Sound cards/interfaces

I am a bit rusty about gear.

I am using XP sp2.

Complete hobbyist.

I want to run S8.5 Producer (my last use was S7 Pro maybe 2-3 years ago) and most of my work (95%) will be composing MIDI by writing, and maybe recording MIDI data from outboard gear. At this stage recording Audio is very secondary.

So really at most I want a stereo in/out for audio and a single MIDI in/out port. My main need for the card is to have Audio out, in stereo, to earphones or line for monitoring. But I do want a reasonable card so I get good results for nice flat response etc. I want at least me to get it right, however anybody else listens to the product

So should I get a USB card or a PCI card? Also what brands of each are the best bang for buck regarding sound quality, stability (usually a driver issue)etc?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Wow! Thanks for that! I was a bit concerned that my question was a bit vague, but these are really concrete answers. Really do appreciate it. A couple of years out of the loop can make things really tough. There was a time when I could answer questions like this

Lanceindastudio
PCI is pretty much a sure bet.

Not so sure about that. The standard PCI slots are fast becoming a thing of the past, so although you might have one in your computer now, it's likely that your next computer (or next mobo) won't, and your card will be obsolete.
 
However, unless you monitor midi drums through a softsampler, chances are that just about any current USB interface will give you adequately low latencies (depending on project size and CPU resources). I've performed keyboards live through a lowly M-Audio Audiophile USB and it worked great at 128 buffer size on my craptastic old HP laptop. No detectable latency when playing (a pro pianist playing Chopin or whatever might disagree though, I dunno...)
   
If you use a software amp modeller live you have to consider the input as well as the output latency, but for some reason I feel that I can deal with longer latencies when playing guitar than keyboards. You might not, though!
 
Sven

Still appreciating the chat guys. Thanks.

I know there are so many ifs and buts. That is why I posted, but also why I was afraid my question may be too vague.

I have noticed that it's harder and harder to get MoBos with more than 2 PCI slots. I guess if I kept my PC for 3-4 years and found that I could not get PCI slots any more...well....I have a Yamaha pre-pci (what was the name of that bus? ) midi/sound card somewhere that cost a heap, and several other obsolete things, so, c'est la vie.

By that time we will have a USB 3 and more speed!

Hey! Guess what one of the midi controllers I have is? Drum pads. Sorry.

When I can upgrade a piece of software for a hundred bucks, including new operating system compatibility and heaps more DAW power, compared to the old hardware days it's a bargain. In fact the synths I can get for the cost of a new Sonar are zilch compared to what a rack of synths used to cost, with ten times the power.

I know nothing of firewire, and the ones that work seem pretty specific, so I will steer clear.

Again. this is great. You guys have treated my question with respect and that is worth a packet.

Fire wire is what I use... on a factory Dell lappy.  I have a Saffire... it's a 2 channel audio one channel midi interface. I do all my music on it in my small home project studio.

If you are doing solo projects...(One man band sorta stuff) or are laying down one track at a time with friends, a small USB interface with audio and midi is all you need.

Even though you said you don't need the audio, I recommend that you get an interface that supports a stereo (2 channel) audio input..... you never know when you might need it.

I agree that PCI interfaces have some strong pluses.  BUT...They (PCI slots...) are going away.  So make sure your interface is PCIe or better compatible.

Lynx and RME.

Wow! Thanks for that! I was a bit concerned that my question was a bit vague, but these are really concrete answers. Really do appreciate it. A couple of years out of the loop can make things really tough. There was a time when I could answer questions like this

 
If this is the Nick W. that I remember from back in the day...
Welcome Back!!  
 
If you're primarily composing "in the box" (via soft-synths), then there's no need to go expensive/complicated with the audio interface. 
ie: M-Audio Audiophile 192 would be just fine
Solid drivers, good sound, low round-trip latency....

