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Digital Recording Research

Many of the companies referenced here no longer exist. Unfortunately, some of their website domains have been taken over by advertisers and scammers. Proceed with care on any links. An incognito window is your best bet.

I started updating some of them, but each one requires a manual search and evaluation. That's too much work for a page that gets no traffic.

Assume that all product links are dead. Your time is better spent searching for specific products on Google.

Content updated 11/29/01. This information is obsolete and many of the links are broken. That's just the way the internet is — it changes. I will not be updating the links, but the information is here for you to do your own research.

If you just stumbled on this page, it was put together as a way to organize my notes while tring to decide how to build a home studio. The starting point was a HP brand P4 computer running Windows 2000. There was no choice in the computer - I just got a great deal on it (over 2/3 off) due to an agreement with where I used to work. So the search consists of what to fill it with for both hardware and software. The most limitting factor was the use of W2k.

After the poll, the rest of the page consists of notes from the forum, from manufacturer's product pages and other resources.

Software poll

The following poll was copied as a starting point for my research. I got it from:
Home Recording dot com BBS > General Discussions > Computer Recording and Soundcards > Which software you use to make audio recording.

This link may take you to the current results, I don't know how long it will stay valid.

Which software you use to make audio recording Pro Tools 13 7.93% Samplitude 24/96 5 3.05% Cubase VST/32 29 17.68% Nuendo 6 3.66% Cakewalk Pro Audio 24 14.63% Cool Edit Pro 31 18.90% Vegas Audio 9 5.49% n-track 17 10.37% Sonar 1.0 15 9.15% Logic audio 15 9.15% Total: 164 votes 100%

Software notes

• MOTU's products don't look like an option. Mac is the platform of choise for MOTU. They say get a Mac if you want to use MOTU. This doesn't apply to their hardware.
  "I love MOTU stuff, but not on the PC (and this comes from their largest dealer!)"
• Cool Edit Pro - No midi. Loads of commenters use Cool Edit Pro, but nobody's planning to move in that direction if they're not there already. And CEP does not record midi data. You need a sequencer. $399. 30 min. demo available from the Syntrillium web site. The interface looks kind of cheap. Not a lot of info on their website. Supports 24/192.
• Pro Tools - No, probably. The Digidesign web site compatibility docs list specific PCs, hard drives and loads of incompatibilites. Some of their hardware only runs on Win 98, software on W2k.
  • Free - No. Pro Tools FREE can NOT be installed on systems running Windows 2000, NT, 95, or 3.1. There are also lots of stability problems reported, but one guy running Win 2k (!?!) loves it.
  • LE - No. Pro Tools LE can NOT be installed on systems running Windows 2000, NT, 95, or 3.1.
• E-Magic was listed in another (European) poll as tops. Need to look further, but their site is confusing and slow. They make hardware and at least 3 versions of their Logic Audio software.
  • They don't list W2k as supported on their software.
  • Includes midi support.
  • Uses a "CD authorization system", which probably means the CD has to be installed to run the program. Another site listed it as having a dongle.
  • MME, direct sound and ASIO support.
  • Their top of the line (platinum) product would probably be needed from a feature standpoint. Their silver version doesn't even have fast forward/reverse to a marker position. Gold doesn't have over 16/48k support.
  • Their site map has a hardware compatibility page that gives details on a wide variety of hardware and tests that they have run.
  • I'm tempted to stay away from E-Magic -- if their web site is this confusing the manuals must be really scary.
  • A new version (5) is scheduled to ship in Sept. and it will support higher sampling rates. But their web site is still sketchy about features, etc., so I'll expect the date to slip.
  • "...Logic Audio's MicroLogic sequencer, and for the most part it works properly... it displays a cascading series of 22 "Out of memory" error message boxes, which he has to close one by one ... sent an email query to Logic Audio tech support ... After five months he hasn't received anything—not even an automated acknowledgement—and he continues to deal with this obnoxious behavior."
• For some reason I didn't really consider n-tracks by FASoft, but the eval version of Sonar has been unavailable for the last few days, so I gave it a try. It set up instantly with zero problems on W2k. It might not have all midi features I'm interested in, but it's a lot cheaper than Sonar. I'll have to evaluate the latency issue when my sound card finally arrives.
• Vegas Audio by Sonic Foundry has a demo download. It does run on W2k.
  • $320 packaged, $280 download
  • Some quotes: "I too am done with Sound Forge, mostly because of the protection scheme."
    "A powerful program with a clean, simple interface that used the Windows menus and right/click."
    "I'm back to SAW and since I have always paid for SAW and I get the others for free, it is because I prefer it. But the Vegas look and feel are a lot more to my taste than the look of SAWStudio which, to me, seems busy."
    "Sonic Foundry is a perfect example of a company that was great when it was small, and is slowly getting worse as it grows. When it was small it cared about its customers; now Sonic Foundry uses copy protection and its technical support is only mediocre. I've had an ongoing problem (described below) with CD Architect that, after five months, is still not resolved."
• Steinberg's Cubase 5 users are upset - recommended to see their forum before buying. And they use a copy protection key dongle.
  I got a recommendation for Nuendo which does support W2k (and 98SE and ME are the only other supported OS other than Mac). Uses a dongle on the parallel port (implied because they list a parallel port as a requirement). Requires ASIO support for some features. A lot of companies have not implemented this on W2k. They have an extensive list of hardware and what it supports. Software listed on eBay for $750. Found it new for $1299. Steinberg also has a complete package including hardware that is rumored to be from RME -- oops, found the price: $4499.
• Cakewalk's current products all support W2k. Sonar is looking like the most likely selection. Review Sonar's hardware compatability list. Sonar supports 24/96 (but not 192), supports W2k, WDM and MME drivers. Trial version available.
• SAWStudio from Innovative Quality Software (Innovative Quality Systems is a related hardware company) sounds very interesting but expensive. It also does not have any midi support. There are a number of products that comprise the SAW line. The $500 package supports 24/96 and there is a demo version available. Also, everything goes in its own folder, they don't mess with the registry or system files.
  "SAWStudio and all the SAW products use the MultiMedia driver model. WDM has not yet been supported."
  "Some of the best support I've ever encountered is from Innovative Quality Software, which makes the SAW line of PC-based multi-track recording software."
• Comments:
  • hitsquad.com is a good source for demos.
  • Lots of people are using multiple programs. fruity loops is popular for drum tracks.
  • N Tracks has ASIO problems, which Cubase fixed. But Cubase crashed so he went to Logic Audio Platinum.
  • This ("the mixdown never sounds as good on Cubase as the realtime mix") has also been an issue on the Nuendo forum (as both Cubase and Nuendo use the same audio engine), and the general opinion is that Logic does have an overall 'brighter' sound than VST. According to tests done by said forum members, VST starts to sound a little 'squashed' when mixing over 12 tracks on mixdown, the more tracks, the more 'squashed' the sound.

