Mar 14, 2008 08:58 am I would suggest buying a firewire card and going with an Edirol FA-66... they're $250ish on ebay.... and I really like mine...
That time of year again:
Posted on Mar 14, 2008 02:36 am
J-bot
Byte-Mixer
Member Since: Dec 04, 2007
When some of us get enough of a tax return, and have a mini-festivus (or new-gear's day, however you want to call it)
Considering I've been using the same sound card since '01 (SB Live Platinum 5.1) I figured it's high time I upgraded to a more professional audio interface.
At first I was looking at the Echo Gina3G quite a bit, specially since there's one up on zzounds blowout sale for $230-ish.
However after reading a bit, I may end up going with the ESI Juli@, since it seems to be a nice robust bit of hardware, and I don't really need so many ins/outs since I don't do any recording yet. (its also a good 100 bucks cheaper) Also looks like a decent bundle is included as well, which is a plus. Only concern is lack of a dedicated headphone jack, but maybe that's not too much of an issue.
Anyhoo, my sights are set on the Juli@ at the moment, unless there are some other cards that came out in the last year or so in the $200ish range? er, besides M-Audio and E-MU that is.
Edit: before I forget, I'm pretty much restricted to using good ole PCI.
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Mar 14, 2008 08:58 am I would suggest buying a firewire card and going with an Edirol FA-66... they're $250ish on ebay.... and I really like mine...
Mar 14, 2008 11:12 am I would love nothing more than to go firewire, believe me. Unfortunately, this machine is a bit dated, and I don't have any firewire ports/cables in it. I rebuilt it back in 2004 after the hurricanes, since lightning entered in through the A/C unit, and traveled down to take out my modem, motherboard, and power supply. :/
And I kinda went middle of the road when I rebuilt. So...yeah, PCI or bust I guess lol.
I'm hoping next year, or heck maybe later this year if I can scratch together enough, just build a brand new one from the ground up. I'd love got get some PCIe capable stuff, and some flatscreens.
Oops, I think I derailed my own topic hehe. Er, so yeah, for now stuck with PCI, USB isn't really an option either since this comp only has two USB ports, and one of them is the mouse, the other is my Xboard. I could get a hub I guess if push comes to shove though.
Mar 14, 2008 11:28 am I think that you can get a FireWire PCI card. I'm not sure if that's as stable as a native FireWire port but its an option.
Anyways I like PCI better myself. I use a Delta 44 and it's been rock-solid, a totally perfect performer ever since I got into recording. So I'm a fan of the PCI card because I read all of these instability problems people have with their FireWire and USB cards...computer not recognizing them, dropouts, you name it. I've had 0 problems with my PCI card from M-Audio.
Those ESI cards are good stable cards as well. dB used one for a couple of years, as well as a M-Audio Audiophile and both were great performers for him as well.
Mar 14, 2008 11:45 am -kick own self in own arse-
You know you're right. And I'm an idiot. Completely forgot about the PCI firewire controller cards. Ah well, maybe I'll look into that too. I guess some products with firewire are kinda hit and miss, and others are more stable.
Mar 14, 2008 12:16 pm I loved my old echo PCI setup, that thing never even hiccuped once over 5 years and sometimes I left it on for weeks by accident.
Mar 14, 2008 01:09 pm I keep my compy pretty stable, and the processes/services trimmed down to just the necessities. Pretty much leave it going 24/7 unless there's an update or such that requires a reboot.
I may drop my budget from 200ish to 150ish on the interface. I just bought a pair of stands for my monitors. Kinda tired of having them propped on CD spindles. (hey, at least they're off the desk) Makes for a more secure base too heh.
Mar 14, 2008 01:49 pm I built some out of styrofome, I carved out the center and then notched all the sides so there are just 4 feet at about 2" squared which it stands on.
Mar 14, 2008 01:57 pm Quote:
Kinda tired of having them propped on CD spindles
Ha, you mean I'm not the only one that does that.
Mar 14, 2008 02:01 pm I've got a pair of sweet speaker stands I gotta sell one of these days...
Mar 14, 2008 04:45 pm Well, if I ever get around to getting some good home stereo speakers (Had my eyes on the paradigm monitor 3's awhile back, but must save save save up) I'll give you a hollar dB :)
Beerhunter, what can I say...I guess great minds think alike? lol. It was the best solution I could come up with for getting the speakers off the desktop.
Anyhoo, I think I'm gonna stick with the Juli@. www.floridamusicco.com has it on sale for $130, so...WIN! :D I like the flexibility of the card, and the ultimate audio tools bundle looks pretty robust.
Mar 14, 2008 09:36 pm J-bot, I use all ESI stuff here on PCI and love it. dB uses a Juli@ as well. IT is so much more stable then anything I've used before and is very capable of doing the job well.
And on the Paradigm thing. I use the M 3's older cousin which is a little bigger I guess as well. They are called mini Mk3, and there is nothing mini about them. I power them with a customized Yamaha rig pushing around 800 watts and absolutely love them. In fact I like them more then the full sized 3 way Klipsh the boyz have in their game room. They are an absolute good investment so save the dosh for em.
Mar 14, 2008 10:08 pm Well, Julia should be here within the next week, and when she does, I'll be sure to give her a thorough breaking in :D
The local Sound Ideas shop here in g'ville deals in paradigms, or at least they did when I was looking around, and I think the speakers I demo'd might have been the mini-monitors. Don't think they were the mk 3's though. I think they were going for about 400/pair maybe a tad higher at the time. That was almost 2 years ago though.
Seems there aren't a lot of online retailers that deal with them though. At least none of my usual haunts. Froogle doesn't turn up much either, hmmm. Anyways, still need to save up hehe :)
That, and I may be moving out in about a year, so saving up for that takes priority. Planning on tagging along after my girlfriend when she finds a univ. to pursue her post-doc at. I'll probably continue learning stuff from our network admin so I can have a good chance of getting into an IT position of some sort. Eh, but that's neither here nor there, so I'll digress.
Mmmm, speaker stands and a new card. "Happy happy joy joy."
Mar 14, 2008 10:56 pm Ya, they are a Canadian Co. that makes them so they are not easily found in the US.
I found one liquidator but not sure of their caliber or rating.
www.audiophileliquidator....CFQqjPAod_TN0AQ
They do have a dealer locater on their website.
www.paradigm.com/en/paradigm/news/
I'm actually thinking of finally switching from my old school stereo set up to a surround set up using Paradigm.
Mar 14, 2008 11:36 pm No worries Noize. I'm pretty sure the local dealer still touts Paradigm :)
Mar 16, 2008 04:02 am <b>Quote:<b><i>That, and I may be moving out in about a year, so saving up for that takes priority. Planning on tagging along after my girlfriend when she finds a univ. to pursue her post-doc at. I'll probably continue learning stuff from our network admin so I can have a good chance of getting into an IT position of some sort. Eh, but that's neither here nor there, so I'll digress.</b></i>
Kinda a bit of info about life,eh? Lol.
I'm just "Joshin" ya. I wish I GOT a return. :(
Mar 16, 2008 04:03 am ....i suck at life.... or just Html.
Mar 16, 2008 02:52 pm Ya, the only place I can get them new here in MN is through one of the most expensive dealers in the state. I'll probably go there to listen and then order them elsewhere.
Mar 17, 2008 10:36 pm Doh, soundcard is on backorder. Mmmm how's that saying go.... all things come to he who waits? :P
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