Ok i’m looking for soundcard. I’m pretty sure i only need one input and then 4 outputs. One input from the computer and then 2 out for monitor 2 out for master.
I’m going to use this with my Traktor and Ableton Live controlled by various midi controllers(still building my prefered setup). And i’d be rocking this in small parties as well as some of the major clubs in Amsterdam. So it needs to be good. But what is good? Is Audiofire 4 good enough fx?
I’ve been searching some other threads but it seems to go a bit under and over my requirements. I’m looking for something that can do the job well.
Haha.. no. i’m still no pro. But i am a resident dj at a party in a quite big club. But that dosen’t mean a whole lot of money.
Of course the price range is minimum, something like 200-300. Otherwise i could just go an buy one of the little bit more advanced and be pretty sure of quality. But i need it quite cheap. So, cheap and good? And then i’m not talking about Maya or something like that. No body familiar with the Audiofire 4?
The Audiofire 4 is a really solid piece of gear! No doubt…
I can also recomend the Focusrite Saffire LE. Really stable and fantastic sound. And you get some extra in/outputs that could come in handy later on.
I personally use the Audio Kontrol 1 from Native Instruments. I am really happy with it. Have never had any fall outs and love the bassy sound it produces
I hear you can get the M-Audio FW410 for a bit over 300 euros now since they brought out the FW610 now It does the trick for me for djing as well as producing. Had some problems with it in the beginning, but that was due to lack of drivers, but now that they have fixed that, its running as smooth as.
Ok i’ve never heard of that audio kontrol before. But now i just bought the KRK Rokit 5 for myself as a birthday present so i’ll just have to let my Behringer BCD3000 do as a soundcard for a while. The sound is fine and i have never had any problem with that in a club. I’ve been thinking about switching the behringar out for a vci soon. But For now i’ll have to do with this setup + my uc-33.
Thanks for the help guys.
Not to sound as a wise guy, but if you use the build in soundcard in the BCD3000 to spin in big clubs, a soundcard upgrade should be your first priority, imo.
I’d go with a Presonus Firebox. The sound quality is terrific, the box is rugged as hell, it has Presonus mic pres, and it’s loud as hell. I regularly use it and an M-Audio FireWire 410, and I would definitely pic the Presonus for live play any day. In terms of sound quality it’s about the best (and loudest) you can get before spending beaucoup bucks for an RME Hammerfall or similar.
Presonus Firebox is very good for the price… However.. if price is not a real issue.. Id recommend the MOTU Ultralite. It sounds amazingly “transparent” and very loud, clear sound. Shame I sold mine to get the NI AUdio8DJ just for the timecode capability.
Well i know the bcd3000 isn’t the hippest or best machine on the market. But i just bought it like a year ago when i started playing around and then there came better gigs and bigger places.
I’ve never had any problem with the sound quality though. I bet it can be better but i have never had anyone come up to me and say “Hey dude, the sounds seriously sucks” And normally people come and share their opinions with me.
The firebox looks good, and it’s not that expensive. I might look into that. But like i said, with newly purchased KRK’s, uc-33 and Sennheiser hd-25 II i’ll need to take a serious look at my budget before spending on a soundcard(and a new mixer).
If you’re just playing house parties, I’d say sure, stick with the BCD3000. If you’re playing anything bigger, I would get a dedicated soundcard. You will hear the difference right away. Behringer’s audio quality if purest shit. (Sure, it’s my opinion, but I’m not exactly a lone voice crying in the wilderness about their low-grade components.)
i have had a m-audio sonica theater 4-5 years. even though i use a pc i goto mac stores to look for peripherals cus they never sell anything janky. the price back then was aprox 200$ U.S..
the only issues i ever had w/ it was when i was using a usb2.0 pcma card. i went through 3 diff pcma cards to find out they all used the same crappy internal chips that had no documentation,support & were hard to find proper drivers for. stay away from any that use the internal chips by “ALI”
my choice is kinda outdated know but that long ago there were not many choices for a laptop back then.
just remember that some peripherals refuse to work w/usb hubs or refuse unless external power is hooked up on the hub.
it also helps to use the same items on the same usb ports every time or you end up having the system reinstall the drivers & such.
“The FireBox features a Zero-Latency DSP mixer that allows you to mix all six live inputs with a software output stream, then route that mix to any one of its outputs, as well as assign either that mix or a software output stream to its headphone amplifier. This feature eliminates monitoring through the computer and makes it easy to customize a mix for the artist. It also allows CUEING for DJ’s and live performance where the headphone output can monitor a completely different signal than the MAIN outputs”
Does this mean that i can send the monitor signal straight from Traktor to the headphone output on the soundcard? Or is it only through that mixer? Anybody that has experience of that?
