There is a sea of sound cards and sailing through that information can be overwhelming. To help navigate I want to go through the cards I have worked with and what I suggest.
First above all else… FUCK M AUDIO! I have had a lot of m-audio gear including usb midi, sound cards, and the like. Don’t bother with M-audio. Always a waste of money and time. I could go into my experiences and why… but trust me and lets move on to “real” gear.
Focusrite Saffire
“The Saffire Firewire audio interface signals a new direction from Focusrite, a company best known for their high-end analogue”
This was a great piece of gear for me. I got it cheap on Craiglsist and it did great. I got some noise and I didn’t know if it was my computer or what. I also didn’t like the extra power chord at the time. As far as a starting sound card I suggest this one. They now have more rack mount cards that I think are just great units.
NI Audio Kontol 1
You know you have a good piece of gear when a lot of big groups and artist use it. I asked Andrew Luck of Splatinum what to go with and he gave me great advice.. The Kontol 1 is great. Rugged, solid, high quality, and cheap. Great for the dj and live gigs. around $200 and bus powered… Awesome!
The only disadvantage on this card is it is only for playback really. Not a very good Analog to Digital conversion and not ideal for recording instruments. Great for what it is though!
What my Eyes are On
The next level up piece of gear I am looking at is the Motu Ultralite. This thing is a SOLID power horse.
“MOTU has released a smaller mobile audio/MIDI interface, UltraLite, which is a half-rack unit with a staggering 10 inputs, 14 outputs”
It is small, rugged, lots of in’s and outs. Great for recording on the go and playing live. Just a step up from the NI and cost a little more. Got my eyes on it and will hope to have one soon.
Motu is also a great company with lots of sound cards with Rackmount. If you are looking for entry level pro gear go with Motu.
Hope this saves you money and time! I know I have gone through a lot and am glad to share the knowledge. Also share what card you use and why in the comments.
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Hell yeah Fuck M-Audio. Made that mistake a lot! They make utter crap.
I have a Motu Rack mounted Traveler and love it. Highly suggest it.
What do you think of the Akai EIE External #Sound Card? Been looking at it. Good price.
I can not speak from experience but I would say it is really low level sound. Looks like a lot of cosmetics went into it. Like the fake analog tube look. It is also not USB powered which is always a bummer, and an awkward shape.
If anyone has used it I would love to hear there opinion though.
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The Saffire blows hard. THey don’t last and get noisy for no reason. Motu is the cheapest “entry level” sound card that sounds good and won’t fall apart that I’ve seen.
OK… I can see that. I wasn’t sure if the sound card was the problem or the fact that it was old, or my jankey as shit laptop.
Advice taken… Andrew knows his stuff.
I have had the NI for 2 years and it is still great. It is only really good for Djing and just playing back tracks. For just a little more you could go pro though…
I agree. Motu is best for it’s price and all that jazz.
I have a MOTU ultralite and I love it. It is far from “entry level” anything that can record at 96 and above, be a standalone mixer with endless routing possibilities and on-board reverb and compression in a tiny portable unit is a god-send. I call it reasonable not cheap.
I just picked up the Presonus Firestudio Mobile. For my needs, it had the perfect combination of ins/outs, size, and price. One of my main points of interest was that it is a bus-powered firewire device. The USB ports are too in demand on my MB Pro, so putting the firewire port to use was key.
Oh cool… Haven’t heard of that. I am actually looking at getting the Motu 828 today. found one for $300 and was thinking of picking it up.
I haven’t heard of Firewire Bus power… Cool.
[quote name=”Crispy”]I just picked up the Presonus Firestudio Mobile. For my needs, it had the perfect combination of ins/outs, size, and price. One of my main points of interest was that it is a bus-powered firewire device. The USB ports are too in demand on my MB Pro, so putting the firewire port to use was key.[/quote]
I too had the same concern with my MB Pro. So far I like the FireStudio for all things electronic. My acoustic/analog recordings are requiring a bit of tweaking, but suspect that is the case for many interfaces. It really has all the ins and outs though that you will need, and can be bought for a great price. it also has a great output volume. My previous interface (original Saffire) was so quiet! So far so good!
+1 fr the UltraLite- I own one and it sounds fantastic. MOTU’s drivers are fantastic as well- very stable- the best and most stable drivers for Pro Tools I’ve found- even AVID’s own drivers/interfaces aren’t as stable…