DIGI9636 or Audiophile 24/96?

[Mat]

http://www.rme-audio.de/old/english/hammer/d9636.htm
rme hammerfall light

http://www.m-audio.ca/products/en_us/Audiophile2496.html
2496

I got both cards, and need to setup a nice "Audio System". Wich card should I go for? The M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 would have tha analog inputs onboard that I need.

[DieHard]

Both cards are excellent; the 2496 also includes MIDI which works very well under OS9... so it is a complete solution

[supernova777]

i would reccomend combining the audiophile with another delta card such as the delta 410 (4 in/10 out)  for a low cost solution..

both the audiophile + the delta 1010LT have midi built in.. but the 410 can be bought the cheapest..  probably because of the lack of inputs.. but if outputs are all you are after its the perfect card and also if u use a few of them, u can get enuff inputs.. f.e.


1 x audiophile 2496  (provides 2 in / 2 out + MIDI)
1 x delta 410 (provides 4 in / 10 out + NO MIDI) (2 of the ins + outs are spdif digital connections)
1 x delta 66 (provides 6 in / 6 out + NO MIDI) (2 of the ins + outs are spdif digital connections)
1 x delta 44 (provides 4 in / 4 out + NO MIDI)

these 4 cards in a mac such as the mdd or the quicksilver (which provides that many pci slots) would give you a total of 16 inputs / 22 outputs (or whatever the correct math is, u get the idea)

so the pt is that the audiophile is valuable because of the midi conecttion and lower price pt then the delta 1010 because u can combine it with affordable/discarded/available card like the 410.

[DieHard]

Never cared for the Delta 1010 since I personally feel the converters in the 2496 are far superior; The 1010 seems to lack low mids and Bass response on projects I mixed from tracking with the 1010...

If many inputs are needed the best multitrack audio interfaces I have tried under OS 9 are the RME Interfaces (but very pricey); as an alternative the MOTU 1224 has excellent sounding converters for the price...Lastly the 24i also sound almost as good as the 1224 and you get mucho I/O

Just my opinion 

[supernova777]

well tbh i have never had a 2496 so i am oblivious;) so i will take your word on it.. !


i have m-audio delta 410.. 1010LT.
aalso have digi 001
and also have a motu 2408mk2

i have not used the 2408mk2
or the digi 001 as ive bought them for the purposes
of resurrecting an old os9 daw!

and as u know im currently midstride achieving that;) heh

[DieHard]

Interestingly, the MOTU 1224 has very "warm sounding" converters... I have forgotten the exact details over the years, but the 2408mk II will be similar to the 1010 see the following link...

http://recording.org/daw-pro-audio/9827-converters-1224-2408mkii-can-you-tell.html

I remember back in the day when I did a lot of live recordings directly into Cubase VST that the best results for 24 bit/44K/48K projects (and we tried every MOTU interface) at the time was the 1224... The 24i was close... but (3) 1224 are amazing... it is ironic that I have seen the 1224s of ebay lately for less than $100.  With a 324 or 424 PCI card (324 cards are less than $100) and a 1224 you will get amazing results under OS9.   Combine a MOTU 1224 system and Cubase 32-bit True tape and things start getting close to analog...the headroom on all faders in the mix will surprise you.... add a cheap Powercore card or UAD-1 and your final mix off these track will be pro quality

[DieHard]

  I wanted to add one last thing... as an additional test we clocked the MOTU interfaces with an external clock (Big Ben and a Lucid Gen X 192) and the results were cleaner Bass and Drum tracks with more punch. 

It is a long known fact that the older MOTU interfaces had cheaper clock crystals...(Texas Instruments if I remember) even though the converters were sweet. There were companies (like Black Lion Audio) that would modify (replace the clocks) on the MOTU interfaces for a fee... We tried that route also, but the best results were simply to sync the MOTUs with an external high quality clock via BNC connector.

The best way to describe why an external clock would make the MOTUs track better is the following... If I have 44 thousand soldiers marching in step, the sound of all the boots hitting the floor at exactly the same time as opposed to 44 thousand drunk ass soldiers marching would be very noticeable. The high quality external audio clock ensures that samples are precisely synchronized and this produces to audio tracks with no "digital smearing" (as when cheaper clocking crystal sources are used).... think of comparing a letter written with a sharpie as compared to a $100 pen.

Be careful, the search for the best audio interface can lead to madness...lol...the older MOTU interfaces sound great for the money with no modifications needed... as pro results always start with the audio source and levels, so don't waste as much time testing things (as me and a few friends have) and just make music....unless you actually have as much fun with the technical side as the music....this has always been my weakness/strength.

[supernova777]

i have been told the same thing by another producer friend of mine - i believe he uses a clock made by alesis.. i think its called the alesis mastercontrol or something..

[Protools5LEGuy]

The AP 24/96 is (with UAD-1 and PT HD) the only pci card that works in PowerPC OS9 to hackintosh (not as a M-Audio but CoreAudio). I call it UNIVERSAL sound card     
OT: I have a friend with a 10.6.8 hack with  Protools HD2 and a 192i/o and he swears it sounds better with the Motu 828 mk2 as wordclock master

[supernova777]

The AP 24/96 is (with UAD-1 and PT HD) the only pci card that works in PowerPC OS9 to hackintosh (not as a M-Audio but CoreAudio). I call it UNIVERSAL sound card     
OT: I have a friend with a 10.6.8 hack with  Protools HD2 and a 192i/o and he swears it sounds better with the Motu 828 mk2 as wordclock master

by 192i/o do u mean the audiophile 192?

[Protools5LEGuy]

by 192i/o do u mean the audiophile 192?

Avid/Digidesign IO 192