From what I have heard it's a great piece to use...also from what I see on other forums and from word of mouth is that the drivers can be a bit didgy at times...I'm sure it's system to system though and YMMV(Your Mileage May Vary...for James! )
Opus

TYSMO (Thank You So Much Opus)
EKIAAIWICTA (Everyone Knows I Am An Idiot When It Comes To Acronyms)

Here is a new one to use on this forum from now on:

UNA = "Use No Acronyms" !!!! :)

OK...back on topic!

The Q10 works great with Cubase SX from what I've heard, but as Gary (Opus) mentions above, they have a reputation of having driver problems. The reviews on their mic pres were pretty positive, but once again, the total overall experience is not as good as it could be...

All this, once again, from other forums that I hang out in, NFMPE (not from my personal experience), (ROFL!).

Have you looked at some of the Echo products?

http://

The Layla is similar, it just has line inputs rather than XLR mic pres. I have also heard good things about the Gina, but it only has 4 inputs, but great ones!

All of the Echo stuff sounds really good, and their drivers are pretty reliable!

Good luck, and DTAWN

("Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels") Hehe..

What I can add is Aardvark has a stellar reputation in regards to their digital clocking. IMO this is one of the most important things to consider when buying a digital converter. Good clocks make everything better... if it works good with Cubase I'd say go for it. I would think the Q10 would be vastly superior to any of the ECHO products. Nathaniel Kunkel (James Taylor) uses Aardvark clocks and converters for his PT system ..... Fats

I would think the Q10 would be vastly superior to any of the ECHO products

Actually Fats, that is not necessarily true, unless you just referring to the clock. I respect your opinions greatly, but kind of disagree with your statement. I agree that Aardvark has a great reputation for their clocks, but they have obviously put one of their lower-end models in the Q10, still I would agree that the clocks are probably superior (vastly???) to the Echo products. However in other areas, I would think that the Echo products are at *least* as good as the Aardvark Q10. The A/D converters in the Echo Layla and Mona have always got great reviews for thier price range. They obviously can't compare to the Apogee or Lucid stuff, but imho, sound superior to anything in their class. The Q10's mic pres have got good reviews, but then again so have the Monas, and of course most people will agree that Echo has the Q10 beat *hands down* when it comes to software drivers.

Let's also look at the economics of the situation a bit here:

The Q10 and the Echo Layla and Echo Mona are all three of a very similar price point.

The Layla has 8 channels, but no mic pres

The Mona has 4 channels, with 4 mic pres

and the Q10 has 8 channels, all 8 with mic pres.

It sounds like the Q10 is the deal of the century, and it may very well be, but they certainly cannot manufacture a product and *lose* money, so in order to make a profit, something has to give...my understanding is that the Echo products always have used superior components, and their quality stands for itself. They have been a market leader in this area for a long time for good reason. That is not to say that Aardvark does not use quality components, I have just read reviews where they purposely point out the quality of the construction and components in the Echo stuff.

The old adage (one of my favs) says "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is..."

and of course:

"You get what you pay for..."

Now I am not trying to put down the Q10, far from it, but I am just voicing my opinion on the comment that they Q10 was "vastly superior" to the Echo products...here I have to disagree.

They are *both* good products, and are made by reputible companies, and I'm sure both will give you great performance. The Q10 sure looks appealing "on paper" when you look at the features for the price...I was tempted myself a little over a year ago, but after a bit of research, decided on the Echo Layla/24, and I have never been sorry. I added a nice set of mic pres, and voila! Instant killer setup!

Bottom line, give them both a look and a listen, and then make your decision!

Good luck!

DH,
I figured I would get a rise out you on this! :D But really, I think the clock issue is the main real difference in lower end converters. The less jitter the better the conversion sounds. I have a friend who had a 20 bit Layla and he loved it! As far as the drivers go I agree with you better drivers are a plus but if it works good with Cubase then that's all I need….And good clocking makes anything else that is hooked up to your system via digital sound better. You should hear a 16 bit ADAT synced to Apogee clock.
…… Fats

Yeah Fats, I have often wondered what a really good external clock would do for my system...Pretty pricy to get one of the good ones though, and I'd really need to be convinced that I would notice a *huge* difference before spending that kind of cash. I think Opus could get us a good deal though, right Gary??? hehe...

External high quality clocking can have quite an impact on a digital system. But depending on the digital system, even lower end ones, adding a top quality clock make very little difference.

However, I would disagree that clocking issues are the real difference in lower end converters. The are many differences between lower end converters and high end ones but the most obvious is the filters employed.

