Hercules RMX Vs. Steel & Maya 44

[ohmyjosh]

Hi guys,

I'm just about to buy my first external mixer and had set on the Hercules Steel with a Maya 44 soundcard, until I heard that the latency is higher with the Maya than it would be using the RMX's built in soundcard (which may explain the extra cost over buying the maya seperate with the steel). But then I came across someone saying a Steel with Maya 44 has better sound quality when compared to the RMX.

My question to you guys is which is more important, sound quality (my choice so far) or latency? And what are your experiences with the RMX Vs. Steel with a Maya 44?

Thanks

[Jester]

I would go for the steel plus the soundcard, the steel is a great controller but i think the soundcard is a bit naff in the RMX.

[ohmyjosh]

Yeah, that's what I'm feeling, but there are alot of people really pro RMX, I'm not sure.
But for less money and with the possiblity of upgrading either the Steel or Maya if needs be in the future, I reckon it's probably the best bet.

BTW Jester, I also read that the maya's latency will be about 4... is this good? bad? average? That same perosn mentioned the RMX would be 1.2?!?!?

[Jester]

Haven't had a chance to try the rmx, but imo the steel is an awesome controller. if only it and the vci had a baby, that would be just perfect
As far as latency goes, anything below 10ms is pretty much considered "real time", so 4 would be sweet. I run at about 11 with no problems.

[ohmyjosh]

That's great, cheers.

Ahhh, I wish I could afford a VCI. I can dream though

[Jester]

We've got a Steel and a I-Mix CE, which i use at home but gets demoted to fx duty when we play The steel has a lot of extra knobs and fx section just like the vci, but has more room i.e its big! the wheels are a bit beside the point but unless you wanna try your hand at scratching they are more than adequate.

[jimbob5000]

Don't buy the maya. Just don't.
It may have been okay in it's days (i had one), but it is just not up to par anymore. Latency is up to par, but it just sounds bad, kind of muffled, and the output level is pretty low compared to modern soundcards. (Compare it to an Audio4 and you'l know what I mean).
Use the Steel's outputs for a while and if you feel they're not good enough, save up a few extra bucks for something decent, or you will be paying twice.

[ohmyjosh]

I'm confused, what do you mean use the steels outputs? How can I do this with no soundcard built in? Also, is there any better soundcards for around the same price? I know the audio 2 is 79GBP but I don't want to spend thatmuch just to spend again when I need more outputs/inputs.

[jimbob5000]

Sorry, I always confuse the Steel and the RMX .

As far as the Audio2 is concerned, it has the same amount of outputs. It has no inputs, which you probably won't need if you stick with DJing. I haven't had my hands on it, but if it is anything like the audio4 and audio8, sound-quality-wise it would be a good choice.

All I'm saying is that I think you will be disappointed with the Mayas sound quality (inputs and outputs). If that is not a problem for you and price is all that matters, then go for it. In the end it's your choice.

[ohmyjosh]

I thought the maya had 4 inputs and 4 outputs and an headphone output? While the audio 2 only has one of each?

EDIT: If you reckon the Audio2 is a better choice I'll probably go for that...