Sound cards

[Rotten Guitar String]

I'm finding it difficult to decide between these sound cards.
M-Audio Audiophile USB
or
M-Audio Audiophile PCI
or
Echo Mia Midi

Just wondering which is the better product, price aside.
I already use Cubase SX, so will each card be compatible with this?

Cheers.

 

[Rotten Guitar String]

Re: Sound cards

Also, I was wondering what the pro's and con's are for USB and PCI sound cards.

Cheers.

 

[D-EJ915]

Re: Sound cards

Well, external cards aren't subject to internal PC noise and can be swapped from computer to computer, those are a benefit of that.

 

[Christobevii3]

Re: Sound cards

Get a usb, reaching the back of a pc is a pain. Also, if you are going to use vista make sure it has drivers.

 

[Rotten Guitar String]

Re: Sound cards

Hmm.. I've heard bad things about the bandwidth of USB though. I'm using XP so I'm pretty sure they're all supported.

I have no need to be moving it from computer to computer, so would a PCI card be better from a sound quality/latency/noise perspective?

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Sound cards

PCI cards are going to limit your choices, as far as interfaces go. I'm not a fan of the M-Audio stuff, at all.


If you must go PCI, the E-Mu 1212m, 1616m, and really anything from them that ends in 'm' is pretty solid, with good converters for the price.