Has someone tested the Echo Indigo DJ PCMCIA Card?

scotty · Post by **scotty** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 8:58 pm

similar to spyder's question (thanks for that image by the way!)... has anyone used the indigo's virtual outputs in Live as a test to see how it's channel/track summing/mixing compares versus Live's internal summing/mixing on the main output? I ask because I've seen a thread or two here where a few people felt that Live's summing didn't sound as good as say that in DP4 or Logic's or whatever.

Also, how are the Indigo IO's inputs?

And would the indigo's output offer me much of an advantage over a powerbook's built-in audio outs in the context of a live show?

thanks,
scotty

arar · Post by **arar** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 8:30 am

Well Ive been in touch withASAP in London and the latest word is that Ill have my soundcard in another two or 3 weeks. As Ive said before reviews suggest that the indigo cards are very low noise, Ill find the links and post them.

arar · Post by **arar** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 8:36 am

http://www.americanmusical.com/item.asp ... ECH+INDIGO

review of I/O card, I would imagine they are all to this quality in terms of sound output and low noise

spyder · Post by **spyder** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 3:01 pm

well, i broke down and ordered the indigo i/o the other day. however there was a mixup and i ended up recieving the indigo dj yesterday (i had it overnight shipped, so they were probably in a rush and grabbed the wrong one).

however, i still was able to do the test that i mentioned in my previous post about using the virtual outputs to split the single stereo out into seperate mono channels, and yes it is certainly possible to do what i was inquiring about.

if you are willing to go mono, the indigo i/o (or the original indigo for that matter) can certainly be used for pre-listening or for mixing on an external mixer - as can the indigo dj be used to have up to 4 seperate mono outs.

the nice thing about it is that indigo console allows you to send the signal from both the left and right channel of a virtual output to a single channel, so by going mono you're not losing anything from tracks that have stereo elements.

the console mixer sounds great, and fairs well for mixing between apps and what not, but i couldn't tell you if it's much of an advantage over just mixing in live. the outputs sound great too. very pristine and no noise. i'm going from using an m-audio quattro, and the quality is comparable.

as far as latency, i am able to go down to 128 samples no problem. however, on busier pieces i noticed a bit of crackling. so 256 samples (6 ms) seems to be the better setting for me. (using an emachines athlon 2400 laptop)

now i just need to get this indigo dj exchanged for the i/o model, so i can continue to do what i'm doing but with the ability to record also.

Release · Post by **Release** » Sun Oct 26, 2003 9:44 pm

.........do I need any external connectors to do what you are talking about, I pressume I will!

On another note, I got my card on Fri (sounds f***ing awsome!) but i'm thinking of sending it back as my compaq presario won't reboot if I shut down with the card still in.(I have to press reset about 3 times or take the card out & put it back in after booting)
This can't be right can it?

Release

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 8:33 am

got mine on saturday.
no problems with booting.
just perfect sound.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 11:41 pm

Release wrote:.........do I need any external connectors to do what you are talking about, I pressume I will!

On another note, I got my card on Fri (sounds f***ing awsome!) but i'm thinking of sending it back as my compaq presario won't reboot if I shut down with the card still in.(I have to press reset about 3 times or take the card out & put it back in after booting)
This can't be right can it?

Release

I have this same problem on my powerbook using the echo Indigo IO. I also sometimes have problems waking my pb from sleep with the card inserted.

-scotty

six_wax · Post by **six_wax** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 7:44 pm

just got the Indigo dj a few days ago. I am experiencing crackling on the line outs! (in both Abelton and iDVD --doing low cpu tasks that work fine through the built in audio driver on my TiBook G4)

still troubleshooting. Echo tech support says it might be a bad card.

dave_g · Post by **dave_g** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 8:57 pm

i've buyed today the indigo dj.
The quality is really good,
i can have 3ms stable latency in live and reason,
on a pb 867 with panther, but when using reaktor 4
i get pops and crackles. This happens also
playng a dvd at full screen.
Now i'll contact echo support,
perhaps these probs are related to panther
(they are ufficially for jaguar)
if so i hope drivers will be updated soon.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 8:41 am

jeez, just set up latency to 512 samples(11.6 ms).
that's a latency so small u can work with it without recognizing any delay (especially in reaktor!).

if u are a timing 'superman' u can set it to 256 samples (5.8 ms) that will work with ur computer, too.
remember the more softsynths/sampler/sequencer u use at the same time the more problems u will get with a latency of 3 ms or below.

it's like driving a fast car with a trailer and wondering that accelleration is going down when filling the trailer with stones.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:18 am

i've set latency low and now works fine with all except for the dvdplayer (panther). I get dropouts and there isn't a way to control the latency in dvdplayer. Another problem is that using videolan to play a divx, it lets me assign only an output mono at time, so i hear all my divx as mono!
Anyone that has the indigo can confirm and know how to resolve???
I've mailed the support but they still haven't replyed. Thanks. BYE

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:43 pm

crappy mac

knowa · Post by **knowa** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 3:07 pm

just posting to report fantastic results on a Toshiba M15-S405 (XP Home, moderately tweaked) with the indigo i/o. in case there are others out there wondering whether the indigo will work ok with this machine. I don't know if this will generalize to other Toshiba models, but I have no trouble using a buffer size of 512 or 256 (11.6 and 5.3 ms latency, respectively). works great with Live, Reason, Tracktion. dead quiet and brilliant sound.

one caveat--if I boot up with the card in place, it will not see it, I must insert it after I've started (no big deal).

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 10:56 am

knowa: did u follow the instructions to first install the driver and then reboot with the card inserted?
i've got no such problems with my sony z1. i put it into place some weeks aqo (indigo dj) and never removed it.
no problems.

mic-minimal · Post by **mic-minimal** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 11:17 am

ditto here on a panasonic W2 letsnote centrino
doesn't matter whether I leave it in or not, boots and recognizes with no probs. the indigo i/o and Live have changed the game for me.

Has someone tested the Echo Indigo DJ PCMCIA Card?

Thanks for the link Spyder.....

Re: Thanks for the link Spyder.....

ugh.