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I am upgrading my Pre's from the pre's in a Mackie 1402 to a pair of GT Bricks. The next step is upgrading my M-Audio Quatro. I am leaning very heavily towards an RME HDSP 9632.

The question is this. Is there anything out there soundcard wise that is better in terms of sound quality in the same ballpark pricewise? How much of an improvement does this upgrade represent? I believe it to be a significant improvement but I also don't want to piss away money for nothing. Comments please. .

For reference purposes. 2in / 2out is sufficient. I want the higher rates for certain application where voice or instrument are exposed in a mix and absolute top shelf is required.

Comments

anonymous Tue, 05/31/2005 - 09:13

I assume that you haven't received many responses because there aren't that many people that are familiar with the specific card you are considering. My experience is with an Aardvark card and a Firepod interface, both of which have performed very well. I also did some internships with ProTools systems, which are extremely capable. The RME seems a bit pricey to me.

What software program are you using? Most of the recording programs are fairly compatible with a large number of soundcards and audio interfaces. If you have one of those programs (SONAR, Cubase, Samplitude, etc.), I would probably suggest a Presonus Firebox. Any other opinions?

anonymous Tue, 05/31/2005 - 09:26

if you're looking in the ~$600 range, i would strongly suggest the lynx L22. 2in/2out analog on xlr connections, 2in/2out on digital aes or spdif, adapters included. analog and digital ins are run independently in the software to enable all 4 ins to be used simultaneously. the card is expandable with l-stream ports to add additional digital channels, and will sync to additional lynx cards to add analog i/o, if you need to up your track count later. check it out here: (dead link removed)

this card was a serious improvement over the presonus firestation i was using. i tend to think that the quattro to the firebox is more of a lateral move than an upgrade, but that is just my opinion. the lynx has many different routing options, the mixer software is incredible, and the sound is great. also, their v.p. and tech guy will answer any question you have on their forums...so add great support to my list of +'s!!

hope this helps, and good luck,
-eric.

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