Ableton Forum

whas the best sound card yo upgrade my powerbook?

Apogee Rosetta 800 with the Firewire expansion would be a contender, as would their Ensemble interface.

Metric Halo as well.

"best soundcard" based on what budget exactly?

i would like to spend about 200$ and would go up to 300$. how crazy expensive does it get?

a lot more expensive!
my experience has led me to stay away from m-audio. 2 out of 2 were crap for me. your milage may vary.

generictwin wrote:i would like to spend about 200$ and would go up to 300$. how crazy expensive does it get?

The Apogee Rosetta 800 mentioned above for instance comes in at about 3000 euro.


You say best soundcard for OSX but you don't say if it's a laptop or desktop or what you'll be using it for.

i use the F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 with a powerbook. it sounds pretty good, low latency and is very portable. only 1i/o, but thats all i need as it goes into a mixer.
very reasonable price too.
http://www.behringer.com/FCA202/index.cfm?lang=ENG

i am using a powerbook. i would like something with several outputs if possible too. i probably only need 2 inputs also.

While we are on the subject of of wasting time, what is the best car to buy? I'd really like the best car that's made. I've got about $800 to spend...

Seriously, why don't you just call Sweetwater, get a free catalog, look at it pull out the three or four soundcards that are offered for $200-$300 and THEN maybe post in a forum and see what people think of the options.

Yes, an Apogee Rosetta costs about $4,000 here in the states. Something tells me it's a little beyond what you would ever need.

This guy is the reason M-Audio exists.

In all fairness...

If you are using a powerbook, only need 2 inputs and would like more outs, I'd suggest (and this is probably a different route than anyone else will tell you) the discontinued (as of about four plus years ago) Emagic EMI 2/6.

I bought one off of Ebay last year for $35. In my opinion it's the best looking soundcard ever made. Built in Germany. Still works flawlessly on my brand new Macbook. The drivers haven't been updated since I belive 2003! I plugged it in after downloading the old driver and the ins and outs work fine on my brand new machine.

I previously owned a G4 powermac and used the EMI everyday for recording. This was a win win situation as the 2/6's ins and outs are RCA and I happened to have 1/4" to RCA monster cables hanging around!

I'm not kidding, $35

Do you even need a soundcard? The one that's in my iBook is fine for just outs.

the reason i want to have sever OUTs is that I am building sound for media installation and want to dedicate tracks to different speakers throughout the space. thats the kind of thing i'm looking for. its unrealistic to ask for hi end gear and low prices but i thought i'de give a shout here in this forum and see what people recommend. i use ableton to compse sounds so i wanted to know what people were using as far as sound cards. but seriously does anybody know where i can buy a bmw for 800$?

Just bite the bullet and get a MOTU Ultralite. It isn't as cheap as what you would like, ~$550, but it is all you will ever need until you have the budget to buy an RME or an Apogee.

Just look it up. It will be great for you, it is what I plan to get when I have the funds.

Best,
AB

Forget the guys here who are giving you crap, but it is true that if you ask more specific questions, or give more detailed information, you will get better responses.

There are also the Echo Audiofire line of cards, but some have been having some issues with them.

one look at that thing (MOTU Ultralite) and i've got to have it! yeah it's worth the extra money and i love the look of the interface. Thanks for the input.
-g