Greg

Greg,
Thanks for the info... what I was referring to was an experience I had with ADATS and how I heard a marked improvement of an ADAT system when it was clocked by a Yamaha O2R...it was very surprising how much better they sounded. When an Apogee Rosetta was used to clock the ADATS and the 02R things got really good! ......... Fats

Hi Fats,

Yep, the ADATs had notoriously poor clocking. They were also often a nightmare to get sync'ed up with other equipment. The ADC's were also a pile of .... Been around for a long time though.

Generally speaking, the more bits of equipment in the digital chain, the greater the impact of adding an external clock.

Note of caution, ignore manufacturer's jitter specs, they're not worth the paper they're printed on.

Greg

Greg,
Yeah, ADATS suck! Always did, always will...Hiigh quality clocking will however make a even cheap converter sound better. The difference in stereo image and depth is remarkable, even with cheeso filters. Fats

<< Hiigh quality clocking will however make a even cheap converter sound better. The difference in stereo image and depth is remarkable, even with cheeso filters. >>

It's difficult to argue with this because it's easy to plug in a quality external clock and listen to the difference but it's not possible to A/B test an ADC with different filters. IMHO though, if it were possible, you would be even more blown away by using high quality filters than you are by adding a high quality clock.

Greg

Greg,
Sure, you are correct...but high quality converters are very expensive and I seriously doubt that anyone looking for this type of solution (The Q10) is interested in $1000 per channel, especially when converter technology is changing overnight. I submit that dollar for dollar quality clocking is a more effecient way to yeild an improvement in sound quality. I am speaking directly about Aardvark products, and I was mentioning their reputation for exemplary clocking. The Q10 also has excellent facility for sending and receiving clock signals. I wish the Dakota card I have had as good of a clock interface as the Q10. Personally I don't like box's that have converters and pre amps packaged together. That's why I chose to go with the Frontier card but for some, an all in one solution is the way to go. If that's the case, I think because of the clock, the Q10 may be the best of the bunch if you ignore the driver issues. Just make sure you other components will run well with the Aardvark and you should be fine. ........ Fats (edited once)

Hi,

I work for Aardvark, handling West Coast Sales. This is an interesting discussion so I thought Id drop a couple of points in.

Yes, clocking IS important in any piece of digital audio gear. We use the same clocking technology in our Q10 that is in the famous AardSync II. I say "same technology" because it is based on the same digital jitter-shaping technology which was invented by our CEO Igor Levin. This technology goes into every Aardvark audio card, and is the basis for which the A/D and D/A converters base their timing.

How is this important? Very simply put...the more accurate the converters are in timing, the more accurate they capture and reproduce the audio. Innacurate clocking (jitter) leads to reduced stereo imagery and increased "digital harsness" (someone mentioned ADATs?) as well as lack of clarity in highs and low frequencies.

The AardSync II solved all of that and help make Pro Tools hardware bearable for use in the late 90s. So... it was a no-brainer to utilize our clocking technology in our audio cards. They really do sound fantastic. No other audio card manufacturer has anywhere close to the clocking technology available...so they are at a disadvantage right from the start.

The Q10 has 8 Class A, discrete mic preamps as well, which are very transparent and perfect for digital recording. These in combination with our low-jitter clock and shielded PCI card allow you to make professional-quality recordings to Cubase, Nuendo or Sonar... on the PC and soon to be Mac as well.

Drivers are constantly being upgraded and revised. Our current XP drivers are very stable and included ASIO2 and our proprietary A|WDM for Sonar. Look for a new driver to come out shortly which will add GSIF for XP as well.

OK. Nuff said. I didnt come to this forum to promote Aardvark, but really to just hang out and discuss audio.... but Im proud of this company and the many innovations that we have introduced to the digital audio world... so Im here and also available by email too.

Oh... someone mentioned the Q10 "cutting costs"... Nothing could be further from the truth.

We manufacture everything right here in the USA
(not in ASIA like everybody else) using only the highest quality components. We are the ONLY audio card company using Class A, discrete mic preamps as well as putting shielding on our PCI cards. Believe me, those things dont come cheap.

Thomas Adler
Dir. of West Coast Sales
Aardvark
thomas@aardvark-pro.com

Hi Fats,

It is "relatively" cheap to create an ADC with decent clocking but virtually impossible to create high quality brick wall filters cheaply, esp. @ 44.1kHz & 48kHz. At the more budget end of the market manufacturers always have to make compromises in filter implimentation as well as in analog components and other areas. How much of a compromise they make in clocking depends on the manufacturer and their price point. If Mr. Adler is to be believed (no insult intended) for example, the clocking in the Q10 is pretty much identical to that in the Aardsync and therefore little or nothing is to be gained in the ADC stakes by externally clocking a Q10.

