Keep the Emu 1616m or Look into a New Interface?

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AVTechman
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2012/03/15 15:12:35 (permalink)

Keep the Emu 1616m or Look into a New Interface?

I've been debating for sometime on whether to still consider using the 1616m or perhaps look into a new audio interface.

Without dragging things out, the 1616m I have is the Cardbus version of course which is for laptops. Cardbus of course is long discontinued. I have a PCMCIA/PCI adapter to where i can still use the Cardbus card in the PC. Of course there is the fact that most modern motherboards still have PCI slots but getting harder to find so...I may need to look into the PCIe based card (already have the Microdock).

Problem is, system is fine under XP, but for Win7, though the beta driver works it only supports 44.1 and 48KHz based recording. Wouldn't do me much good if I wanted to do 24/96KHz based recording. And then there's the issue of whether it will it will be compatible with Sonar 8.5 (which I still have) and X1 should I decide to upgrade down the line.

In the case I decide to leave Emu behind and look into a new interface that is fully compatible with Win7 and Sonar, what are some good interfaces to look into? I would like at least 4 mic preamps in the case I do any recording for my friend's quartet on occasion. I could go with USB or an internal PCIe solution. Firewire can be also considered but would have to ensure to get a FW card with the TI chipset. As for the 1616m, since it has the turntable RIAA preamp, I can still use that for vinyl transfers at least so the card wont be sitting collecting dust.

I'm willing to budget about $500 for the interface since I am aiming for high quality I would like to get the best out of my sound. Can adjust as needed. With the right interface it could eliminate the need for an external mixer.

I've read some of the older threads on interfaces but most of them are outdated and of course some of the products that were listed are discontinued. So looking for some updated info. 
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    Beagle
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    Re:Keep the Emu 1616m or Look into a New Interface? 2012/03/16 08:18:21 (permalink)
    it depends on your input needs. 

    for $500, I'd look at the Roland Quadcapture for about $270
    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/QuadCapture
    or if you need more inputs and can swing a couple of hundred more, the octacapture
    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OctaCapture

    or in that general price range, I'm very satisfied with my MOTU Ultralite Hybrid Mk3.  the only thing I wish it had was ADAT, but it's supposed to be expandable using firewire, so that might work if I need to expand.
    MOTU has several in that general range to consider:
    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UltraLite3Hy/ $549
    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioExpress/ $395
    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/4pre/ $449

    yes, I would definitely advise a TI chipset for firewire, even if you go with the MOTU's, I have found on my system that the firewire gives better latency settings, but I did have to get a TI chipset firewire card because my VIA onboard wouldn't cut it.

    those of course are not recommendations for PCIe, personally I am steering away from internal cards.  some say that firewire is on the way out and that might be true (apple has dropped firewire from their new computers), but you have to choose something and just deal with the choice (like you've done!)

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
    i7, 16G DDR3, Win10x64, MOTU Ultralite Hybrid MK3
    Yamaha MOXF6, Hammond XK3c, other stuff.
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    AVTechman
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    Re:Keep the Emu 1616m or Look into a New Interface? 2012/03/16 12:38:44 (permalink)
    Thanks Beagle, very useful info! I like the Roland products they seem pretty solid. Though a bit more expensive I could look into the octacapture to where I can be future-proofed down the line. 

    I am also thinking the external interface would be good to eliminate noise from having an internal card. I'll check out the other links and continue my research. 
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    Beagle
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    Re:Keep the Emu 1616m or Look into a New Interface? 2012/03/16 15:27:59 (permalink)
    I've heard people having problems with internal noise using PCI, but I've never experienced it myself.  as I said, I've used a Delta 44 and a Delta 1010LT before and I never had internal noise issues (I did have some noise issues with the 1010LT, but I believe it was actually due to the RCA plugs instead of balanced I/O).

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
    i7, 16G DDR3, Win10x64, MOTU Ultralite Hybrid MK3
    Yamaha MOXF6, Hammond XK3c, other stuff.
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    Freddie H
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    Re:Keep the Emu 1616m or Look into a New Interface? 2012/03/19 15:11:02 (permalink)
    keep Emu 1616M you will not find anything on the market that sounds as good below $3000 USDollar.
    Same class=

    http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces/rednet_2/images/

    http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/symphony-io.php



    http://www.solid-state-logic.com/music/xlogic%20alpha-link/



    http://www.prismsound.com/music_recording/products_subs/orpheus/orpheus_home.php




    http://www.avid.com/US/products/HD-IO


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