Soundcard. Upgrade to Audio 8 Dj from MAudio FW Audiophile?
Hi,
New to the forum…
Been dj for over 8 years now… due to a new life (family, mortage) I “decided” to stop djing about a year ago but, like everyone knows, it is impossible!!
I decided to go digital after selling my AH 62 and my 2 cdj1000.
My current digital setup includes a MacBook Pro 2.6ghz, 4gb ram, M-Audio FW audiophile and a recent VCI 100…
My question is: is it worth to upgrade to a Audio 8 DJ or stay with my MAudio FW? or, what is a similar FW option in the 400 or less price range…
I’ve seen lots of posts about soundcards but now im way too lost…
Ofcause the Audio8 is a better soundcard, with a bit more bassy feel then the M-audio. But it all depends on your needs. If you play a big clubs then yes, I would go for the upgrade. If you just play at home and at smaller parties, then no need for the upgrade. After all, the M-Audio is not a bad soundcard at all.
Well, FW has a better stability reputation than USB 2.0. But I dont think its an issue any longer since the USB drivers has become a lot better and more stable. Personally I use a USB 2.0 soundcard (the Auidokontrol 1 also from NI) and have never had any stability issues.
These days stability problems is more often a result of your computers inability to run the software, than the souncard.
The key factor for me in switching from a fw interface to a USB2.0 is that my Maudio firewire 410 interface needed to be plugged in because my PC only had a 4pin firewire port. I think the macs might supply power on the firewire port. I switched to an Audio Kontrol 1 which is fully powered by the USB port.
I have had it happen a few times where a circuit breaker trips in a club. My laptop will stay up, but my firewire 410 loses power then I have to reboot the laptop. So my current top criteria after low latency,audio quality and stability is not having to be plugged in.
I would probably stick with the audiophile, especially if it was stable for you before.
It is true: the FW Audiophile is 100% fully powered by the mac’s bus. THAT is a big plus!
Also, i changed Traktor 3.3 latency to 4.0ms and the thing worked like a charm… there were no hickups / dropouts in the playback, cpu load was no more than a 1/4 of the display bar…
