ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

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mgpg
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ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by mgpg » Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:52 am

This looks exactly like the product I'm looking for: http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Expre ... /index.php

However:
- does it sound as good as a 'normal' external audio interface?
- how about latency?

Anyone got one of these or played around with one of these? If so, how do you rate it?

Thanks in advance!

janiq
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by janiq » Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:21 pm

had one in the past only for pcmcia which is kinda little bit bigger. it has a really good sound quality, you can run it on low latency easily but for me there was one major drawback - plastic bit with a volume knob just fell apart after using it for about a year (mostly at home) so just be aware of that you have to be really careful when using it...

convex
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by convex » Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:25 pm

I agree with that evaluation. I use the PCMCIA version in an older laptop, and it sounds as good as any of the larger Echo sound cards I've used in other computers. Echo drivers are good as well, easy to install and latency is not an issue. As janiq said, the external plastic housing is a bit fragile and it may start to get wonky after a while. Mine has started to come apart a bit, and one of the outputs is cutting out, but that is after 5 or 6 years of use and LOTS of plugging and unplugging of 1/8 inch jacks. For the price and the portability, I certainly got my money's worth.

Anubis
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by Anubis » Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:47 pm

I've had the Indigo IOx for about three years. It's a fine interface and the most compact since it literally stays inside your notebook. The drivers are rock solid. However while audio fidelity is excellent is isn't as good as some of the next tier interfaces such as Focusrite USB 6.
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mgpg
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by mgpg » Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:47 pm

Well, I definitely love the features of the Indigo DJx, but I need something that - above all - is stable and trustworthy... So I'd better find something else?

convex
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by convex » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:49 pm

I don't think so. Stable and trustworthy accurately describe my experience with the thing. Consider, though, that if you leave the card plugged into your laptop all the time, it's going to get banged around a bit because it protrudes from the side. After 6 years of this combined with literally thousands of times of me plugging cables and headphones into and out of it, it started to get a bit scratchy. Not unexpected. Everything wears out eventually.

The upside is that you never have to carry around a USB or firewire cable, extra power cable, and a larger external interface. Also, while the fidelity might not be on par with larger, more expensive gear, the card is quiet and generates a clear signal. I've never heard buzz, hum or any interference from the fans or internal disk drives, and I've never had an issue with the Windows drivers. It also allows you to keep your precious few laptop USB and firewire ports free for controllers and hard drives if you have them.

Again, for the price and the size, it's hard to beat if you want a super-portable 4 ch. output card. I'm not an Echo rep or anything, but I do think their cards get slept on sometimes.
Last edited by convex on Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mgpg
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by mgpg » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:56 pm

convex wrote:I don't think so. Stable and trustworthy accurately describe my experience with the thing. Consider, though, that if you leave the card plugged into your laptop all the time, it's going to get banged around a bit because it protrudes from the side. After 6 years of this combined with literally thousands of times of me plugging cables and headphones into and out of it, it started to get a bit scratchy. Not unexpected. Everything wears out eventually.

The upside is that you never have to carry around a USB or firewire cable, extra power cable, and a larger external interface. Also, while the fidelity might not be on par with larger, more expensive gear, the card is quiet and generates a clear signal. I've never heard buzz, hum or any interference from the fans or internal disk drives. It's quiet and I've never had an issue with the Windows drivers. It also allows you to keep your precious few laptop USB and firewire ports free for controllers and hard drives if you have them.

Again, for the price and the size, it's hard to beat if you want a super-portable 4 ch. output card. I'm not a Echo rep or anything, but I do think their cards get slept on sometimes.
Alright, thanks for your advice. I'm hitting up my local music store on friday and I'll be sure to give them a test run.
Cheers

convex
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by convex » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:57 pm

Glad to help. Good luck with it.

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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by Tarekith » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:56 pm

I had all of the Indigo's at one point, they work really good and sound fine for live use. As mentioned though, just be sure to disconnect it when moving your laptop or putting it in a bag. The plastic tends to break, not designed to be left in the laptop all the time.
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mgpg
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by mgpg » Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:17 am

Really excited about getting now after reading all this.

By the way, does anyone know any similar devices to the Indigo DJx ?
I didn't find any other ExpressCard audio interfaces, but there must be more of them out there?

mgpg
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by mgpg » Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:27 am

One more thing ... something on the Echo website got me confused.
It says: Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 64-bit mode not supported.

I am, in fact, running OS X Snow Leopard, but I have no idea if that's in 64-bit or 32-bit mode ... how to find out?

janiq
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by janiq » Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:06 am

if you have the latest snow leopard installed then by default its 64 bit. but you should not worry as even though its running in 64 bit there is still lots of 32 bit apps on in the background. just look in the activity monitor apps/utilities (there should be a column 'kind' which shows you which app is running in what mode). to summarize you are going to be ok running 32 bit drivers in 64 bit mode as most of 32 bit apps running fine.

Anubis
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by Anubis » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:38 pm

mgpg wrote:
By the way, does anyone know any similar devices to the Indigo DJx ?
I didn't find any other ExpressCard audio interfaces, but there must be more of them out there?
Image
9.0.4 Suite-Samsung Chronos 7 laptop(17")-12GB RAM-Samsung 840 series SSD(250GB)-iPad2-Maschine-TouchAble-SaffirePro24-Saffire6USB-Komplete Audio 6-Axiom25-PCR300-Nocturn-LaunchPad-QuNeo-QuNexus
miTunes

mgpg
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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by mgpg » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:57 pm

Anubis wrote:
mgpg wrote:
By the way, does anyone know any similar devices to the Indigo DJx ?
I didn't find any other ExpressCard audio interfaces, but there must be more of them out there?
Image
How does this one stack up again the Indigo DJx?

EDIT: nevermind, this seems to be aimed at gamers?

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Re: ECHO Indigo DJx - reviews?

Post by Tarekith » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:35 pm

Avoid.
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