Digi001, Luna II, Hammerfall, Delta 10/10 or Layla?

N

nandaiyo

Guest
Would someone give me an honest opinion on which card best suites what I want to do? :)

WHAT I WANT TO DO: Produce melodic trance music and film scores. I want to sequence and record on my PC or Mac, though Mac is preferred.

EQUIPMENT:
- Kurzweil 2600XS, with sampling option & optical in/outs, 128mb RAM.
- G4/400MHz Mac running OS 9.2
- P3 450MHz PC running Windows 2000
- Propellerheads Reason
- Cubase 5 VST/32

CARDS I'M CONSIDERING:
- DigiDesign Digi001 w/Pro Tools LE ($799)
- M-Audio Delta 10/10 ($599)
- RME Hammerfall Project ($599)
- Echo Layla



:o Right now I am leaning on the Digi001. does the Digi001 work well with Reason, Cubase, and external devices like my Kurzweil? Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
you got a kurzweil 2600xs?? I'm so jealous!! :)

I have only had experience with the echo layla and I can say I had absolutely no problems with it (well actually one, but that was really because of my 2nd sound card which wanted 3 IRQs)

I'm not really a cubase user, but I did try it out with my Layla and it worked fine... I had problems with cubase, hehe- but the layla worked great with it.
I demo reason with it too, and that worked great too.

as for the other cards though, I don't know. I've mostly heard great things about them.
 
they all are good cards. the delta1010 over all is the best deal being that itis only $450. another card that has qreat quality is the Staudio C-port and System III, they don't cost much either.

out of you list:
1.RME
2.Delta1010
3.Digi001(if you use the mac more)

i'd also look into Motu.... they are some great cards
 
thanks funkifize, LiL j, :)

I do love my Kurzweil! But without a good sound card/interface, I can't do as much with it as I'd like. Grrrr....:mad:

Just wondering,... with all these cards,can they all handle VSTs and Reason with low latency and Hard Drive recording fairly well? In the end, it seems like any of these cards will perform decently.

man, sometimes I wish I had a seven-digit bank balance. Then these choices wouldn't be so hard! It'd be ProTools all the way! LOL......
 
nandaiyo said:
thanks funkifize, LiL j, :)

Just wondering,... with all these cards,can they all handle VSTs and Reason with low latency and Hard Drive recording fairly well? In the end, it seems like any of these cards will perform decently.

i think the rme has the best latency out of any other card... like 2 or 3ms at 24/96. second would be the staudio c-port at 5-7ms at 24/96 then the delta1010. they all handle vsts well so that won't be the problem, just make sure your DAW can handle all the vst's

i use pc's in my studio, if you use the pIII get yourself 512mb of ram, a maxtor or western digital 40+gig 7200rpm hd... if your gonna use the MAC there is only one drive i'd rcommend but they will cost you...GLYPH.
 
I have a digi001 on the mac platform and it rocks. Other's may claim to have a better solution, but I'm not listening. I've had nothing but smooth sailing. The preamps that are built in are nice too...though I prefer an external tube amp. The card give's excellent results, and Pro Tools in the bomb.

It's a complete, rock-solid solution, that always works. Pro Tools produces the best mp3s I've ever heard. Many people know that IDG Frahnhoffer Institute developed and invented the mp3. The Frahnhoffer mp3 export is awesome and allows you to produce incredibly small mp3s and still maintain high-quality.

This feature is especially important for me since I export a bunch of mp3s.
 
Well, I've decided on the Echo Layla after doing some research. Here were my Pros & Cons for each card - for those of you that own the cards I'm not getting, no offense is intended! Different cards for different needs :) And hearsay/reputation only goes so far - check out the cards yourself to find the best one:

DIGI 001
I got their free DVD product demo in the mail and watched it. Not bad, but not incredibly impressive either. Basically they were comparing the features of Pro Tools LE & the Digi 001 to analog tape mixing/editing/recording so yeah, it's going to look much better. By the way, really nice job with the free DVD. It was pretty entertaining and informative. I know eventually I'd like to move to Pro Tools TDM as I move away from MIDI and more towards audio. But that's way in the future.

