I'm not sure if you have looked into them, but there is a company called "Lynx Studio Technology" that do PCI AD/DA converters. I have their LynxTWO-C card, it has two DA converters and 6 AD converters, but they also make one(LynxTWO-B) with 4 of each, so buying two of them would give you 8 AD and 8 DA. Another option would be the Apogee rosetta 800(rackmount). I went for the LynxTWO-C because it was the cheapest way to get at least two high quality AD converters without having to pay for shit pres as well. I'm not sure if apogee make a PCI card-only converter, but none of the converters I mentioned come with pres (which I prefer) -echoheadache

Thanks for the advice I will look into these. I am fairly new to looking at AD Convertors so trying to get my head around connectivity..i noticed that some come with an interface and others without.... what products should I be looking at to connect the converters that do not feature an interface?
cheers,
spiro

The lynxTWO range are only a PCI card, and it comes with a cable that has like a serial port looking connector to go into the back of the PC and 8 XLR leads on the other side. I just have mic>pre>AD converter. because the converter cards acts like an audio interface there are no other steps. but if you wanted to still use a digi/moto/etc interface and just the converters of this, then im not sure. If thats the case then go for the Apogee rosetta 800, so you can go mic>pre>AD converter>interface, with the signal between the converter and the interface being a digital one. What is your current audio interface? because I use my lynxTWO converter AS my interface.

great thanks for clearing that up. i currently i have 2 interfaces at my disposal... a Presonus Firepod (for my laptop) and an M-Audio 1010LT (for desktop) ...would have thought both may be mediocre. have you used either of these?... i would love to know the quality increase would be by replacing them with a hi quality converter.

I have used cheap M-audio stuff years ago, nearly bought a delta 1010 rackmount interface a while back. Regarding the upgrade to lynxTWO, I wouldn't call the difference night and day, but it really begins to come into play when you start recording, (convert to digital) then decide to use say an outboard compressor (digital to analog, compress, analog back to digital), etc etc. Its like many things audio, not single differences, rather the collective digital artifacts begin to detract from the organic nature of music, just sounds thin and cheap. If your not happy with your sound, theres probably other improvements to be made with the money, like better acoustic treatment, better mics and cables, better monitors. I decided to record the music as true to analog as possible, and for me this meant quality AD/DA conversion. Oh yeah, having quality AD conversion helps monitoring too, and makes listening to music CD's much clearer and accurate. Just info, the descision is up to you.

I upgraded my M-Audio Delta 66, (Which I understand is very close to the 1010, jsut not as many converters) and I WOULD say it was a night and day difference.

The other points are very important too: room, mics, but I did get a large leap in quality when I got my LynxTWO A (I have a second one too.

BTW, the LynxTWO PCI models go: TWO A= 4 ins and outs, TWO B = 2 ins and 6 outs, TWO C 6 ins and 2 outs

The top end model is the Auroroa, which many are replacing their 182 cards on their PT HD systems with

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.lynxstud…"]Lynx Studio Technology, Inc.[/]="http://www.lynxstud…"]Lynx Studio Technology, Inc.[/]

I did think it was a big upgrade from M-Audio