Hardware notes

Summary:
Echo isn't ready for W2k. Forget it.
Ego-Sys may be good, 2k ready 24/96k with midi, but support from Korea scares me.
Frontier is betaing WDM W2k drivers, 24/48k, includes midi.
M Audio is W2k & 24/96k. The 1010 includes midi.
MOTU is W2k & 24/48k.
Soundscape is W2k & 20/48k with a 24-bit mixer.

At this point, Midiman/M Audio is the winner in hardware.

• Lots of people are recommending Aardvark's Direct Pro Q10. The Q10 is a 24/ 48, and it doesn't sound like they are ready with W2k drivers:
  "Update: 8/22/01 - We are currently working on Windows 2000, XP, NT and Mac drivers. The first to be released will be Windows 2000/XP for MME and ASIO, which will be released in approximately 2-3 weeks in beta form."
  The going price is about $750, and it comes with Cakewalk ProAudio 9. All 8 inputs on this rack mount unit are on the front panel, outputs are on the rear.
• Echo Audio has a line that includes Layla. Looking at the readme for the WDM drivers, these products are not ready for W2k.
  "We've had a number of reports of Sound Blasters and our cards with WDM drivers not living happily together in the same machine. We're still working on this one." - from WDM beta driver readme 0.63.
  "Please be aware that for older applications there is a limit of 10 wave input devices and 10 wave output devices on Windows 2000; this is not a driver problem, but an operating system limitation." - from WDM beta driver readme 0.63.
• Ego Sys has the Wa Mi Rack, (WaveMidi?) a 4-in, 8-out with 4-in/4-out midi (64 channels). It is 24/96 and has E-WDM drivers.
  • E-WDM drivers. What is that? This may be good or bad -- when drivers start doing too much, they can break windows. On the other hand they seem to pay attention to getting it to work with everything.
  • They are based in Korea. I dread the tech support issues, even of trying to describe a problem.
  • They are advertising as Sonar-ready. (Electronic Musician, July '01). It also gives contact info for distributors.
• Frontier Designs looks good. They have good comparison sheets and were recommended on the Home Recording Forum. Dakota supports 44.1 and 48 kHz sample rates, two optical ports for digital audio input (16 channels, ADAT optical format), two more for output, 2 MIDI inputs and 2 MIDI outputs, SPDIF digital audio (2-channel input and 2-channel output on RCA connectors). Tango24™ is a high-resolution, multichannel A/D and D/A converter (8 analog inputs and 8 analog outputs with 24-bit resolution) that includes ADAT™ optical digital interface (in/thru/out) and balanced TRS connectors which can be individually set to +4dBu or -10dBV levels.
• M Audio (main website) includes midiman and the Delta line of digital audio cards. Most products include W2k drivers. 4x4, 6x6 and 10x10 configurations available, all supporting 24-bit/96kHz.
  "the omni studio is $379 at Musicians Friend".
  The Delta 1010 is on eBay for $559, Musician's Friend for $569.
• MOTU - 24i review and overview of other MOTU products.
  Their products now support W2k, but only go to 48kHz and the prices are steep. The 2408mkII looks like their most likely product at $995 list (core system). The 1U rack-mountable 2408mkII actually provides 7 banks of 8 channel I/O: 1 bank of 24-bit analog on balanced TRS connectors, 3 banks of ADAT optical, 3 banks of Tascam TDIF, plus stereo S/PDIF. You can choose any three banks (24 channels) to be active at one time.
  "My only complaint about the MOTU unit is it's lack of GSIF (Gigasampler) drivers. If you use Gigasampler, you'll need a different interface for it."
• Soundscape offers a variety of interesting products that may be good if on sale. They are only 20-bit but the world is going to 24-bit/96kHz. Their download area requires registration. They also may go away since their parent company, Sydec, was aquired by Mackie. Marketing and distribution will be handled by Mackie, so expect a consolidation.
  They have ibox 8x8 ($450, aka SS8IO-3) and a 2x2 analog to TDIF 1/2 rack box. Also this can be connected the their mixtreme 16-channel PCI mixer board ($549). There are two 8-channel TDIF connectors for the 16 i/o's. So the unit would require two iboxes to support 16 i/o's. Why make a point of this? For overdubbing at least two of the channels will be used for output, leaving only 6 ins. But the unit does external signal processing to lower latency. A concern is that any effects supplied by the mixer can only be used by the mixer since it is running its own DSP. If the hardware breaks, or is upgraded, those effects will no longer be available.

