Layla 3G or Aardvark Q10

Hi Will:

I use the Q10 and am quite happy with it. I know there are also a lot of people on the forum that use the Q10. I think probably fewer people use the 3G. I'm not intending to imply anything about quality there - I'm only saying that because I don't see the 3G mentioned as much. I know if you do a search of the forum, you will see a lot about the Q10.

The main complaint I have seen about the Q10 is related to problems with the drivers. I have had no such problems. I use my setup mostly for songwriting and recording my horn and some auxillary keyboards. I am having most of the rhythm tracks done in a pro studio.

My goal is to upgrade so I have one stereo pair that really rocks. For that, I plan to get pair of API preamps and a pair of Benchmark A/D converters that I will send into the Q10's S/PDIF. That will give me one high-quality pair and 8 more that are very useable. I get compliments on my horn sound now (i.e., through the stock preamps/converters). But, I know it could be better.

Happy shopping!

I love my q10 my only problems have been with the recent drivers.
I have had the unit for 3years now and still working fine, the pres are very nice sounding. I used the spdif to my advantage, I bought a ART tube preamp (rack mount) with the digital outs, wich I connect to the spdif in on the aardvark, so now I also have two warm tube pres, totaling to xlr mic pres. very nice set up.

Another vote here for the Q10. I have the same setup as nivlem...the Q10
with the Art DPS with two digital outs. I have consistently recorded 10
simultaneous tracks using this setup and never had a problem with
S3PE and now with S4PE. I haven't run into any problem with the drivers
and I'm using the latest (7.13 I think).

Good luck with the decision. Oh yeah, I saw a Q10 go for about $400
on eBay the other day....almost bid just because it was so cheap!!

dont buy the q10 if you want to use an athlon64 with it.

They don't support athlon64 chipsets.

Kind regards

Dave Rich.

I wouldn't dimiss the 3G so quickly ...I was waiting for a firewire version to come out....but Echo delayed its release so I went elsewhere (MOTU). the Layla has really good spec... I don't know if you should worry about the drivers. I have an Echo Mia card and the WDM drivers are solid...and the layla itself has been around for an eternity --this is just a beefed up version hardware wise....

Just a quick note about the Q10. While the pre's are OK, I can't suggest it as a major purchasing point. I've been using my Q10 for a year or two now and have liked it just fine, but a few months ago I picked up a focusrite pre and suddenly "saw the light". Looking back, I now kinda wish that I'd gone a different route with an I/O an spent more money on nice preamps rather than using the builitin stuff on the Q10 for so long. While certainly it's an OK unit (minor driver irritation aside) and the builtin pres are serviceable, to my ears they aren't playing in the same ballpark as the good preamps out there (focusrite, et. al.), especially for vocal work (which probably means micing horns also).

Just my .02

Dean

the builtin pres are serviceable, to my ears they aren't playing in the same ballpark as the good preamps out there (focusrite, et. al.), especially for vocal work (which probably means micing horns also).

I would tend to agree with this. But, obviously, you should spend some time thinking about what you will most likely be using it for. And sometimes that evolves, or "devolves" in my case, over time. If I have two high quality inputs through the S/PDIF, and eight more serviceable ones - that's all I need.

Are you going to be micing a drum set? Are you going to be having more than a couple guys over at a time to record? If so, and if it's likely that you are going to want to upgrade more than two preamps and/or converters, then you should consider an option other than the Q10. If you only record one or two things at a time, but could use eight more very serviceable inputs for synths (or whatever), the Q10 works well for that. The stock preamps don't suck. But, they're not Neve or API either.

I'm presuming you're a sax player. If you listen to my horn at the link below, that's an NT1 through the stock Q10 preamps. Yes, it's an MP3, but it will give you an idea. I've used better equipment in better rooms and it does make a difference. But, for now, what I have works.

Good luck!

Thanks! Good luck with whatever you choose. Sonar is a great program - I think you'll find that the software will not be your limiting factor. It's the other stuff, like getting a good performance, rooms, mics, pre's (with the relative importance probably in approximately that order). Glad to see another saxophonist around here!