Dual PCI cards ?

[mikebuzz]

Can you run 2 cards at a time with SAW ?? and access them both , I'm looking at some Emu 1010 cards for cheap and would like to know if they will both run ?

Thanks
Buzz

[TotalSonic]

Can you run 2 cards at a time with SAW ?? and access them both

Yes - this is no problem to do if you are using MME. With ASIO many drivers do not offer multicard support though.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[AudioAstronomer]

Keep in mind, unless they are clocked to each other, they will not stay in sync.


And syncing some of the lower end cards can be a major hassle :(

[TotalSonic]

Keep in mind, unless they are clocked to each other, they will not stay in sync.


And syncing some of the lower end cards can be a major hassle :(

Yup - if you want to sync multiple cards make sure they either have word clock i/o or that they have some kind of a proprietary multicard card link - with the first option definitely being a bit more flexible.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Bob L]

Be careful about going on the cheap... that can sometimes turn out to be much more expensive in the long run... in time and hassles... especially with soundcard drivers... you might be much better sticking with the cards we know work well.

Bob L

[Cary B. Cornett]

Even as single cards, last I heard (here) EMU stuff has never had really good drivers, so I doubt that you will get low latency performance with them. Very few of the cards I have seen mentioned here are reported as having good and stable drivers suitable for serious work.

The old Sonorus StudI/O cards were/are pretty stable, but they can be a BEAR to install properly, and AFAIK cannot be made to work on XP or later (on W2k you have to be at no later than SP2 for successful install, after which you can update to sp4 without trouble). Some models of computer (particularly some HP and Dell machines) will not accept the card at all (no damage, you just can't make it work). Absent those hurdles, used ones can be had for cheap these days, and they are designed to allow up to 4 cards to be installed in a machine (16 channels for each card, using ADAT lightpipe). That's really the best "low cost" option I know of.

IIRC, there is a Midiman unit that Bob says he has gotten good results with that is not too expensive.

All the other stuff I have heard good reports about (RME, Sydec/SSL, Lynx are the most mentioned) is not so cheap. Usually stuff in this class has provisions for being locked to a common word clock.

My conclusion is don't spend money on anything "cheap" that no one else has proven works for SAW unless you are willing to risk "wasting" your investment.

[mikebuzz]

Ya I have a Emu 0404 and it gets good latency , I have been on the hunt for a 16 ch card but the prices go up FAST , so I was looking at 2 cards.

I will start with a 8 ch setup ( this should be ok for now , 1. kik 2. ovrhd 3. gtr 1 4. gtr2 5. vox 6. vox 7. vox 8. bass )

I just wanted a small club setup that allows me to use all of the GOOD STUFF in SAW , but I want to be able to expand later as well.

I'll keep on looking , I had a 9636 RME card on order but the seller decided to keep it DAMN :mad:


Later
Buzz

Has anybody tried the Frontier Dakota cards ???

[mikebuzz]

Bob have you tested the Frontier Dakota card ?

if so how were the results ?

Thanks
Buzz

[Bob L]

I have not tested the Dakota cards since they first came out. I believe the ASIO driver worked ok... who knows how things are now.

Bob L