Help Choosing sound card

between various cards

Hi,

can you halp me choosing the best soundcard, i have three choices according to my budget.

1. Terratec PHASE 22 4 Channel 24/96 PCI Audio Interface
2. M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI Digital Audio Card
3. M-Audio Delta 410 PCI Recording System
4. E-mu 0404 PCI Digital Audio Recording System

what would you recommend me? they all have the same price
Another question i have. Its good to go to n-track 24-bits? what’s the difference?

thanks

Lesete

If you use 24 bit soundcard you’ll need a 24 bit version of N-Track. The difference is that 16 bit version doesn’t work with 24 bit soundcard - even if you would use it to record 16 bit samples.

Tha advantage ogf using 24 bit soundcards is you have more headroom to record.

I’m not familiar with the souncards you mentioned.

Do you only want 4 channels? Do you have mic preamps or a board of some sort?

Hi lesete, im quoting here a post from bubbagump in other thread, maybe helps you:
<!–QuoteBegin>

Quote
I would suggest the new Emu cards, but I am noticing some driver weirdness from time to time the more I work with it. It is still a good card, but not something I would say is 100% reliable yet, but more like 90%. They are a heck of a value if you don’t mind a few glitches from time to time. M-Audio seems to be very good on driver development as is MOTU, so I would start my search there. As with anything, the motherboard and chipset can make or break the whole thing, so what may be rock solid for one may not work for another

i’m planning to buy a behringer UB802

look for E-mu 0404 PCI Digital Audio Recording System…

it’s really good thing.

So you only need 2 channels at a time? Any chance you’ll want more in the future?

It’s not on your list but I would like to propose an alternative that I have had experience with.

The M-Audio Omni Studio is a great setup. 4 channels and a ton of flexibility. The outboard box has two mic preamps, headphone outputs and a number of other features. It’s a PCI card which has a little better performance than a firewire system.

I had an Omni Studio and I upgraded to a Delta 1010 so obviously I’ve been happy with M-Audio’s equipment. The WDM drivers are very solid and have worked flawlessly for me.

Considering price+quality+#of tracks, I’m very satisfied with the 1010LT. I went to Guitar Center on a sale day and talked em down to $200 even.

Hi There

It seems we have some things in common…

I have the UB802, and for a small mixer, I am very pleased with it. I am also considering a new card and the EMU 0404 is top of my list right now.

The number of inputs and outputs is a good question. If you are like me and mix your tracks with the software, as opposed to outboard mixers, and you only record one track at a time, then your list seems fine to me.

The criteria that wins my EMU vote is simply value for money. It’s a great little package for a very competitive price.

Best wishes

Do you need MIDI on the card?

Guy

Yes, but i don’t know if the soundblaster PCI 128 can work or the integrated midi of the audiophile works will work better.

Anothe question, is :
If i have to go to 24-bit version of n-track.
Can you recommend a good 16-bit soundcard?
i think i dcon’rt have enough budget to go to 24-bit n-track.

thanks