Hi,
Ah, gone are the days are when every mac had a built in audio input
port. Here is some technical jargon:
Not to nitpick but USB audio devices are not cards, they're "plug and
play" interfaces- boxes that are outside the computer, as are
Firewire ones. Anyway, so far the only firewire device I know of that
exists is the MOTU 828 (MOTU= Mark of the Unicorn). I have one that
I use with the TiBook and IMHO it is great. It is a 1U 19" rackmount
with 8 analog out/in plus S/PDIF coax and lightpipe stereo digital
and an ADAT connector too bringing the total to 18(!) ins and outs.
(Haven't tried that yet but I believe it'll work.) Anyway the point
is it's flexible. You can also use several 828's at once, then you'd
need a Firewire hub, sine the TiBook has only one FW port- why Apple,
why? (Haven't tried that yet either.) It does up to 24 bit/48kHz. No
USB device will do more than 4 channels of audio right now. The plus
side: just about everything. The minus sides: no midi (you need a
separate interface) it's not as portable as the quattro or something
like the Roland UA-30, more expensive than the others (more pro level
IMO though). Tascam's USB thing which has midi also has sliders to
control something like Cubase. I saw Richard Devine using the
Quattro, he seems to do ok with it! But I would swear by the MOTU
828 because IMO firewire is less buggy than USB. If I didn't just use
a headphone output live I'd throw the 828 in a rack and bring it to
the show (I already bring too much gear.)
There is also something called the(Digigram?) Pocket VX, which is a
PC Card (PCMCIA) which means it fits into that mesh-covered slot on
the left of your computer near the headphone jack. That's the only
one of those I know for the mac, but it has come down in price and
I've heard good things about it. I know nothing about it's specs,
other than it's a pro level card. They sell them at typical music
stores, you can get more info there. Rumours are that there is a
Soundblaster or whatever you call it coming out for the mac sometime
but I haven't seen it yet.
hope that helps!
cheers,
Atom
quoted 26 lines hello
>hello
>
>sorry for the off topic post, but i've been trying to get more
>information on reliable external USB sound cards (or firewire for
>that matter) for the TiBook G4... i would ideally like to get one
>that supports both sound card capabilities as well as MIDI
>conversion for using hardware with my laptop. i found the Quattro on
>Midiman's site but read universally negative reviews of it, so I was
>looking for an alternative or at least a second set of opinions.
>Please email me off list with any recommendations, links, resources,
>etc... I've been trying to learn more all day and haven't been able
>to find what i'm looking for.
>
>thanks.
>
>matt
>mmercer@matthewmercer.com
>mmercer@kent.edu
>
>www.matthewmercer.com
>
>
>
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