In short I believe that external quality clocking can have a great impact on overall sound quality in some or even many cases but this advice should be taken on a case by case basis. If anyone out there has read this thread and thought to themselves, "I must go and buy myself a quality external master clock". My advice is Don't! Hire or borrow one first and give it a good testing with your own setup, to make sure that you really are going to get a noticable improvement.

Greg

Not only does the Q10 have great clocking but it also has great facility for distributing clock to other devices in your studio. I have no personal ax to grind here, I don't have an Aardvark and I don't own or work for the company. I personally don't care for the preamp and converters in 1 box solutions but for those who need that, I think it would seem it's hard to go wrong with the Q10. It seems to be the best piece of hardware of this type in the marketplace today. Most of the inquiries I see here at RO are of the nature how to get the most for the least and if that is the goal I would say Aardvarks clocking is one of the most efficent ways of getting good sound for low buck expenditure. ........ Fats

If this were to be the only piece of Digital hardware in the system, how big a difference would the converters be? If I am just using the Aardvark into my computer, or the Layla into my computer, and won't be syncing to anything else. I see something in this thread, about the Adats being muddy and coming up short reproducing the high end, is that because of the clock?

I just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents here since I've used a Q10. First of all I know of no problems with their drivers. In fact Aardvark has done well IMHO with their beta programs. They seem to test things very well before releasing their drivers to the public. I think most of the driver issues were reported on the betas (XP) before their final release. Another important issue is customer service. Aardvark is to be commended for answering all my questions in a timely and professional manner. Looks good, sounds great, less filling, and I love the front mounted XLR inputs as I hate reaching around the back to plug a mic in. I'm with Fats on this one. I'd go with one of these or one of the RME units if you're on a budget.

Hi, dudes,
Before I bought a Q10 I researched all the crds that were available at the time (about 1yr ago) I don't have any experience with any other card so I really can't compare the Q10 with anything. I bought it for 2 main reasons and a few minor reasons. I wanted 8 mic ins not line ins, and I wanted them on the front, 2. its made here in America. Now, how does it work and sound? Excellent, I have had no problems with the drivers, using Sonar (WDM drivers) and SX using ASIO drivers. The sound is pristine even using cheap mics it sounds good. I am convinced I made the right choice.

(time is what keeps things from happening all at once)

I also own the Q10 and for my needs, it is perfect. I have an analog keyboard, drum machine and sound modules. I play electric guitar (2 hi-z inputs) , acoustic guitar and try to sing (4 phantom powered xlr mic inputs) so the Q10 suit my needs. I can plugin all my gear, have a few friends over and we're making and recording music. My suggestion is, if this is the 'kind of card' you are looking for then you can't go wrong.

fyi, I don't work for Aardvark.

I just bought one of the anniversary model by Rme-the -ADI-8DS I was using the Frontier design Tango's before that .Now I could't Afford the spider or a apogge but by golly the RME-rocks and I mean rocks! It was a delightful surprise !Man it gave new life to my recordings .If your after a better converter for a reasonable price I really think this is your baby!

I've been researching every a/d,d/a converter known to man for the last six months. Aarvark was one of my first choices. (just because of card and box combo at one price) Then tango/dakota. but I would want a mixer.(more money). I have 2 questions: 1. what rme card are you using with your "affordable" rme set up. 2. Do you own a music store in vancouver? You sound like a salesman.

:p:

I'm using The Dakota card just like Cedar flats.The great thing about the card is you get 16in and 16 out .Now if you add the Montana card which hooks on to the Dakota via a small cable you another 16/16 ins and outs.These cards run adat light pipe out so you can use these for a number of different functions.Now this gives you the option to run various converter units.My set up for instance revolves around 1-Dakota
2-Montana
3-Sierra midi 8/8 box
4-RME-ADI-8AD CONVERTER
5-2-Frontier design Tango's
I have to admit I really like the the way the RME converters perform mind you they are $1000.00 more than say the Tango's !The choice is your's ,Mind you if I was doing it again I would surely go with a complete set of the RME converters,If you e-mail me and give me your e-mail address I'll give you a write up putting this basic converter, head to head with the apogge ,You'll be surpised at what happens!If I were you I would pick up the RME anniversary converter.It really is a special bargain Check out the RME web site and get back to us on the decision you make.Good luck and happy hunting.

Logic Lover :w:

Hey, everyone! May I ask a question here?

