Soundcard for Laptop DJ and Home Studio Recording
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard
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    Default Soundcard for Laptop DJ and Home Studio Recording

    Hey guys! First can I just say hi and great forum and website Oh and Merry Xmas!

    My partner has just bought me a Numark Total DJ to encourage me back into DJing after months of my incessant (but understandable) whining over the loss of my decks, mixer, 8 track, korg trinity and entire computer rig after we got burgled 3 months ago.

    (If anyone can imagine what it's like to lose everything you've spent 8 years building, equipment, music collection and most importantly my own recorded music then feel free in joining me in feeling slightly sick thinking about it...always backup and HIDE the HD so it doesnt get nicked too)

    I've always thought about DJing with a laptop and midi controller and it looks like it's the direction to go!...admittedly not with the Numark but it'll be good to start with. I've just bought a new PC and Laptop through my insurance payout but I'm minus a good soundcard.

    I'm pretty stumped with all the different options and companies out there! I really want one that I can use with the laptop and midi controller to DJ with, but also use with my PC to record within a home studio environment with as little latency as possible. I've always stuck with E-MU for my I/O equipment but I'm a little behind so any recommendations at all are appreciated!
    Last edited by Cyphizer; 12-24-2008 at 08:05 PM. Reason: Xmas tipsy-ness!

  2. #2
    Tech Convert
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    m-audio fast track pro. Everyone has it!

  3. #3
    Retired DJTT Moderator DvlsAdvct's Avatar
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    What's your budget? I've had amazing luck with Audio8DJ. But give us a budget and needs of i/o and we can go from there.
    It's the FAQ. Read it.

    My Mixes, Mashups and Rants

    Divided we stand
    United we fall

  4. #4
    Tech Wizard
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    Hey thanks for the speedy responses! Budget is anything up to £200 but the less I spend, the more I have to put towards getting a nice VCI-100

    In terms of I/O's I'm looking for minimum:

    2/2 analogue
    s/pdif
    midi i/o
    mic/guitar preamps

    This is keeping in mind I'll be taking this with me to DJ with the laptop midi controller so I'm not looking for loadsa I/O's!

    One that's really caught my eye is the M-audio Fast Track Ultra. Small USB 2.0 with 6/6 Analogue i/o's 4 preamps, midi and 2 headphone outs. Different from the fast track pro, any thoughts?

    Exciting times!! Love gettin my teeth into something new

    I've also gotta sneaky feeling I might have put this in the wrong forum, Mods feel free to move this if I'm right and my apologies Tipsy xmas doings I'm afraid

  5. #5
    Retired DJTT Moderator DvlsAdvct's Avatar
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    I'm a huge fan of my Audio8DJ, which has one XLR/1/4" with pre-amp, 8ins, 4 outs (all RCA) and MIDI I/O, but no S/PDIF for not much more than the Fast Track Ultra. I got no experience so I'll leave that to someone else.

    It's always fun sinking teeth into this new stuff, man. Keeps me going too! Good luck.
    It's the FAQ. Read it.

    My Mixes, Mashups and Rants

    Divided we stand
    United we fall

  6. #6

    Default

    I own an Audio 8 DJ, and I recommend it. Be careful if you are using a PC and Vista, resultats can be very hit and miss; some people have no problems, some people don't. If you are using a laptop; make sure your model has driver supports for windows XP; as having a dual boot setup (xp/vista) will be the safest solution. Lots of new laptops don't have real xp drivers supports so be aware of that.

    I'm currently using my audio8 on my mac and it's running fine

  7. #7
    Tech Wizard
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    Yeah it looks like no audio interfaces work well with vista really
    I remember the same problems though with the big change to XP, took a few years for everything to settle down, though it does seem to be taking its sweet time with Vista (especially with the next Windows 7 round the corner!)

    Have you guys had any experience with recording with the Audio 8 DJ? It looks great but seems more for monitoring and recording mixes/sets, but I might be wrong! I'll be using whichever box I get for home recording aswell, mainly with guitars, synths and vocals etc.. so good pre-amps are a must!

    Or would do you think it would be better to spend £100 on one for DJing then another £100-150 for recording? Would prefer to have one unit for both but you can't have everything

  8. #8
    Tech Wizard
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    Oh and just as a side note, I've pretty much got my heart set on a VCI-100 as opposed to a traditional mixer if that makes any difference!

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