Jim Roseberry

Wow! Thanks for that! I was a bit concerned that my question was a bit vague, but these are really concrete answers. Really do appreciate it. A couple of years out of the loop can make things really tough. There was a time when I could answer questions like this

 
If this is the Nick W. that I remember from back in the day...
Welcome Back!!  
 
If you're primarily composing "in the box" (via soft-synths), then there's no need to go expensive/complicated with the audio interface. 
ie: M-Audio Audiophile 192 would be just fine
Solid drivers, good sound, low round-trip latency....

The audiophile 192 is PCI - Echo makes a few PCI units- you just got recommended a PCI unit by a pro DAW builder. I rest my case.

Jim Roseberry

Wow! Thanks for that! I was a bit concerned that my question was a bit vague, but these are really concrete answers. Really do appreciate it. A couple of years out of the loop can make things really tough. There was a time when I could answer questions like this

 
If this is the Nick W. that I remember from back in the day...
Welcome Back!!  
 
If you're primarily composing "in the box" (via soft-synths), then there's no need to go expensive/complicated with the audio interface. 
ie: M-Audio Audiophile 192 would be just fine
Solid drivers, good sound, low round-trip latency....

Based on the stated requirements, the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 would get the job done and costs about $80 less than the 192.  This is the card I use, and I'm completely happy with the sound, the driver compatibility (I run XP) and the stability.

tarsier

Based on the stated requirements, the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 would get the job done and costs about $80 less than the 192.

Aside from being cheaper, there's one more reason I prefer the 2496 over the 192. The 2496's control panel lets you set up an audio loopback internally. So you don't have to patch a cable out-to-in to record "What-U-Hear" for when you need to.  Its monitor output shows up as a recording source. It's a very handy feature.

However, the 2496 has only unbalanced I/O. When I had one the noise floor was noticeable.  If you have monitors or preamps that have balanced connections the 192 would be better. 

Nick, in answer to your question. You latency is going to be lower using PCI than USB. Actually that depends on the drivers. I use the Lynx card and it has very low latency with ASIO drivers.

OldNick


Phooh! Okaayyy! If I miss anybody I am really sorry.

Jim, yes it probably is NickW. Right back to newsgroup days. Bit of a sabbatical in between. Thanks for the recommendation and it's an honour. You have really hung in there.

Lance. Point taken!

Frank. The ones I am looking at all have MIDI, so no trouble there. At this stage I would stay simple, as I am just working my way back into the whole thing. At this stage I would also probably stay unbalanced (some would say that was a given ) . If I get more serious or start working with somebody with a balanced mic, then it's a whole new ballgame and another card would  be minor.

Question: In my days, balanced was XLR. If I get the 192 with balanced I/O are the plugs/sockets set up so I can use unbalanced gear? AFAICS they are stereo 3.5s (although they look like RCA!) presumably with the shield going to the "earth" of the socket. ???? I realise this undoes the entire balanced bit, but it would be handy for now.

There isn't a "confused" emoticon....

Balanced connections just need 3 contacts so they can be XLR or 1/4" TRS (Tip, Ring, Sleeve). The M-Audio uses 1/4" TRS sockets on a pigtail cable.  The TRS plug is just like the ones used for headphones.  You can get cables that adapt from TRS to XLR. So if you get a mic preamp with XLR out or powered monitors with XLR inputs all you need are the correct cables to hook it up.  

If you are handy you can make your own cables here is the basic pinout if your XLR it pin 2 hot.

TRS      XLR pin
______________
Sleeve   1
Tip         2
Ring       3

If you do get a card with balanced I/O and need to hook up unbalanced be sure to check the manual on how to do that. For example some say to connect shield to pin 1 and center to pin 2 but on the Lynx card you connect shield to pin 3 and center to pin 2 and leave pin 1 open.  On others it might even have you shot pin 2 and 3. So you have to check the manual or web site to confirm.

+1 for MAudio 192.  

i've had great results with my Maudio Audiophile 192 card.

spdif, midi, analog, all good.