Newb questions related to M-Audio Firewire Audiophile External Sound Card

[matéo]

Hi,

I was thinking of buying this sound card.

The main reason is to record live dj mixes.

is it possible to run this on the same laptop I would be running serato?

or is it a must to use another computer?

I may pick one up up on the way home from work so any warnings or advice would be great!

[Akeel]

if this is what you wanna do i would recommend a m-audio microtrack II...i have a microtrack I and for 300 bux its perfect for recording live in any scenario.

[dj_soo]

i would recommend against the m-audio firewire - i had that card and it started crapping out on me after a couple years. From what I understand, m-audio's external sound cards are pretty crap.

[ebbomega]

Farshad has a really cool device that's specifically for digital audio recording. If you're paranoid about conflicting with SSL (and honestly, the less things you have running on a single system the better) you might want to just invest in one of those. Has a usb port on it so you can plug in a flash drive or USB hard drive and you have x amount of recording hours (X being however much you can fit on the external drive).

I'll see if I can find details and post.

[dj_soo]

or you could get a 57 and record directly in the software :)

[Revolver]

im with akeel on the microtrack. i have one. its awsome...used it for many feild recordings in the amazon. perfect for what you want.

*hate it when people use the SSL abreviation for scratch live...that belongs to solid state logic.

[ebbomega]

WTF you talking about John? That shit is for Secure Socket Layer!

[matéo]

thnx for the help guys!

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

WTF you talking about John? That shit is for Secure Socket Layer!

wait...wat? ahah

[Mangle]

Originally Posted by dj_soo

From what I understand, m-audio's external sound cards are pretty crap.

Very true. M-Audio is entry level hobbyist wank. It does the job, but it's the cheapest on the market for a reason. Same with the MicrotrackII. For the love of gawd, don't bother with it.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Zoom H4 immediately. Unlike the Microtrack, the H4 has XLR/quarter inch inputs on the bottom, allowing you to patch in directly to the venue's mixing board, as opposed to being dependent on the built in mics (which are also superior to the mini-jack M-Audio ones, being as the Zoom are crossed and create a true stereo field). The H4 also doubles as a 4 track recorder, with dozens of built in amp models, and you can use it as an audio-interface, to record sound directly to your laptop. It completely owns the Microtrack in every way, and it only costs $327 new. Nothing else on the market does what it does for that money.

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Revolver

wait...wat? ahah

OpenSSL: The Open Source toolkit for SSL/TLS

KEEP THE GOVERNMENTS OFF UR COMPUTAR!!!one

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by Mangle

Very true. M-Audio is entry level hobbyist wank. It does the job, but it's the cheapest on the market for a reason. Same with the MicrotrackII. For the love of gawd, don't bother with it.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Zoom H4 immediately. Unlike the Microtrack, the H4 has XLR/quarter inch inputs on the bottom, allowing you to patch in directly to the venue's mixing board, as opposed to being dependent on the built in mics (which are also superior to the mini-jack M-Audio ones, being as the Zoom are crossed and create a true stereo field). The H4 also doubles as a 4 track recorder, with dozens of built in amp models, and you can use it as an audio-interface, to record sound directly to your laptop. It completely owns the Microtrack in every way, and it only costs $327 new. Nothing else on the market does what it does for that money.

naw,i demo'd both units at my time of purchase.

do you own this?

xlr,trs 1/4 inch...same conection.ive patched the microtrack to many boards with no problems.

onboard effects on the zoom are awful. keyword here is zoom.
who would want to ruin 2 channle mix recordings and field recordings with onborad effects?

wasnt overly impressed with the built in stereo mics on the zoom.must be handy for a reporter but not for a recordist.i prefer using a mini t mic and have flexability with mic placement and mic selection

the 4 track recording option is cool. but has no real use for what mat is going to use it for.

i chose the microtrack for obvious reasons.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

OpenSSL: The Open Source toolkit for SSL/TLS

KEEP THE GOVERNMENTS OFF UR COMPUTAR!!!one

haha....ssl=serato scratch live?

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Revolver

haha....ssl=serato scratch live?

Well, given the context that's what I meant when I used the acronym... but I'm saying if you think it should stand for solid state logic and nothing else, the crypto geeks will take issue.

[Mangle]

Originally Posted by Revolver

xlr,trs 1/4 inch...same conection.ive patched the microtrack to many boards with no problems.
wasnt overly impressed with the built in stereo mics on the zoom.must be handy for a reporter but not for a recordist.i prefer using a mini t mic and have flexability with mic placement and mic selection

You have to go in mini for the Microtrack if you want to go direct, and that's amateur. It's a lower quality connection than XLR or 1/4 inch. Plus, you have the option of using any condensor/dynamic mic in the world using the XLR inputs, as the Zoom will phantom power any charge. You are extremely limited with the M-Audio, either mini or nothing and no 48v phantom.

