Audiophile USB

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:20 pm

Anybody have an experience with this? I'm looking into getting some new recording equipment and I'm interested in this one.

Brock · Unread post by **Brock** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:37 pm

Got it, it's nice.

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:09 pm

TrippnBill686 wrote:Got it, it's nice.

Excellent, but I'm looking for a little more info, namely:

1) Does it put the song directly on the computer as a file? What type of file?

2) It is a soundcard right? So I'm assuming that it doesn't use your computer soundcard at all because that is what I don't want to happen.

3) It comes with some type of software. Is this the software you use to do the actual recording?

Basically I'm just looking for info on it's applications (what it can be used for), I don't want to end up getting this and then either a) have no idea how to use it, b) not be able to use it for what I want or c) have it not be compatible with my computer.

Thanks a lot b-rock

Brock · Unread post by **Brock** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:25 pm

2) No, it is not a sound card. It is an audio capture device. It doesn't use your computer's sound card, though.
3) It comes with Reason LE and Delta Live. Reason is cool but you will probably never use it unless you're into electronic loops. I've never used Delta Live (it didn't come with it when I bought mine), so I don't know about that. As far as I know, it does not come with standard audio manipulation software (like CEP). You will need software like this. I use CEP, you can also get Audacity for free. So, this leads back to question 1
1) The Audiophile is a capture device to be used by a program on your computer such as CEP or Audacity. You can choose what bitrate to record at, and then save in whatever format you wish depending on what program you use.

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:30 pm

TrippnBill686 wrote:2) No, it is not a sound card. It is an audio capture device. It doesn't use your computer's sound card, though.
3) It comes with Reason LE and Delta Live. Reason is cool but you will probably never use it unless you're into electronic loops. I've never used Delta Live (it didn't come with it when I bought mine), so I don't know about that. As far as I know, it does not come with standard audio manipulation software (like CEP). You will need software like this. I use CEP, you can also get Audacity for free. So, this leads back to question 1
1) The Audiophile is a capture device to be used by a program on your computer such as CEP or Audacity. You can choose what bitrate to record at, and then save in whatever format you wish depending on what program you use.

i'm assuming acid pro 4.0 would work right?

Brock · Unread post by **Brock** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:32 pm

That's the loop one right? I don't think so, but I haven't used it in forever. Basically, you just need an ASIO or MME-compatible sound program. Sound Forge would work, I think that's by acid

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:32 pm

TrippnBill686 wrote:That's the loop one right? I don't think so, but I haven't used it in forever. Basically, you just need an ASIO or MME-compatible sound program. Sound Forge would work, I think that's by acid

are you saying that basically you need a program that has a record function?

MWR · Unread post by **MWR** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:35 pm

Audio interfaces, either USB, Firewire, or PCI based are all designed to get the audio directly into a recording program like Cubase, Logic, ProTools, Digital Perormer, Cakewalk, the list goes on and on. Any of them will work with it. It gives you so much more control than those "Studio in a Box" recorders. For instance I have an Zoom MRS-4 which is a really simple 4 track digi recorder that records to smart media cards. So I have to use a USB card reader to get the files onto the computer than I have to use the propietary software (that only runs in OS 9 on a mac) to export the audio then I can use those AIFFs in Cubase. Obviously not steamlined at all.

The bottom line is if you need portability. If your working with a laptop and intend to move around a lot than a USB or Firewire interface is the way to go.
That being said, if you have desktop and don't need portability a high quality soundcard and/or a nice mic preamp would give you several advantages.
The first is latency issues. If your overdubbing while listening to several other tracks a USB interface will have a hard time processing the audio fast enough and there will be noticable lag. A PCI based sound card has almost zero latency because a) PCI has way more bandwith and b) it usually has an onboard DSP chip for processing the signal and adding effect. The USB interface will have this too but it still has to deal with the relatively limited speed of USB. Firewire interfaces solve this but at a price, I have yet to see one for less than $400.

If your looking for an all-in-one solution for a desktop M-audio makes what's called an omni studio: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/O ... -main.html
You'll get the the PCI card that goes into the computer obviously and then you have whats called a "breakout box" which has all your inputs i.e. two XLR inputs with nuetrik preamps and phantom power, 1/4" balanced and unbalanced, and everything else.
This is more or less the route I plan to go.

dmbguitar718 · Unread post by **dmbguitar718** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:59 pm

MWR wrote:The first is latency issues. If your overdubbing while listening to several other tracks a USB interface will have a hard time processing the audio fast enough and there will be noticable lag. A PCI based sound card has almost zero latency because a) PCI has way more bandwith and b) it usually has an onboard DSP chip for processing the signal and adding effect. The USB interface will have this too but it still has to deal with the relatively limited speed of USB. Firewire interfaces solve this but at a price, I have yet to see one for less than $400.

