external soundcard

builder22

builder22

builder22

Soldato
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14 Dec 2005
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the jacks on my motherboard have become worn over time so looking to get a new external card

I want to have balanced line inputs, and coax s pdif in (optical would be a bonus), and 1 mic pre-amp

what are the advantages of a firewire vs usb connection?
 
Firewire has more bandwidth than USB2, and it's probably better for latency.

I think Firewire is going to become a thing of the past though, as Thunderbolt looks like it's going to replace that.

Focusrite have a range of interfaces with different connections, including USB, Firewire and Thunderbolt, amongst others. The Sapphire range (Firewire) looks like that's going to be or has been discontinued. You can still buy them from some audio places though.

Clarett (Thunderbolt) is quite a bit more money, around £500 for the 4pre; then you'd have to fork out for a Thunderbolt PCIe card as well.

Scarlett is their USB range. Either 6i6 or 18i8 should do what you want, depending on whether you want just coaxial input or optical input as well.
 
thanks

if money was no object (it is) what would be the best thing to buy?

I see you can get PCI cards with line level in, not sure if any have mic preamps tho

I'm still investigating but these are 100% zero latency?
 
No idea on what would be the ideal money no object interface. I've only been looking at the more budget offerings really.

Looking at the specs of the ESI Maya 44 PCIe, and it does mention microphone pre amp; so I suppose that is something that some cards will have that and some won't.

Scarlett second generation has 'super low latency', which going by this video on Focusrite's site, improves on the previous generation.

Because USB uses a packet system, I can see why latency can more of a problem. Seems like they have greatly improved that with the second generation of the Scarlett. Latency on the previous gen seemed OK, if the real time effects processing was turned off. 2nd gen can handle real time effects processing without introducing any perceptible latency.

Firewire can stream data in both directions simultaneously, so latency is much less of a problem.
 
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Money no object, I'd get an RME interface like a babyface. Personally, I have a yellowtec PUC combined with a soundcraft mixing desk.

Finding pro devices with SPDIF can actually be remarkably hard. To get around this, you can convert AES to SPDIF with an inline matching transformer to convert the unbalanced signal from 75 ohms to 110 ohms. Neutrik make them, NADITBNC-F or M depending on gender needed, the spdif end has to be BNC so a RCA to BNC adaptor is also needed.
 
that may have read wrong btw - money IS an object....just wondering what the best of the best would be.....

I was looking at the ESI cards... one has coax spdif but no headphone out, the other has headphone out but no coax spdif, neither have both

I know the thread title is external card...but I didn't realise you got proper line in/mic etc on PCI cards

could

http://www.esi-audio.com/products/maya44xte/
 
There maybe cards which have both. There's probably quite a few manufacturers who make PCI/e audio interface cards. RME may do one, but they appear to be quite a bit more money than the ESI cards.
 
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