Forum - SOUND ON SOUND : PC Music | Thread profile

Hi folks I was thinking of upgrading my m-audio delta 66 soundcard to a firewire audio interface on my Windows 2K system (service pack 4), Pentium 4 1000Mhz, 256Mb RAM running Logic 4.8 (ancient I know;). I thought it was simply a matter of adding a firewire PCI card into one of the available PCI slots on my PC and hey presto - however I see that many of the interfaces, TC Electronic ...

AFAIK firewire was supported on 2000, so it's probably just down to the specific audio drivers. It's possibly even down to which OS they've tested it on in many cases, but I wouldn't take the risk. If you can't find one that supports 2000 then your PC would run XP ok, but you'd want at least 512MB as XP is more memory hungry. Of course getting a license could be a challenge....

To be honest, a computer of that aged specification isn't going to have the performance to simultaneously record multiple tracks, which is what firewire is really all about. A standard good EMU soundcard will be able to capture 4-6 simultaneous tracks and can be had for a tenner or so on eBay. I doubt a system such as that could sensibly handle more than 4-ish tracks with plug-ins and ...

Good point James, but then again all the best interfaces tend to be Firewire. It's also sensible future proofing.

Thanks all for taking the time to reply. I would also point out that my wishing to get a FW interface is not for recording multiple tracks but to improve the quality of my audio I/O. I essentially use my PC as a recorder and use outboard compression/reverb etc. I have recently upgraded my desk to a TL Audio Fat Track so was thinking it might be good to improve the interface (currently ...

I used to have a Delta 66 card. Good at the time but converters have moved on - even upgrading to an Alesis IO/26 provided a noticeable improvement in sound quality. But just to check - you are aware that the method of connectivity - i.e. Firewire / USB / PCI doesn't determine the sound quality, right? Just Firewire interfaces are more portable than PCI and Firewire can support more ...

Exactly, you'll get just as good quality with a decent soundcard with good converters. The connection makes absolutely no difference.

Of course I'm well aware that the FW card is the messenger and not the message - however what I'm referring to is the higher quality of the converters in, for example, the Fat Track FW interface. Also it seems that a lot of the good value interfaces are FW and that they are taking over from the like of PCI cards, especially since they are more portable. However I obviously dont want to ...

Quote Jelnet: I obviously dont want to slash out on one Electronics and water don't mix

Look in my mind if you can afford anything TL audio you should be able to slash out on a new pc running xp or vista. Pentium 4 and windows 2000 were on there last legs even when they first came out regarding peoples desires from a DAW.