Pros: I really like the Pro Tools software for its audio recording and editing capabilities. The breakout box has all the inputs and outputs I need. Really diverse range, from optical to XLR to SP/DIF. Phantom pre-amps and gain controls are a nice bonus. No power adapter needed for the breakout box, just connect it with your PCI card and you're set!

Cons: MIDI sequencing in Pro Tools is not as powerful and feature-full as Cubase. Pro Tools LE cannot work with Re-Wire for my Reason software (and that's a big problem!) On a small and fickle note, the breakout box design isn't as elegant looking as some other rackmount units.

Luna II
Couldn't find anything on this card anywhere other than www.creamware.com.

Pros: Looks like a decent DSP-laden card at a great value

Cons: Can't find it anywhere in the US. not at Guitar Center, not at zzsounds.com, or any other online retailer. I'd prefer an audio solution that has strong US support and MAC driver solutions. If I can't even find a place to buy the darn product, then forget it! :)

RME Hammerfall Project 96/52
These guys seem to have the best reputation for low latency. They do suffer a bit from small US support, but at least I can find their products for sale!

Pros: Low Latency for softsynths, great digital recording abilities. Crazy Optical ports. Good price.

Cons: Not that much support for analog recordings without purchasing additional hardware (AES card). No analogue outputs, so I can't hook up headphones or speakers.

Midiman Delta 10/10
I've heard only great things about this card. From ease of use to installation to reliability, it's got a good reputation. This is my second choice if the echo layla fails me!

Pros: Low latency, great compatability with programs. user-friednly interface.

Cons: no optical ins/outs.

MOTU 828 Firewire
Promises to do it all - through firewire!

Pros: Firewire seems like a nice protocol.

Cons: Report after report of unrealiable pops/cracks in sound, problems recording, problems with Cubase, etc. Sound quality reportedly not as good as these other cards.

Echo Layla24
Corny, I know, but what attracted me first to the Layla24 was the design of the breakout box and its elegance. I've only heard good things about the Layla24 from several message boards and forums, and the mean clerk at my local guitar center gave it his approval.

Pros: Has everything I need, works well with Cubase. Analog & digital & optical ins/outs. Has great reputation for sound quality.

Cons: No pre-amp. No XLR inputs like the Digi 001.



Bottom line, as someone else has said earlier,....you can't lose with any of these cards. It just comes down to what features you need.

Hope this helps! :)
 
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Pro Tools

I've been working with Pro Tools DIGI001 for the last couple months, and I'm very impressed. The editor is extremely powerful for audio (I don't use midi so I really don't care about it's midi capabillities). The new version of Pro Tools LE comes with video integration, so if your interested in doing movie scores, then your set. There are a lot of great features, the learning curve isn't steep for getting started, but the advanced features take a while to utillize effectively.

The only problem I have with it, is that it doesn't come equiped with many effects for sound editing...the compressors and whatnot, are great, but there aren't any reverbs/phasers, fun stuff like that. In order to get those you have to pop big $$$ for the plug-ins. However, the new DIGI 001's come with the D-FX/D-VERB which is a powerful reverb generator, plus 15-day trials of a lot of their top plug-ins (all of which are studio quality). I just use an external program, like Cool Edit Pro, to apply effects to wave forms once I've already recorded them. There is also considerably more 3rd party-plugins available for the MAC version than there is for the PC.


Peace

Asymmetry
---------------
Producer
Soundbombing/Bagga Productions
Seattle, WA
 
the only bad thing about that is you only have 24tracks... if you hook up the digi001 with logic i think you have more.:cheers:
 
Make sure the hardware you want works well with the software you want to use. Not all hardware has drivers for all software -- especially on the Mac or with regard to the new WDM drivers (Win98SE and above). For instance, while Cubase ASIO drivers seem to be available for the Digi 001 on the Mac -- it's impossible to tell from the Steinberg site whether they're available for the PC -- although it's not listed on the "no support" page. (The Cubase ASIO support page hasn't been updated since June.) But the DIgidesign page indicates ASIO support only for the Mac.
 
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