What AudioInterface do you use?
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  1. #1
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    Default What AudioInterface do you use?

    Hey out there!

    The audio interface, as the connector between the Laptop and Soundsystem, is beside Controller and DjSoftware the most important thing for the bitjockeys. There are so many different options, but which one is best? What are the most popular Soundcards? what Experiences do you have?

    I think these questions are not only very interesting for me, but for all the people who are interested in digital music or who are planning to buy a new Soundcard in the near future - like me

    so...
    what soundcards do you use? what pros and cons do you have noticed? would u recommend it to your friends?

    cheers

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard
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    well two weeks ago I bought a mixvibes u46 mkII (200€)and I've returned and I've ordered a NI Audio 8 DJ(360€). I'm very happy with it and it worth all the money it costs.

    the music flows through this soundcard. it just works, low latency, great sound quality and high outputs.

    Yes is 160€ more expensive than 200€ soundcard but after a year, you won't remember how much the card was, you will only remember if you are happy with your soundcard or not.

    Moreover, with this sound card you can connect whenever you want a DigitalVinylSystem like traktor scratch timecoded vinyls/cd's or mixviber, or serato...
    Last edited by rialler; 03-31-2008 at 12:10 PM.

  3. #3
    Tech Convert
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    I was using an external 24bit Soundblaster card but I had to use Asio4All drivers for headphone cue'ing and it failed me a few times. Therefore I purchased a Numark DJ|Io and that works PERFECTLY alongside my Numark Total Control with Traktor!

  4. #4
    Mr. Golden EanGolden's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rialler View Post
    well two weeks ago I bought a mixvibes u46 mkII (200€)and I've returned and I've ordered a NI Audio 8 DJ(360€). I'm very happy with it and it worth all the money it costs.

    what problems did you have with the mix vibes card?

  5. #5
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    Default Audio 8 DJ a Pretty Good Soundcard

    I have been using the Audio 8 DJ soundcard for a couple of months and its a great soundcard. Im not going to describe the features because the official website does it better job then me but rather the small problem I have encountered. The biggest problem I have encountered is a small procedure that I have to perform before I get audio out of my speakers. Maybe its because I have Leopard installed on my mac and the drivers are not working as they should, since its a new operating system. Anyways, the procedure is plug the interface first, then open Traktor 3.2 and hopefully it works, if not i have to, do it a second or third time. Another set back is the gray lettering against the black background its very hard to see in the dark and thank god for a cell phone. These small set backs, is again very small and the rest is working great. For example, I was giving a 101 class to my friends about why this soundcard is the bomb by comparing it to a computers soundcard (I know its not a fair fight) but for a moment they thought this small box was an amp/eq/input device.

    My grammar composition is not that great so please understand haha.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by eangolde View Post
    what problems did you have with the mix vibes card?
    well, maybe not problems but thinks I didn't like it:

    1.- Headphones output: not for headphone cueing. This output is linked internally to all outputs. In mixvibes forums is explained a trick to cueing with that output but not a real cueing because you will still listen 2 songs at the same time but one louder than the other. for real headphone cueing like a mixer you have to plug the headphones into a RCA output 3/4 or 5/6 with no amp.

    2.- It didn't improve the sound quality of sound blaster X-FI (PCI Card). And mix vibes has lower outputs (same song, same program, different speaker volume to listen it with the same level)

    3.- this thing is really annoying: when I'm in traktor, I usually drag and drop songs not from the playlist, but the windows explorer. when I opened a folder outside traktor the sound stops (about half a second or less but noticeable).

    And traktor didn't run fluent at low latency (7'5-10ms).

    Otherwise, audio 8, works flawlessly and it's connected to same USB port I've connected MixVibes.

    Moreover, Audio 8 is 2.0 USB protocol and mixvibes is 1.1. But I think is the less important thing.

  7. #7
    Tech Wizard The Duelist's Avatar
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    To Play Out I Use An NI DJ Audio8.

    In The Studio, I Use A Korg Zero8.

  8. #8
    Tech Guru Fatlimey's Avatar
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    I use an Edirol FA66, which although it says it has 6-outs actually has 4 outs you can use and two digital outs that are utterly useless, so it's just enough for DJing. Rock solid performance, it really does "just work". Two things, 1. it's firewire only, which limits the kinds of laptops you can buy, and 2. Although it can be bus powered (yay!) I haven't seen a laptop outside of an Apple that has the necessary 6-pin plugs (boo!) so I still have to carry around a wall-wart.



    If your sound card is working well, you shouldn't even have to think about it.
    Last edited by Fatlimey; 03-31-2008 at 02:14 PM. Reason: Additinal info.

  9. #9
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    I'm using a Macbook and my external soundcard is a Miglia HarmonyAudio,
    it has 4 stereo outputs and as I'm using an external mixer, I can connect the 4 decks in Traktor 3.3 to 4 channels on my mixer and then I use the cueing on the mixer. It handles up 24bit/96kHz. The HarmonyAudio also have a stereo input that I use to record my vinyls to digital files in high resolution. I have not compared it to any other soundcard but to my ears is sounds very nice. It's rather small and connect to my computer thru Firewire. Supports Core Audio on the Mac and I'm running OS X 10.5.2 and have had no problem in the year I've had this soundcard.

    /Calle
    Last edited by dcalle; 03-31-2008 at 02:35 PM. Reason: added pics

  10. #10
    Tech Wizard Guust-Fi's Avatar
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    Default Numark DJiO

    I'm using a Numark DJiO at the moment but I don't think I''m going to keep it.
    You can only use it with a program that supports output routing such as Traktor or Ableton and its functionality overall is very limited. It supports 1 mic (2ch in) and 4ch out (the monitor booth output is the same as headphone out). The control panel basically only allows you to adjust the latency and that's it! Just for dj'ing it still is a decent solution though.

    With the latest drivers 2.8.9 and firmware 1.0.1(k1) you kan decrease the latency down to 128 samples 4.9/17.2 ms in the driver control panel and it seems to run completely stable on my E6750 - 2GB RAM - Vista SP1 system running 15 programs simultaneously with multiple effects. In Traktor it says 2.5ms with that setting. If I try to go lower I hear an occasional click when I try fancy stuff.

    Bass is deeper than my other soundcard (Chaintech AV-710) and it seems to sound less fatiguing as well, kind of less harsh. This makes late night headphone-only mixing more fun. The extra bass also reduces the need to pump up the overall volume because now you can feel it in a similar way like you would with regular speakers... we do want to protect our ears right?
    The DJiO sounds fuller than my previous soundcard as well. I'm not sure if I like that. Perhaps I could benefit from a better external soundcard that offers more transparency.

    The headphones I'm using (not for cueing) are Sennheiser HD-555's btw.
    Last edited by Guust-Fi; 03-31-2008 at 02:54 PM.

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