Thread: Cheaper option to the ESI Gigaport?

Another options that may work, I have an M-Audio Firewire 410. It has 8 outputs and 2 inputs. Do you think I could use this? I'd have to get firewire onto my CarPC and also run a 12V connection to the box so it's not drawing power from the PC but it's something I already have?

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-FireWi.../dp/B0000TP588

does it need to be usb? the creative x-fi has been popular around here--i believe it only has 6 outputs though. and i don't like it's turn on pop..

No, like I said I have a Firewire M-Audio sound card....I think I could probably use it as each of it's outputs show up independently. Having a hard time getting it installed on Windows 7 at the moment lol. Might be my firewire drivers though.

Well.....I think I'm going to give the firewire card a try. Windows 7 doesn't like my desktops onboard firewire for some reason. I ordered a low profile 1394 PCI-E adapter that is based on the TI chipset for the CarPC so hopefully that'll fix my issues.

Another thing I like about using the Firewire 410 is that I will have my phantom power mic pre built in right there.

My Firewire 410 now works with the new firewire card. The only thing I'm not sure of is that I believe the software required to do the X-over stuff needs ASIO drivers correct? If so I may have to use ASIO4ALL or something as I don't think there are ASIO drivers for this device. Or maybe the ones from M-Audio are ASIO? I'm not sure.

Edit: Ok nevermind it looks like the M-Audio drivers are ASIO compatible. So looks like I just need to gather the software now

if you can swing it, i highly recommend audio mulch over console. i started with console, but found that has a lot of limitations, and is not as smooth as AM.

Originally Posted by soundman98

if you can swing it, i highly recommend audio mulch over console. i started with console, but found that has a lot of limitations, and is not as smooth as AM.

I don't know if I can swing Audio Mulch, that's quite a bit of money lol. Spending that much it didn't make sense to sell my MS-8. In what ways is console limited? I wish there was something built more for just being used as an active x-over for around 100 bucks lol.

Also is there any way to do auto EQ and room correction on a PC?

You know what, looks like there is a 60 day trial of AudioMulch, so maybe I can swing it within 2 months. 189 bucks for a 14 mb files....lol. In the demo description it says that after 60 days you just can't save documents or export or record sound files, do I need to do these things to setup my speakers?

if you want it to run automatically in the car, then you do need to save the configuration files. i am not sure if this is included or not... at the very least, you can just mess with the configuration without saving-- you just need to re-do it every time..

there are ways around this if you happen to know of the right place---wink-- that was how i got hooked on AM while using console

my negative list:
-console hasn't been updated since '08(last solid version since '07).
-while i changed hardware when i made the swap, i believe the overall core of AM runs smoother with less required cpu power--great to allow for more plugins!
-you can't run any more then a stereo pair of input's/outputs without using a program like asio4all. in AM, i don't need A4A-- i use the windows drivers directly.
-inputs/outputs are shown in a list, not individual plugins, so if something changes-- like a usb card gets reidentified, the list numbering changes, but all the routing stays the same because the same numbers are in the list(i pulled my hair out a couple of times over this one)

-and lastly, AM includes some nice plugins with it--most are centered around AM's original intent-- dj remixing and such, but some are still usable for car audio-- i ran the x-over's for a little while and still use the output level adjustment plugs for my tweeters. console doesn't include anything..


both versions do offer a trial, so feel free to try before buying.

and lastly, my how-to's on getting them setup:

console:
how-to: configuring console with vac and asio4all

audiomulch:
How To: Basic setup in AudioMulch


i am not aware of any auto-eq's or room correction systems for the pc. as i am sure you already know, there are external processors that will do that.


as far as the $100 remark.. let me find it..

here-- the mini dsp:
http://www.minidsp.com/

the 2 channel variation hits the $100 mark exactly(without accounting for shipping). i haven't looked at it for a while, though i don't believe they do any auto correction either..