A few quotes:

• "I am using the RME Hammerfall 9652 with a Frontier Tango 24 and SawStudioLite. I'm running Win2K pro on an Abit BE6-II w/ PIII/866. This combination has been absolutely rock solid."
• "Overall, we have been very pleased with SAW Pro and Studio on W2K."
• The PC ABX Web Site Training Room lists a some sound cards for various quality levels.
  • Minimum:  Sound Blaster Live!
  • Adequate or Better Analog:  Midiman "Audiophile 24/96" or Turtle Beach "Santa Cruz"
  • Adequate Or Better Digital:  Midiman DIO 2448, "Audiophile 24/96" or Turtle Beach "Santa Cruz
  • Professional:  Midiman Delta Series, DAL CardD Deluxe or LynxONE

Other hardware:

M-Audio DMP2 2 Channel Mic Preamp/Direct Box, $199 at MF.

ST Audio SM PR8 Eight-Channel Mic Pre-Amp - $249 at MF. Rack mount, xlr in front, 1/4" in back.

Audio Buddy Dual Mic Preamp with Phantom Power and Direct Box, $100 at MF, $79.95 at Zounds

Aphex 2-channel Tubessence Thermionic Tube Microphone Preamp $239.

And a couple of cheap adapters:

Cable Up Low Z (XLR F) - Hi Z (QTR M) Transformer - $12.99

XLR (F) - QTR (M) Cable 5 Meters - $8.99

Other Resources

This is just a list of some of the more unusual ones.

• Digital Experience, aka It's a DAT, DAT, DAT, DAT World! has a great collection of sound card and software comparisons.
• PCAVTech Sound Card Technical Benchmarks Test Ratings Comparison - Lists around 40 cards and compares various quality measurements.
• audioMIDI.com is good for research. It has good organization and you can browse prices by category. More info is obtained by clicking on a specific product. The products then have links to reviews and demos.
• I don't understand it yet, but The PCABX Product Listening Room seems like a good reference to keep around.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file for rec.audio.pro both answers questions about the newsgroup and has lots of basic reference information.
• Here's an interesting article on dithering, bits, and dynamic range.. http://www.pcrecording.com/dither.htm
• Download a copy of the Echo Reporter - a utility that will measure how many tracks you can record and playback at the same time.
• ProSoundWeb is packed with articles. They also have a "Study Hall".
• This is somewhat similar to ProSoundWeb: DAWG USA.com

Cheat Sheet

• Digital interfaces currently come in two types: stereo and multichannel. Each has two major formats. The 2-channel formats, AES/EBU and S/PDIF, use different cables and connectors, although both use the same method to encode data. In addition to using traditional coaxial audio cables, S/PDIF can also transmit over fiber-optic cable. The two multichannel formats, ADAT Optical (Lightpipe) and TDIF, can each transfer eight channels at once. All four formats can pass 24 bits, but not all manufacturers implement the formats that way.
• TDIF - The 24 bit TDIF digital interface is now an 'industry standard' and was originally designed for the popular digital multi-track tape machine - the Tascam DA-88. This interface now appears on a variety of different digital mixing consoles, sound cards and converter units.
• ASIO - Steinberg controls the ASIO spec, and could change the driver model without notice.