EgoSys WaMi Box + Roland PC180a + Ableton LE - advice please

[bazylp]

Hi there.

I've just dug out (from the dark depths of a cupboard) a Roland PC180a midi keyboard and Egosys Wami Box. Is it worth persevering to get these to work with my new laptop computer or should I just scrap the idea and go with a new usb or PCI express card audio interface with midi capabilities.

Not looking for high end stuff, just a budget, computer based solution so my young (5 year old) son and I can experiment/learn/explore Ableton Lite (or other software DAWs).

Computer;
Toshiba Satellite L300D Laptop
AMD Turion X2 Dual core ZM-80
2 gig ram
3 usb ports
1 PCIexpress port
Windows Vista Home premium SP2

Audio interface;
Egosys WaMi Box (http://www.esi-audio.com/products/wamibox/)

Controller;
Roland PC180a (http://www.gearjunkies.com/product_info ... s_id=11292)


1. Can I use a PCMCIA to Expresscard adapter (http://sewelldirect.com/Express-Card-to ... dapter.asp) or (http://www.addonics.com/products/host_c ... xc34cb.asp) to connect the WaMi box to my laptop (I think the adapters only work with 32 bit cards - not sure whether the WaMi box is 16 or 32 bit compliant - have contacted Egosys but no reply yet)?

2. The last official driver for the WaMi box was 2002!. Could I use ASIO4All or something like the Dr Neuhaus driver (http://www.driversdrivers.com/active1481836.html) to get the WaMi box to work with Vista?

3. Should I just send the WaMi box to 'Obsolete Musical Equipment Heaven' and get a USB or PCIe audio interface (e.g. Tascam US144 mk2, NI Audio Kontrol, M-Audio Fast Track Pro etc) to use with the PC180a, or should I opt for a controller with integrated audio interface (e.g. M-audio KeyStudio 49) or could I get the Akai LPK25 and use my laptop's internal soundcard (Realtek)? Any recommendations (US$100-200) greatly appreciated?


Thank you in advance.

[rikhyray]

Wami box my 1000 Deutsch Mark thrown away, the worst buy of my life.Was the first ever portable interface but I dont think they ever made it work.Even became friends with the company founders at the Musik Messe (they are musicians) they send me later the newest free but forget about it any cheapest card of today will work much better, I mean it will work while Wami never. Audio Kontrol 1 will be the best from cards you listed.

[bazylp]

Thanks for the reply. I thought so. I did manage to get it to work with my previous laptop but that had a PCMCIA II slot, XP and Traktor 1 (although I remember it being fiddly to set up at the time).