Can I chop and change between M-Audio 2496 audiophile card and Line 6 UX2 in Sonar X1?

I think you could quite simply use the Analog Outs on the UX2 to the line ins on the 2496.

I also think you'll run into trouble if you try to use the UX2 as an interface at the same time as the 2496

Either use one or the other for that.

Does the 2496 include microphone pre-amps? I'm not sure it does, in which case you could do a lot worse than removing it entirely and just use the UX2 which does seem to be a lot more feature-rich than the 2496 provides

Angus, you cant use 2 different sound cards at the same time as the clocking varies between the and you'll get clicking/timing issues. to use 2 sound cards at the same time, they need to be identical, not just made by the same manufacturer.

Chose and select the best card that best fits your needs. If none of those 2 cards meet your needs, sell both of them and get one card that does

CJ

I had the 2496 long ago and it worked quite nicely for me as a beginner...and it does not have preamps...I have heard of people using 2 cards simultaneously, but I am not sure how it worked out for them...

No...you will have to go in to audio options and uncheck your inputs\outputs for whichever card you are working with, then close Sonar. Reopen Sonar and go into audio options again and check the inputs\outputs you want to use.

You can install the drivers for both units, but one will always have to be disabled at any one point in time.

You'll be enabling/disabling & re-patching (which might put stress on your connectors if you plan on doing this a lot) every time you want to record guitar.

Give it a month - if you find it's all to much hassle, ditch the 2496. That's what I would consider doing provided the UX acts ok for all interface needs - conversion/pre-amps/IO/driver stability/latency 

I have the ux2 runnning beside 2 m-audio delta 1010lt's. You can only use one brand of sound card at a time, so if you plug your guitar into the ux2 then you will need to use the ux2's outputs and run them into your speakers. Then switch all of the input/output connections back to the other card when you want to record/monitor through it (and change the sound card in sonar's preferences). However, the only reason I see to use the UX2 is to enable the line6 toneport software running. As long as the ux2 is installed properly there is no reason why you can use your regular sound card (not the ux2) for recording/monitoring and pull up the toneport software as a VST plugin on a track within sonar. This basically makes the ux2 a large dongle for the toneport authorization and nothing else. I do this everyday for guitar recording. I load the toneport program as a vst and record into the delta 1010 card. As long as your latency buffers are low enough enough that you don't get pops or click in the recordings then you should be able to record with little or no latency. It works like a champ and since you are recording a "clean" guitar track into Sonar you can reopen the toneport vst and change the guitars cabines/head/effects to better match the song.

I have been using two cards simultaneously.

The 2496 I use as an output to my monitor amp. Plus I the Edirol UA-25ex as an input card for my guitar + vocal mikes. So, far they have been co-habitating. Of course, I'm not doing anything mega-professional with it.

I've had some crackling issues, but, nothing that's had me going nuts. I'd have never attributed those issues to having two soundcards installed (the onboard card is deactivated). Maybe I should try to see how the UA-25 functions alone ...

On the otherhand I was toying with the idea of getting the VS-20 

M-audio 2496 card

_Angus_


  Guys, thanks very much for all the thoughts and info. I found the process of switching between the 2496 and the UX2 within Sonar less daunting than I thought. Just 5 boxes to untick then 3 to tick etc. Unfortunately, when I tried adding my guitar playing through the UX2 via a simulated amp, the sound became too stop-and-start and clicky and poppy to do anything with - so I will need to research that. Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge and being so kind.

After reading through this thread I had a couple of thoughts. I owned a UX2 and I can tell you the preamps on that suck. the delta card is all you need. So if you are using that sound card for the preamps then I would get something else.


ASIO drivers worked the best for me inside of Sonar with the UX2. ASIO only allows one device at a time to be used. You can use asio4all or something like that to use more then one device at a time. I did not have good results once I got beyond 10 tracks using asio4all.


My guess is that you want to use Pod Farm or Gear Box in your recordings. Have you tried using those as a plugin? go to the line 6 folder and copy your vst files into your default cakewalk vst folder. then insert Pod farm or gear box into the effects bin. this works much better.


This will allow you to change your amp sounds after you record your guitar parts. You will only need to use your delta card. The line 6 UX2 needs to be plugged in to unlock Pod Farm and Gear Box so you can use it within Sonar.


The UX2 is USB 1.0 and you probably get better latency using the delta card. using Pod Farm and Gear Box as plugins will work better for you rather then using those programs with the signal going through the UX2 to record your guitar tracks.