Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 18, 2003 10:31 AM |
mcolley |
I'm starting to make the transition to OSX and must say fairwell to my trusty Korg 1212 (on the OSX set-up at least) and was wondering what I could replace it with? I also have a Korg 168RC digital mixer with dual lightpipe and SPDIF I/O. It would be nice to keep the mixer and find something that would work with it. However, it a rather complicated machine for my post video workstation and am willing to go an entire new direction. Any advise or success stories with audio and old world machines like my 9600. Thanks Marshall |
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RE: Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on |
February, 21, 2003 12:54 AM |
macman |
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Tom I don't have a dvd player in my mac. I understand that full surround sound is not supported because it only has the L/R channels. There's more details available on the MAudio site. Audio is great - no hums or other noise. For basic listening, I use a pair of cheap computer speakers, but for serious work, I playback through Soy MDR-V6 phones. The MAudio driver takes about 2-3% of the CPU when playing audio (iTunes) and about .2-1% of the CPU when idle. When importing sound, it takes a bit more - about 5-10% of the CPU. The MAudio driver/vitual patch panel has all the controls that you'd want - sampling rate, SPDIF copy bit stripping, as well as a virtual patch bay so that if you wanted, you could mix multiple sources, etc. It's supposed to work with multiple cards, so if you wanted you could have more control over more channels. There's a thread about 1 month ago with more details about the sound software that I decided on for basic audio work - Sound Studio 2.07. It has the basic functions that I need, since I have an external mixer. I tried Deck LE demo, but didn't need a virtual 8 track. I bought the card for the analog inputs as well as for the SPDIF (coax). When I get around to ripping my vinyl, I'm going to invest in one of those Stanton turntables that has SPDIF output. Got my card at Guitar Center back in September. I've not seen any issues with other cards. There have been siezing issues, but that was with earlier versions of Sound Studio. The 2.07 version is much more stable for me. I'm willing to try other software, as SS tends to get a little sketchy when dealing with huge sound files (>90 minutes). Sorry this is such a long answer, but I hope that this helps you out. Stephen |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 20, 2003 12:47 PM |
twoolley |
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Macman- Thanks for the information. I also have a Sonnet G4 800/Sonnet Tempo Trio/ATI Radeon 7000 in my PTPro running 10.2.4, but I'm using non-EDO RAM (preferred for my model). How is the sound quality - hum, noise, etc.? Have you been able to try playing DVD movies using the audio outs? And have you noticed any interface problems with other hardware - PCI Cards, hard drives, etc? Thanks for your input, Tom |
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RE: Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on |
February, 20, 2003 11:35 AM |
macman |
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I am using an Audiophile 2496 card in my 8600. Machine specs: 8600/Sonnet 800 G4/Sonnet Trio/ATI 7k. 1GB RAM, all EDO, running 10.2.4. I've been very happy with this card and its features. I've got mine feeding to/from a Behringer mixer (Maxie 1202 clone) for my project of converting my cassettes, reel, & vinyl to digital. Stephen |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 20, 2003 9:29 AM |
twoolley |
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Has anyone used M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI in a Old World Mac with OS X successfully? For my use it would be preferred, since it has digital coax in/out, CA stereo inputs and outputs, and MIDI in/out. M-Audio has OS 10.2x drivers available as well. I wonder how the sound compares to the Revolution 7.1? It might be worth the extra $50 or so for MIDI, since on my PowerTower Pro the serial inputs I use for MIDI in OS 9.1 are not recognized by OS X. It will send 5.1 Home Theatre sound out to most A/V receivers to decode through the Digital out, but this is not my main interest for a audio PCI card. And while the Revolution 7.1 has mini-plug analog and mic inputs, I would rather have RCA jacks to feed my Mackie 1604 Mic/Line mixer. As it is, I hate not having any sound input in OS X with XPostFacto. |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 19, 2003 10:54 PM |
marcush |
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I went and picked up an M-Audio card during my lunch break today and have just finished setting it up. I have not had a chance to do any audio input yet but output is working very well. I can't say perfectly yet because I heard ocassional distortion in the sound output. Still the drivers are still in the early stages of development. There have been three releases already (1.0, 1.2, and 1.2.3). I have to play around with the control panel to find an optimal setting because my Altec Lansing ACS 54 4.1 speakers are not included in the presets. Stereo w/integrated subwoofer seems to work better than any of the Altec Lansing presets. I have not attached my two surround speakers yet so the Altec Lansing ACS 33 setting, which most appoximates my speakers may turn out to be the best. I won't be expecting any direct support for this card though because unfortunately CPU upgrades are not supported. This is the only drawback that I can see so far. I'll report more later as I learn more. I have a Power Tower Pro w/Sonnet G4 800, 1GB RAM. I also use my machine for DVD playback, video editing and DVD authoring. |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 19, 2003 11:31 AM |
marcush |
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According to what the M-Audio reps told me at Macworld the sound problems from the built-in audio ports will not be a problem because that architecture is bypassed. The same should be true of USB, though it is a slower interface than PCI so their USB box has somewhat lower specification. They said that if you can go for the PCI card as it will perform better. |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 19, 2003 12:31 AM |
paul_findley |
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Will the m-audio pci card be free of the sound problems that plage old world macs' built in audio with OS X? What about their USB solutions? |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 18, 2003 9:50 PM |
tebjlc |
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I got an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 last week and it appears to work very well under 10.2.3 and 10.2.4 (big relief after my "SoundBlaster Live for Macintosh" fiasco..)I use my 9500 for DVD playback and video/ DVD editing,and it works well for that..for audio work ,try one of their more expensive/capable cards.. |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 18, 2003 6:51 PM |
kailmusic |
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I have a MOTU 2408 MkII w/324 PCI card. MOTU is supposed to have the OS X driver available at the end of this month (!!), concurrent w/Logic's release of 6.0. The 2408 has been flawless under ASIO for me. I anxiously await using w/OS X. I know this doesn't help much now, but I'm happy to give you a report once I've tried it. |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 18, 2003 6:40 PM |
marcush |
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The 7.1 does in fact have analog line-in and Mic inputs featuring 24-bit/96kHz recording, 24-bit/192kHz output, DTS output and Dolby Digital 5.1/EX (DVD 6.1) decoding, as well as digital out. It also includes a modest software package including a full versions of Mixman Studio and VJ Lite, as well as trial versions of Reason and Ableton Live. Not bad for a consumer card |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 18, 2003 2:50 PM |
mjoecups358 |
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The 7.1 card is for consumers and is playback only... |
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Anyone using a PCI audio card with success on OSX? |
February, 18, 2003 1:57 PM |
marcush |
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The M-Audio cards are supposed to work. They just came out with a new card the Revolution 7.1 that I've been contemplating on buying is the newest. |