JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques General Technical Forum 8-Channel analog I/O for a new DAW?

Well, I'm getting closer to building that new PC-based DAW. I'm trying to decide on an interface that'll give me 8 analog audio ins and outs. From doing my own research and talking to one person whose judgement I trust, I've narrowed the choices down to these:

1.) Echo Layla 24
2.) MOTU 1224 / PCI-344 Core System
3.) Nuendo Audiolink 96 PCI / Multiset

Anybody out there got an opinion for or against any of these, or on a system I haven't mentioned? We've got some smart folks out there, you know.



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Later,

Pat

I have a Nuendo 48K version with the lightpipe interface. All the Nuendo-labeled stuff is really made by RME, except for the high-end AD8000, which is made by Apogee. I use it with my Digi001 and it made a quantum leap in the sound quality when I added it. I highly recommend the Nuendo/RME stuff.

From what I've read, the MOTU 1224 is also very good. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the three you've listed. Make sure that you can expand whichever system you buy. 8 i/o gets used up pretty fast if you use outboard gear for aux sends or inserts.

One small note is that since the Nuendo and RME stuff is identical except for the faceplate, you can usually find the RME brand quite a bit cheaper than it's equivalent Nuendo.

A couple of other things...I'm not sure if the 1224 has both -10 and +4 i/o level settings. If you go that route, make sure it will accept -10 levels because most "project studio" gear runs at that level.

Also, I would recommend deciding on what SOFTWARE you want to use before deciding on the hardware. Then determine which of the hardware units available work with the least amount of trouble with that software.


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Larry
www.audibleresponse.com


[This message has been edited by Lwilliam (edited 06-27-2002).]

My studio, my old ADM broadcast console and my tape machines all run at +4, so I'd need that level of interface.
Starting out, I'll be running Sound Forge and Vegas Video 3.0, since I already own that software. Looks like the sound cards I named are compatible.


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Later,

Pat

Don't forget to look at the Digi 001. I use it with Mac, and love it. I can't speak for its reliability with PC. I have used an earlier generation of Layla jwith Cool Edit Pro and was impressed. The MOTU stuff is getting excellent reviews across the boards. Thing I like about Digi 001 is it's flexibility with ProTools. If I want to take something to a studio to have worked on, chances are my ProTools files will work on their ProTools system. And look at plug in options as well. Some things to consider.

I had the Digi 001 strongly recommended to me, and I did consider it. I think I decided it was too Mac-centric and didn't have the drivers in place to do what I wanted to do in the PC world. Too bad, because the quality of the box is quite good from what I hear.
I'm takin' my time. I want good sound, I just don't want to pay for it.


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Later,

Pat

I agree against the 001 for the PC, although there are many satisfied PTLE/PC users. Mine is great on the Mac (maybe three crashes in 2 years while using Protools LE).

ASIO/DirectIO drivers for the 001 are not the greatest (I believe this is what you need for Sound Forge/Vegas and the 001). I don't know about WDM drivers and their availability for Digi hardware (if they even exist).

I've heard of latencies as low as 1.5ms using Sonar with WDM drivers. That's excellent for a native system.

Digi hardware just works MUCH better with Digi software.



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Larry
www.audibleresponse.com

The best box for the money is the Delta 1010 by M-Audio. 8-in 8-out, plus spdif. All are also -10 or +4 selectable per input/output. Very transparent and the drivers work.

Another great reason is the customer service rules over everyone else. Try getting good customer service from MOTU - I dare you.

Everyone I know that has a Delta 1010 is very happy with it. Plus you can't beat the price, which is roughly $550 street price, could be cheaper now.

Jody

[This message has been edited by Whitesides (edited 07-30-2002).]

That's a very interesting opinion. I have a friend who bought a Delta 1010 and returned it the next day because he said it sounded like crap. I've read other negative opinions of it online. Could it be there's a lack of consistency from unit to unit? Or do the drivers maybe work funny in some people's computers? This is important since I did seriously consider the M-Audio unit until people talked me out of it. Go figure.


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Later,

Pat