Best PCI card under £100?

[Lee_B]

I just built a new PC for myself (Athlon 3700, 2GB RAM, ASUS A8V-MX, etc, etc). I have a laptop for recording if I need it with a decent USB box, but I figured I may as well get a half decent soundcard for the PC just in case. I have an old Audigy 2 knocking about but there's issues with using that with the new motherboard apparently.

So.. What's the best out of these in your opinion?

M-Audio Audiophile 192
Terratec Phase 28
Emu 1212M

Lee

 

[metalkingdom]

So.. What's the best out of these in your opinion?

M-Audio Audiophile 192
Terratec Phase 28
Emu 1212M

Lee

1212m by a mile. Same exact converters as Pro Tools HD. You'll be more than satisfied with it. You'll just have to get the Patchmix and ASIO thing down at first.

 

[kev]

a 2nd hand 1010lt

 

[Carrier Flux]

audiophile 192. I dunno about their convertors though, metalking's advice might be preferred.

 

[Mutant]

1212m by a mile. Same exact converters as Pro Tools HD. You'll be more than satisfied with it. You'll just have to get the Patchmix and ASIO thing down at first.

Another vote for 1212M - with 1.82 drivers installed it's absolutely fantastic !

 

[chadsxe]

It is a give an take with options. How many I/O's do you need? The EMU stuff is great bang for the buck but even to this day there are still so many reported issues with the drivers. The M-audio stuff is also great bang for the buck and there drivers are rock solid.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

1212M without a doubt.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

1212m by a mile. Same exact converters as Pro Tools HD. You'll be more than satisfied with it. You'll just have to get the Patchmix and ASIO thing down at first.

For sure plan on spending a lot of time learning Patchmix, it's pretty confusing IMO...

 

[metalkingdom]

I learned it in about an hour. Never had any driver issues, either.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

What's Patchmix precious?

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

What's Patchmix precious?

It's a mixer program that goes between your hardware (1212m) and your DAW. Say you're using Nuendo, you've got your VST inputs and outputs which you've got to match with your Patchmix inputs and outputs which you've got to match with your hardware inputs and outputs. If all you are doing is recording or playing back then it's not really a problem, but if you're doing something a little more complex, like reamping, it can get pretty damn confusing...The good thing is that you can save your sessions so once you get it right you don't have to worry about it again.

 

[Mutant]

For sure plan on spending a lot of time learning Patchmix, it's pretty confusing IMO...

1 Hour was enough for me.

First i tried to master it without reading the manual - confusion and horror.

 

[metalkingdom]

First i tried to master it without reading the manual - confusion and horror.

LOL!!! Me too!!! Ain't gonna happen.

 

[Mutant]

LOL!!! Me too!!! Ain't gonna happen.

Yeah then i finally cracked and RTFM and everything was clear in few minutes.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Seriously!! Glad I'm not the only one who felt retarded for a little bit there.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

Patchmix can be confusing at first. I remember while I was learning it I nearly blew my fucking head off 3 times because I would accidentally route signal directly to cranked monitors with no attenuation. Grrr.

It's a brilliant piece of software, IMO. There is so much you can do with it. The onboard FX are cheezy at best, but at least they can provide the necessary "vibe" when tracking certain things with zero CPU expense.

For $160 new it's a ridiculous value and they sound incredible. The adda's are *very* good.

 

[Carrier Flux]

does the emu 1212m offer digital loopback capability? in other words routing the output of one piece of software to the input of another digitally, without d/a a/d redundant conversion.

 

[Mutant]

does the emu 1212m offer digital loopback capability? in other words routing the output of one piece of software to the input of another digitally, without d/a a/d redundant conversion.

Yes it does and much more.

 

[chadsxe]

does the emu 1212m offer digital loopback capability? in other words routing the output of one piece of software to the input of another digitally, without d/a a/d redundant conversion.

That has more to do with your hosting software then anything.

 

[Carrier Flux]

That has more to do with your hosting software then anything.

right but let's say you want to grab a movie sample out of windows media player into soundforge. you can't do this digitally unless your soundcard's software offers digital loopback. my Echo MIA does not.