Soundcard for live PA notebook

Heya

I need to buy a soundcard for my laptop.
I will use it mainly for live PAs but also for production.

What is most important is:
Obviously OK sound qual.
Low latency (I use a midi controller)
Portable (PCMCIA or _small_ external)
Price (400-500EURO)
Works good with Ableton Live and Cubase SX.

I checked Ableton's homepage and they recommend "Echo Indigo DJ" (http://www.ableton.com/index.php?mai...&sub=indigo_dj) and Hammerfall (http://www.ableton.com/index.php?mai...=rme_multiface).

They both seem fine to me except that Hammerfall is a bit too big.

Do you know if this Echo Indigo DJ is good?
Or any other good PCMCIA card?

There are new RME's out m8... check the forum for the news... there is also some firewire cards coming out...

Give us a number 2 work with... I would go for the motu 828/ rme / edirol FA101/ M-audio for stability and reliability... The new firewire can b a bitc* 2 get it working but once it's there it's a breaze... or even the simpler studiophile firewire!

Z

If you want bang for the buck, the M-audio firewire cards are the ones to go for. The firewire 410 has 8 outs which is good if u run things to an xternal mixer. And they aren't that expensive for what u get. Midi timing is solid.

Thank you =)

I will check some stuff out in Madrid today. We have a whole street of music shoppes here =D


So I take it the Echo Indigo is no good?

depends, what are your requirements?

Edit - Theres better cards around than the echo indigo dj. You may pay a tiny bit more but you'll be getting more functionality. The ones Ze listed are all decent (but i dont know about the edirol one).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buttman

Thank you =)

I will check some stuff out in Madrid today. We have a whole street of music shoppes here =D


So I take it the Echo Indigo is no good?

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there is no input on the echo dj card allthough they do another with i/o which is a bit more expensive personally i would go for a firewire or usb 2
device, edirol or motu are very good choices and i believe m audio stuff is very good for the money, kinda depends how much i/o you want.

currently i'm using the ozone with my laptop, i don't need a multitude of outputs.

but i want to get the regular echo pcmcia card because of how small it is, and the fact that it doesn't need an external power source, perfect for planes trains and automobiles. ;)


the evolution uc-33e midi controler is why i don't need the extra outputs or have to lug around a huge ass mixer when a smaller one will do fine. makes it easier when dealing with customs too, you don't look like you're moving countries lol.

Hmm yes well I do want input. As far as output goes 2 is enough.

Portability is the problem with most of the cards you listed though. I do not want to lug around a rack you know =)
All should fit as hand luggage.

i had the original indigo (1stereo out) on my laptop and it was fine.. didnt need input very often so the cheapo one that came built into the laptop was fine.. i didnt use it for live - just for peein around on trax when at home or away.. latency was far better than the built in card as was sound quality.

If you dont need multple outs i'd give the indigo a go man

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buttman

Hmm yes well I do want input. As far as output goes 2 is enough.

Portability is the problem with most of the cards you listed though. I do not want to lug around a rack you know =)
All should fit as hand luggage.

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would you count the firewire 410 as too large??