Originally Posted by Revolver

onboard effects on the zoom are awful. keyword here is zoom.
who would want to ruin 2 channle mix recordings and field recordings with onborad effects?
the 4 track recording option is cool. but has no real use for what mat is going to use it for.

The point is, they're there. M-Audio gives you no room for growth, and the RO9 does everything it does, only better. The Zoom H4 is a field recorder/4-track studio/audio interface adaptable to any situation; all the Microtrack is a cheap field recorder. By all means, if you want the cheapest piece of gear on the market, go with the M-Audio, but if you care at all about quality and don't want any options, at least consider the Edirol R09.

[Mangle]

...and yes, I own the H4. I also work at Tom Lee Music, so I've spent a lot of time with all of these field recorders. If you can afford to spend (a lot) more, invest in a Marantz or a Korg 1-bit recorder (which is future proof, and insanely good as such), but then you're looking in the $750 plus range. Regardless, the H4 is by far the most popular field recorder on the market, and for good reason. We have sold on average 4 a week since they came out around a year ago.

[Revolver]

^have you ever seen one of these?

plus on the microtrack you also have 2 1/4 inch trs mic/line connections.

by your logic every single patch bay in recording studios should be removed.

they are all balanced connections guy.

"mini or nothing''......dont think so

i use my condensors just fine with the microtracks phantom power.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by Mangle

I also work at Tom Lee Music, so I've spent a lot of time with all of these field recorders.

are you in sales? do you think have stingy mics and even worse effect presets are really what mat would need?

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Revolver

^have you ever seen one of these?

plus on the microtrack you also have 2 1/4 inch trs mic/line connections.

by your logic every single patch bay in recording studios should be removed.

they are all balanced connections guy.

"mini or nothing''......dont think so

i use my condensors just fine with the microtracks phantom power.

Point is you won't get power draw from a headphone line, whereas you will from an XLR.

Also a lot of the time you use up all your adapters... especially if you're rigging your gear up to a foreign system (like, say, a club's) you might need as many screwed up adapters as possible, it's normally just easier to get a straight xlr2xlr connection.

I dunno. I just find if you can avoid using adapters it's usually better.

[Mangle]

Originally Posted by Revolver

^have you ever seen one of these?

Yeah, they carry those at Radio Shack. It's as amateur as you can get. They added the 1/4 inputs on the Microtrack II, which is a serious improvement over the 1st version. He prolly would be better off with one of those over the R09, unless he's planning on using the built in mics.

Originally Posted by Revolver

do you think have stingy mics and even worse effect presets are really what mat would need?

Well, you said he's not going to use the effects, and the built-in mics on the Zoom kill that amateurish mini plug T mic on the Microtrack... so yeah, I suppose that is what Mat needs. Plus, he's looking at an audio interface right now, and that's one of the many things the H4 is. If he wants to stick with interfaces, I would highly recommend investing in an Apogee Duet. It's around $500, super small, and sounds like God.

[Revolver]

mangle, seriously now the mk1 has 1/4 mic line inputs.

radioshack? monster,apex make the same cable and can be found at...TA DA..tom lee.

with the xlr-mini i can use any mic i want. or xlr-1/4 inch...dosent matter. or 1/4 to 1/4 inch running out of a board.

know your shit before you start beakin off..

aside from this...wich department do you work in at tom lee?

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

I dunno. I just find if you can avoid using adapters it's usually better.

agreed...patching into mixers i usually use the 1/4 trs.

but this has come to a point were mangel is saying:

'you cant' and 'it dosen't'

when actually:

'you can' and 'it dose'

[Mangle]

Originally Posted by Revolver

mangle, seriously now the mk1 has 1/4 mic line inputs.

MK1 doesn't have 48v phantom; MKII does.

The basics are: Microtrack does a couple things and the H4 does those things and a hundred more for less money and no mini connections.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by Mangle

MK1 doesn't have 48v phantom; MKII does.

i guess this is the only thing you could think of when you found you were,again, wrong about the inputs

you should go read more about these products on tom lee's website lol....you do work for them right?

why are you so wrong on nearly all the product details and capabilites thus far?

mk1 has phantom power, and trust me i know all about dl'ing firmware updates and all of that.

what department of tom lee do you work in?

[Akeel]

man things started going down hill at tom lee ever since Kyle left :(

Matt, you can't go wrong with a microtrack, i'm using the first edition and its great for recording sets, which is all I do with it. I would never use the little mic it came with because I'm not using it for field recordings...i can plug right in from any record out on any mixer...no fuss!