Relative to the beginning of the topic, there was a lot of discussion regarding the comparison of the Q10 and the Echo products. I have a question - how does the M-Audio products compare to these. More specifically, how does the Delta 1010 (or 1010lt for that matter) stack up to them? I'v been upgrading my DAW and the last piece of 'aging' equipment is probably my Lexicon Core2 card. I was preparing to get the Delta when I saw this thread (talk about timing!). I'd really appreciate any insight anyone may have.

Don't have time to write much, but here is a link.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rongonz/home_rec/home.html

:p:

Thanks, strings, for the website. Unfortunately, it still didn't answer my original question.. I'd like to know the pros and cons of the Delta 1010 over the Q10 and Echo/Layla or other similar 8in/8out interfaces. Is there a perseptable difference in the audio of one over another? Also, what problems has anyone ever experienced? This is the type of information I'd really like to find out about.

If anyone out there can help I really would appreciate it. Thanks.

Evening Everyone,

I've only been a subscriber for a short while but this is definitely the topic for me to weigh in on. I have a Q10 that I have had for about 6 months. I think the sound quality is excellent. I bought it along with a whole new computer system: P4 2.4G, Seagates, dual flat screen, the works. About $4k in total excluding any software which I've been building for a couple of years. That's the good news.

The somewhat bad news is that I have this nagging "device driver" issue that has caused a lot of problems. My OS is XP Pro and whenever the problem rears it's ugly little head, the error message is the same but, of course, XP won't tell you exactly WHICH device driver is causing the problem. So to be completely honest, I am not sold on the stability of the Aardvark drivers.

Anyway, I spent the weekend flushing my system drive and reinstalling XP (my first OS install, yay!) and did most of the recommended Opus tweaks at his site. It takes longer for the system to boot but once it's up, things definitely load a lot faster. I eliminated a bunch of demo programs and am going to see how the stability of the Q10 is with just Sonar XL, Waves Gold Bundle and Wavelab and Opus' tweaks. I'll keep you posted.

Willy

Thanks for the info., Willy LeMay! Definately let me know if the device driver problem comes up again. FYI, I've heard that the Delta products have very good driver support. Does anybody have any other experiences with 8in/8out interfaces?

Hey Lambchop,

In the price range of the Q10, I think you'll find that most other 8in/8out cards have similar specs. The two main reasons I bought the Q10 were, 1: Aardvarks reputation for solid clocks and 2: You don't need a mixer at all. There are volume controls for speakers and headphones right on the front panel. But overriding these reasons was one other rather important item: I couldn't afford the box I really wanted, RME ADI8pro. Now that card's specs look awesome. Until I heard of the Q10 I had been looking at the Delta 1010 for months. I hope I didn't make the wrong call.

Willy... Are you using version 7.04 driver? Thats a very good driver and is on our website at http://www.aardvarkaudio.com. Also, keep an eye out for 7.06 coming out in the next couple of weeks. We are always tweaking things to make them even
better.

Also... Mac guys may be interested to know that we will be releasing our Mac drivers for OS9.2 very shortly and OSX are on schedule for later in the Spring. Im excited about this as it brings Aardvark quality to the Mac platform for the first time.

The one thing I always like to point out about the Q10 is the Class A discrete mic preamps. These were hand designed by Aardvark and are really very good, certainly better than in any other audio card. Our mic preamps are very transparent and clear, IMO perfect for digital audio recording.

Yeah... I work for the company, but I use a Q10 too and love it.

Thomas Adler
Aardvark Sales
thomas@aardvark-pro.com

Willy - Dumb question... do you have you sound scheme set to " No Sound "? I *just* got my Q10's and had a bit of a hickup initially because I did not have the sounds turned off. Once off, I have had no problems.

To the original poster, I just got 2 Q10's and while I have only spent about 8 hours with them I can tell you that they are easy to use, sound great and the Aardvark technical team is ridiculously helpful and quick getting back to me with answers.

I have to work with them some more before I give you a complete recommendation, but so far, I have been nothing short of impressed.

Jim

Willy,

It has been three weeks since you flushed your system...

How is it going?

For those of you following my Q10 struggles I have reached a bit of a milestone. I have been able to run and track for 2 hours with only a single crash and that crash seems to be a sonar related midi crash.

I removed all PCI cards and put the Q10's in slots that resulted in no IRQ conflicts.

I installed new drivers supplied by Aardvark.

I installed the newest available for the Matrox G450.

I have unplugged my second monitor and disabled it in the driver config.

I have a weekend of heavy tracking coming up and if anyone is interested in the results, let me know.