptop is a piece of shit btw(i still love it)and i think it only runs firewire 400…so which is it??MOTU/RME

All PC laptops have Firewire400, only Macs ever came with 800.

If it’s a “piece of shit” you can pretty much guarantee it is not going to have a decent chipset inside so you are likely to get into problems with any firewire interface. I would suggest look at RME Multiface II and the CardBus/ExpressCard adapter (whichever slot your machine has.)

ok thats cool cuz my mate was worryin me about what firewire i had,(hes a mac user)so i wasnt sure about it.my laptop is a hp,intel pentium m,1.86ghz pro with 1.5gb of ram…

Thanks for the tip Bungle!

EDIT: I was checking reviews for the Presonus Firebox and it got some very favorable reviews from MacOSX users. I’m thinking of getting one of these for live work (not studio recording), and for bang for the buck it still seems appealing. Surely not that bad?

As far as I know there have been updates to get DICEII cards to work pretty well. But I would check in forums etc. for your specific model.

USB + Audio = Fail

I have a Presonus Firepod, and I would advise against getting one. The build quality is poor, and it’s been a lot of trouble getting firewire ports that it will play nicely with. Even the firewire cards that Presonus recommends won’t work with my card.

I bought the Presonus Firebox about 3-4 years ago, the drivers are SHITE, the support is SHITE and getting the damn thing to work is a MISSION.

I personally would NEVER buy another Presonus product again, their “support” mailed me the same standard automated response for the last 4 years.

Use it don’t use it :slight_smile:

Maybe RME have solved it ;)
Since they’ve released a USB “fireface-type” interface.
At least they say they have solved it.

Ok thanks for your advice everyone. I might look at EMU for an affordable option.