I was talking to the guy that has the studio for a while on the phone yesterday, and he was explaining this to me. I thought that Firewire made it alot better, but you would still have to move the track?

MWR · Unread post by **MWR** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:16 pm

I'm not really sure what your asking.

If your gonna be working with more than two tracks w/ effects USB probably won't cut it. Firewire should be enough for several tracks but the issue of latency is still there. With the advent of FW800 and USB2 it's even less of an issue but I have yet to see any interfaces that utilize them.

Keep in mind I'm talking about simultaneously playing back multiple tracks while recording another one. Yes your only recording one track but when the cpu is bogged down with a bunch of tracks during playback the signal that your monitoring will certainly be affected.

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:39 pm

MWR wrote:Audio interfaces, either USB, Firewire, or PCI based are all designed to get the audio directly into a recording program like Cubase, Logic, ProTools, Digital Perormer, Cakewalk, the list goes on and on. Any of them will work with it. It gives you so much more control than those "Studio in a Box" recorders. For instance I have an Zoom MRS-4 which is a really simple 4 track digi recorder that records to smart media cards. So I have to use a USB card reader to get the files onto the computer than I have to use the propietary software (that only runs in OS 9 on a mac) to export the audio then I can use those AIFFs in Cubase. Obviously not steamlined at all.

The bottom line is if you need portability. If your working with a laptop and intend to move around a lot than a USB or Firewire interface is the way to go.
That being said, if you have desktop and don't need portability a high quality soundcard and/or a nice mic preamp would give you several advantages.
The first is latency issues. If your overdubbing while listening to several other tracks a USB interface will have a hard time processing the audio fast enough and there will be noticable lag. A PCI based sound card has almost zero latency because a) PCI has way more bandwith and b) it usually has an onboard DSP chip for processing the signal and adding effect. The USB interface will have this too but it still has to deal with the relatively limited speed of USB. Firewire interfaces solve this but at a price, I have yet to see one for less than $400.

If your looking for an all-in-one solution for a desktop M-audio makes what's called an omni studio: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/O ... -main.html
You'll get the the PCI card that goes into the computer obviously and then you have whats called a "breakout box" which has all your inputs i.e. two XLR inputs with nuetrik preamps and phantom power, 1/4" balanced and unbalanced, and everything else.
This is more or less the route I plan to go.

but dont you have to have PCI interfaces installed into your computer

and that omni-studio doesn't have any RCA ins or outs, so it doesn't have everything :wink:

MWR · Unread post by **MWR** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:11 pm

Any newer desktop should have at least one free PCI slot. It's incredibly easy to install too. Just install the driver, turn it off, unplug it, open the case up, pop it in, close it, turn it on.

It does have RCA's on the card but they're called S/PDIF to make it sound more technical.

I win.

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:13 pm

MWR wrote:Any newer desktop should have at least one free PCI slot. It's incredibly easy to install too. Just install the driver, turn it off, unplug it, open the case up, pop it in, close it, turn it on.

It does have RCA's on the card but they're called S/PDIF to make it sound more technical.

I win.

i thought SPDIF was something totally different, at least it is on my fostex

MWR · Unread post by **MWR** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:20 pm

You're right. It accepts S/PDIF signals through a standard RCA jack. Doesn't really matter though cause you can just use the 1/4" outs for monitoring or go through the computer. It's kinda like saying a Ferrari doesn't have cup holders although it might and compared to real studio equipment this isn't really a Ferrari but you get my point...

S/PDIF is more versatile anyway.

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:23 pm

MWR wrote:You're right. It accepts S/PDIF signals through a standard RCA jack. Doesn't really matter though cause you can just use the 1/4" outs for monitoring or go through the computer. It's kinda like saying a Ferrari doesn't have cup holders although it might and compared to real studio equipment this isn't really a Ferrari but you get my point...

S/PDIF is more versatile anyway.

I talked to brock and he said that the latency really isn't an issue. Will be a problem if i have a dozen tracks though?

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