(help) going from semi-pro card to pro

[itchie]

ok i have this m-audio 8 fast ultra card its great but only has 6 inputs

i need to break out into the 8-16 input world and yes im going to use a cheep Behringer ada converter for my extra 8 channels

so should i go all out and get the digi003 or should i get the lesser known brands eg M-audio profire26/26, the motu 16/16 or the presonus firestudio 24/24

i guess in the end i need a card that will work on windows7 and multiple DAW support

any help will be appreciated

[nucjd]

Hey itchie. You are going down the same road as myself. I am running a 002 and a ADA800 with 16 inputs. The cool thing about both of those units is when you get ready, you can send them to Black Lion audio in Chicago and get the 003 and the ADA8000 gutted and modified for around a thousand dollars. Once modified the the 002 and the ADA sound GREAT. THe optamps are swapped out, the pres are swapped out, they add an extra power supply to the 002/003 so there is no cross talk between the digital and the audio side, they put in super high end word clock and finally everything is shielded (I am sure I am missing something that they do as well, check out their website) I have been extremely happy with this set up and I will be posting up a link to our recent recordings soon. My brother is a mix engineer and is FLOORED with this set so much so that he created a similar setup for mobile recording. To get the same recording level and sound quality you would have to spend about 30,000. My brother says my ADA is not quite on a level of an Avalon pre ( He says very close though), however just one of those pre's can run you two thousand dollars and if I am even half close then I am in the game. It is a great deal and IMHO you can't go wrong with what you have described.

[nucjd]

Oh and BTW, I run a light pipe between the ADA and the 002 for connection( the only way) which only allows those channels to on the ADA to be recorded at 44kbps instead of 96, but not a problem at all because that is the standard recording bit rate usually for drums and running 16 channels at 96kbps will kill you computer unless it is a monster

[itchie]

so should i get the over priced 003 or the other ones?

[itchie]

theres a 90% i wont use pro tools so i guess the other options are better

[nucjd]

Oh, was assuming you used pro tools. If my memory serves I think the hardware works with other equipment, but would be a bit difficult.

[itchie]

if its as difficult as its been so far with my other sound cards and other DAW's then it will be a piece off cake

[Arctic Bird]

ive got the digimax lt, after reading several reviews, along with using cubase instead of pro tools, decided to go with the profire 2626 linked via 'light pipe'.

if i was going pro tools though, the digi 002 combo with black lion mod seems to be a widely accepted practice.

[Bish]

I've only had experience with M-Audio products and they work great for drums or guitar.

[itchie]

might just go with high end m-audio card they have pro tools support now so if i end up down that road it should work fine