Looking to upgrade my interface.

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by mesaone

Even the inexpensive audio interfaces are a huge step up from integrated sound cards in all respects.

Yep!!!! This is right on!

[amagras]

Originally Posted by mesaone

Even the inexpensive audio interfaces are a huge step up from integrated sound cards in all respects.

Yes, as I said I own a Fast Track that works fine except for the issue with the latest driver (which has huge improvements in latency). Also, I should have said that my computer is a desktop so maybe i can expand my options to pci cards? About the firewire card, if there's a good firewire audio interface that fits my budget I'll happily add $50-60 to it.

Thanks for the interest, it's helping me a lot.

[amagras]

I wonder if there is any chance that I can buy an Mbox with my budget (I'm writing to Avid store support right now), although I said I don't have preference for any specific brand it seems reasonable to stay with Avid...and I'd like to hear some ideas.

Ps. Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD looks interesting with those MIDAS preamps as well as the Komplete Audio 6.

[Amack]

Does your Focusrite interface work properly with Pro Tools? You might find this http://d3se566zfvnmhf.cloudfront.net...nversion15.pdf informative.

Originally Posted by YYR123

Yep!!!! This is right on!

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by Amack

Does your Focusrite interface work properly with Pro Tools? You might find this http://d3se566zfvnmhf.cloudfront.net...nversion15.pdf informative.

My focusrite and pro tools experience was totally chill. No real issues, (besides windows) but with Mac I never had one issue - I sold the interface to buy a Apollo Tuesday

That paper was just a marketing document, really generic, don't see how that would have helped anyone

[Amack]

I sent a link to that document to try to help folks realize that what ultimately limits the performance of modern audio interfaces is the A-Ds and D-As (CODECs) inside them. Adding unnecessary electronics and interfaces to them only degrades performance and increases latency. Dell PCs apparently don't add anything (it's not really necessary for most users). Like amagras, I have a Dell XPS 8700 (though I’m using Windows 8.1 rather than 7). My computer appears to be using http://www.realtek.com/products/prod...n=4&ProdID=173
As you can see from the specs that ALC889 CODEC supports sample rates up to 192 kHz at bit depths up to 24 bits. (I needed to update the device driver to get 24 bits on the 2 input channels.) Since it also has 8 output channels, it’s likely a very significant (and free) upgrade from the Fast Track (provided it has the features that amagras needs.)

Note that both Audacity and TrueRTA can be used to measure the performance of audio devices easily and inexpensively – so you don’t have to take my word for it!

Originally Posted by YYR123

My focusrite and pro tools experience was totally chill. No real issues, (besides windows) but with Mac I never had one issue - I sold the interface to buy a Apollo Tuesday

That paper was just a marketing document, really generic, don't see how that would have helped anyone

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by Amack

I sent a link to that document to try to help folks realize that what ultimately limits the performance of modern audio interfaces is the A-Ds and D-As (CODECs) inside them. Adding unnecessary electronics and interfaces to them only degrades performance and increases latency. Dell PCs apparently don't add anything (it's not really necessary for most users). Like amagras, I have a Dell XPS 8700 (though I’m using Windows 8.1 rather than 7). My computer appears to be using http://www.realtek.com/products/prod...n=4&ProdID=173
As you can see from the specs that ALC889 CODEC supports sample rates up to 192 kHz at bit depths up to 24 bits. (I needed to update the device driver to get 24 bits on the 2 input channels.) Since it also has 8 output channels, it’s likely a very significant (and free) upgrade from the Fast Track (provided it has the features that amagras needs.)

Note that both Audacity and TrueRTA can be used to measure the performance of audio devices easily and inexpensively – so you don’t have to take my word for it!

There are quite a few things that are incorrect or inaccurate in your comment, I'd urge you to do some research. And maybe do a real world comparison by picking up an audio interface and comparing its performance to built-in soundcards.

First and foremost, the CODECs involved with the built-in soundcards are software that convert one format of digital audio into another format of digital audio. Converters are hardware that convert analog audio to digital audio, and vice-versa. You simply cannot compare the two on paper or in real life, they are apples and oranges. Latency is also a huge factor when weighing one device against another, and it's something that most spec sheets for built-in cards don't include - for good reason, Realtek and others have embarrassingly-high latency. I suggest you start your research with these things in mind.

[amagras]

Originally Posted by mesaone

There are quite a few things that are incorrect or inaccurate in your comment, I'd urge you to do some research. And maybe do a real world comparison by picking up an audio interface and comparing its performance to built-in soundcards.

First and foremost, the CODECs involved with the built-in soundcards are software that convert one format of digital audio into another format of digital audio. Converters are hardware that convert analog audio to digital audio, and vice-versa. You simply cannot compare the two on paper or in real life, they are apples and oranges. Latency is also a huge factor when weighing one device against another, and it's something that most spec sheets for built-in cards don't include - for good reason, Realtek and others have embarrassingly-high latency. I suggest you start your research with these things in mind.

...and I really need a good pair of mic preamps

[YYR123]

Your gonna hate me for this !!! :^)

But why do you need Pre Amps when you can just go "Line in" on your computer @192khz?

Hahahah

[amagras]

Originally Posted by YYR123

Your gonna hate me for this !!! :^)

But why do you need Pre Amps when you can just go "Line in" on your computer @192khz?

Hahahah

high quality noise I guess...