Soundcard dilemma...

[Tore Nylund]

Well here I am again... the rest of my DAW parts
is coming in a few days. I've spent most of my money on the computor and the software so I really
can't spend too much money on the soundcard right now....
So I need some advice here:
I'd still like to work with my ADAT and outboard effects on my Mackie SR24.4 ,so I need a soundcard with at least 8 in /outs. ( not too expensive)
I've been thinking about two alternatives:
I could buy M-Audio delta 1010 LT or I could go for the RME -Hammerfall LE ( and use my ADAT XT20 as AD/DA converter)
What would probably get me the best sound and latency ? ( and runability of course)
Or is there any other soundcard I should look into? (~500 USD is the limit)
I'd be very grateful for any opinion about this... maybe someone has got some good or bad experience with these soundcards.
Is the AD/DA converters better on the M-Audio 1010 LE than on my ADAT XT20 ?

I'm going to use this on this DAW
ASUS P4B 533-V
CPU Intel Nortwood 2.4 GHz 512Kb 533MHz
DDR 512 PC2700/DDR333 cas2.5
Seagate 80 GB (OS)
WD 120 GB 8 Mb cache (wav)
Win XP-Pro

Finally I'm going to run Cubae SX and Logic
and some Native VST-instruments.

Any thoughts ...?

 

[mikezfx]

in your price range the MAudio Delta 1010 sounds right to me. get the rackmount version. it is a little out of your price range, available here in the states for $600. i have one and its great. maybe score one for cheap off Ebay?

i dont know how the converters match to the ADAT, but they are very good for the price IMO.

mike

 

[Opus2000]

Using the ADAT's as AD and DA? Ummmm....not so sure about that one man! Seriously! I would truly reconsider that one if I were you. I know you want to get some nice sound out of it but you're better off just upping your budget and think about the RME cards or the Echo cards. That would be my suggestion.
Delta cards are nice and cheap indeed. Some say they sound nice but to me they are very brittle on the high and don't sound natural. I've A/B'd them to a Layla and RME and they are definitely not the same at all!
Cheers
Opus

 

[llornkcor]

I have an unused Alesis Adat/Edit card I could sell ya cheap, if you'll use it.
ljp

oh.. you want something with converters...

 

[Tore Nylund]

Thanks for your answers. And yes, I've also heard that the the M-Audio soundcards aren't bad at all ... but that the RME soundcards are great...
Well, I really want a RME- hammerfall soundcard and since someone at my musicstore told me that I could use my ADAT XT20 as AD/DA-converter I thought I could do so. Now you Opus advice me not to do so. I got to find out more about this... if it's possible.
I really need to save some bucks here.(maybe I could sell my sons to science? )

Buying a RME-card AND a 8-ch converter is a very expensive way to go.... I thought, since most converters I've seen cost at least 650 USD.
But...today I saw this Fostex VC-8 converter for almost half that price . Anyone who knows anything about it?