Long shot anyone has played with these, but have to upgrade my ancient computer soon.
 
Much invested in a Delto 1010LT PCI card, audiophile 2494 and external preamps.
 
Not much new coming off the market with PCI slots and a real bummer to throw away a system that is rock solid..
 
They make adapters, PCI to PCIex. Requires a metalwork project to account for the new height, but small sacrifice if they work.
 
Any advice appreciated.
 
John

I'm only aware of these enclosures:

https://www.startech.com/...Expansion-Bay~PEX2PCI4

There's a 2-bay version too.  That was my planned route to upgrade my PC but keep my PCI audio cards.  However, in the end I found a Gigabyte mobo with 2x PCI slots and went for that instead.  One thing to note is that these enclosures are quite limited power-wise, so any installed PCI cards would need to draw less power than the enclosure provides (36W max).

I know what it's like to have to give up a solid interface for something new and unknown, it's never easy.
 
But you mention external mic preamps.  Well, I'll tell you that if they're high-end pres, you are not getting your money's worth.  Sending that transparent or big and warm signal into the converters of those ancient sound cards is, frankly, self-defeating.
 
There was a thread here recently where someone remarked that going from an old interface (Layla or Delta, I don't remember) to a new one, he noticed a striking difference in the quality of sound --  just a lot cleaner.
 
I could only concur.... I and a number of friends noticed the same thing when we got rid of our ancient Delta 1010s for something new.  Though we went in different directions with our new interfaces, everyone still used the words "night and day" difference.  It all came down to the newer, better converters.
 
So my recommendation is to start researching for a new interface, and maybe sell those old cards for what you can on Ebay.
 
Something to think about....

Thanks guys,
The PCI external box is a bit spendy, and having to face the fact that the old Vostro quad core may just have to sit it out it's life with XP. Figure even the motherboard is getting too antique for much upgrading that would be cost effective. If I can just limp it along until Thunderbolt 3 gets affordable. Start with a new rig.
 
John

JohnKenn
Long shot anyone has played with these, but have to upgrade my ancient computer soon.
 
Much invested in a Delto 1010LT PCI card, audiophile 2494 and external preamps.
 
Not much new coming off the market with PCI slots and a real bummer to throw away a system that is rock solid..
 
They make adapters, PCI to PCIex. Requires a metalwork project to account for the new height, but small sacrifice if they work.
 
Any advice appreciated.
 
John

I'd rather buy a MB that has those slots. Most of you affordable boards do.  Also check the RME forum. Some are using those adapters for the Hammerfall cards...and no they are not in a box. Google should help you.

Kite,
 
Thanks for the leads.
 
John

Newer motherboards with PCIe slots are using "bridge chips" to bridge the PCI slot into the PCIe bus.
Some audio interfaces cope well with bridged PCI slots (M-Audio and RME)... and others don't (Lynx and Echo).
 
It's a little bit of a catch-22 situation.
You don't want to invest too much into a new machine (where you're pigeon-holed - due to needing PCI slots).
The transition is expensive, but investing in a new audio interface is the best long-term solution.
A quality audio interface... and you're set for the next decade.

Thanks Jim,
 
Have to figure out what’s the best way to go…internal vs external. USB, Thunderbolt, aging Firewire. But your advice good that at the speed of progress, just digging a deeper hole investing in older technology.
 
My USB 2 Presonus on an i7 Win 10 laptop gets bogged down faster than my XP quad with the 1010LT hard wired, so don’t know if current USB 2 connections would work that well for me. USB 3 maybe. Lots of research ahead.
 
John

Jim Roseberry
Newer motherboards with PCIe slots are using "bridge chips" to bridge the PCI slot into the PCIe bus.
Some audio interfaces cope well with bridged PCI slots (M-Audio and RME)... and others don't (Lynx and Echo).
 
It's a little bit of a catch-22 situation.
You don't want to invest too much into a new machine (where you're pigeon-holed - due to needing PCI slots).
The transition is expensive, but investing in a new audio interface is the best long-term solution.
A quality audio interface... and you're set for the next decade.

I don't have any issues with an AP2496 on an Intel Z97 board. USB2 audio interfaces are always a good option.
 

JohnKenn
Thanks Jim,
 
Have to figure out what’s the best way to go…internal vs external. USB, Thunderbolt, aging Firewire. But your advice good that at the speed of progress, just digging a deeper hole investing in older technology.
 
My USB 2 Presonus on an i7 Win 10 laptop gets bogged down faster than my XP quad with the 1010LT hard wired, so don’t know if current USB 2 connections would work that well for me. USB 3 maybe. Lots of research ahead.
 
John

There's another discussion about the options listed.  TBolt is an expensive platform and requires the latest Intel chipsets for TB3.  There's plenty of low latency USB2 devices. 
 
Then again just use your 1010 until it dies. There are plenty of boards out there with PCI slots.