Re: [ARSCLIST] sound card for 96khz 24bit

["Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, Dan,

Welcome to ARSC List and thanks for your comments. I use two RME 
Multifaces with PCI hosts for my audio transfer business. The new 
version is great as you can select +4/-10 without opening up the box 
(wish mine did that, but I've got 4 Aphex 124A IHF interfaces that work fine).

Personally, I think the RME offers great value for money and has been 
quite stable.

There are some points to consider:

How does the sound card connect to the computer?

There are several options:
-Internal PCI card with onboard converters (Digital Audio Labs 
CardDeluxe-I don't have one, but
          others on this list like these)
-Internal PCI/Cardbus card with external converter box (RME Multiface)
-IEEE 1394 (FireWire) with external box (MOTU 828 MK II is my example 
of this--bought
           for use with my laptop--I didn't want to pull the RMEs 
and I didn't want to spend
           1/3 of the price of the MOTU for the CardBus adapter, and 
I could really use
           the two extra inputs, especially with mic preamps)
-USB 2.0 with external box (I don't have one to recommend, but the 
MOTU 828 MKII
           may now be available in this configuration.

I would buy a third MultiFace if I was seriously considering 24 
tracks (which I'm not, don't worry, Steve <smile>).

If I were buying new, I think I would only consider 
industry-standard, serial interfaces like 1394 and USB 2.0. 1394 has 
been the industry choice for a while.

If budget is important, I don't think you can go far wrong with the 
DAL CardDeluxe. But how long will PCI be around? Yes, we all thought 
ISA would be around for a while and it cratered pretty quickly. 
Anyone want a Zefiro Acoustics ZA-2 digital audio ISA card? It's a 
nice card. No converters.

How many channels do you want/need? If you have an 8-channel box, 
there are many options open to you, including ingesting multiple 
programs at once (yes, the converters are that isolated). I wouldn't 
do this with high-quality music,  but I would with oral histories.

Is the Digi Box a Mac box? If so, I don't know if there are Mac 
drivers for all of the above.

Another useful resources is 
http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm

Cheers,

Richard

Tape Restoration Seminar:    MAY 9-12, 2006; details at Web site.
Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm