Many questions - Finding new soundcard

[pierre]

I run Cubase VST 5 on a Pentium III 550 128MB RAM and Windows 2000.

The soundcard I have (Soundblaster PCI64) came with my PC and it's not very good for audio work. So I am trying to lower my 46ms latency.

My Yamaha CS1x synth and everything else is connected to my 4 channel analog mixer (Behringer MX 602A)

My criteria for a new card is the following:
- Windows 2000 must be supported
- ASIO 2.0 drivers
- Good quality
- High number of inputs not necessary

Questions:
1- Would it be better to choose a soundcard with MIDI I/O or could I just use my old soundcard for that?
2- Some cards come with digital I/O only (RME Digi96/8). Would this work with my system or do I need some analog inputs?
3- Besides the following cards, what else should I consider?
- RME Digi 96/8
- RME Digi 96/8 Pst
- M Audio Delta 44
- M Audio Delta 66
- Terratec EWS 88D

 

[pierre]

Found answers

Ok, after much reading, I found an answer to all my questions in a magazine... "Music Technology Buyer's Guide Gear 2001" (from the publishers of EQ and Keyboard magazines). I am posting this in hope that it will help some of you out there with the same questions.

Among a multitude of articles in this mag about what you should look for in buying mixers, synths, samplers, digital multitrack recorders, etc., there is a great article about audio interfaces explaining why someone would need a digital versus analog input/output, 24- versus 16-bit resolution, balanced versus unbalanced analog inputs, 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz sampling rates, full-duplex versus half, +4 versus -10 dbVU signal level, and of course ASIO, DirectX, MME Windows drivers.

I also downloaded the pdf of each soundcard manual I was considering to buy from each manufacturer's web site and read them to see if they will work for me. I found a comprehensive list of soundcards with lots of details at audiomidi.com under "hardware, audio interfaces". This really helped choosing a card!

I am still unsure about using one soundcard for MIDI and the other for digital and analog audio. I will have to try and see.

 

[ade]

did u look at midiman? try http://www.midiman.com they have a very good audio midi card thats about $200 the audiophile 24/96 i am going to get one when i get enough money

 

[paco]

If you are a serious musician, then you know that quality is of most importance. Use a professional sound card. Most of them have optical, midi, rca, and 1/4" (6.5 mm)connectors. This way you are not converting from your usual connector to 1/8" (3 mm) connector.

The lowest priced one I have seen incorporates 8 inputs and 4 outputs. All are 1/4" connectors. If you're looking for midi and rca the price is usually more expensive.

Midman (M-audio), Ensonique, and Guillemot are just a few. Here are two of there links (I don't know Ensonique's).

http://www.midiman.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MMA&Category_Code=ma_cards

http://us.guillemot.com/products/isis/index.php3

They are more expensive than you're average consumer brand, but the sound quality cannot be beat by even the best consumer card out there.

 

[pierre]

I have chosen the RME Digi 96/8 PST because it apparently has a very good converter with balanced inputs, quality of the card also looks impressive. It also has digital I/O (including TOSLINK and S/PDIF). The RME guys are dedicated to programming drivers for all sorts of operating systems (Windows 2000, Linux, Mac, etc.) right from the start. Their card also support additional expansion boards for balanced analog I/O. The Full-duplex works in two separate circuits which allows record and playback at different sample rates simultaneously, etc.

Anyway, even with all the above I will still have to use my SoundBlaster card for MIDI. Does anyone have a similar system? Does it work ok?

P.S. I did consider the Audiophile 24/96, yes indeed a nice card. I might still get it in the future and replace the SoundBlaster with it.