O.T.: 5.1 card with balanced outputs advice

logiquem wrote on 4/11/2011, 8:49 AM

Hi all,

I'm looking for a 6 outputs sound card for 5.1 monitoring with balanced outputs. The card must also work outside Vegas with std Windows app. (like DVD soft players, etc...)

I guess something like a Roland UA-1010 could do the trick.
http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-1010/index.html

I wonder if anybody here actually have an experience with this kind of stuff.

Thanks,

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 4/11/2011, 11:20 AM

The M-Audio ProFire 610 can do this. I have the FW410 which this one replaced and it works great.

~jr

Sidecar2 wrote on 4/11/2011, 12:14 PM

I use an Echo Layla 24/96, but it conflicts with the RealTek audio on the HP Z400. Works well otherwise.

musicvid10 wrote on 4/11/2011, 12:29 PM

My next purchase will be the Profire 610. Besides the I/O capabilities, it can be used as a portable standalone audio mixer.

logiquem wrote on 4/11/2011, 8:30 PM

Interesting device indeed... The only drawback i can see is the firewire connection wich tend to disapear on laptops.

Btw, it seems to be the only one from Maudio officialy supporting 7.1

musicvid10 wrote on 4/11/2011, 8:58 PM

I might add that I no longer try to monitor or preview 5.1 timeline output from Vegas by routing to multiple audio outputs or by burning a dvd-rw to play on the home entertainment system. PCM output from the timeline does not duplicate 5.1 encoded dvd playback.

I simply prepare the dvd folder on my laptop, then play it on the entertainment system over the network with the WDTV Live. Simple as pie.

farss wrote on 4/11/2011, 9:03 PM

" I have the FW410 which this one replaced and it works great."

Still got the FW410 but I've had a problem with it.
My old Win2K PC died so I hooked it up to a newer machine, installed the latest drivers etc and it works just fine until I try to use it with any DV firewire device for capturing or monitoring. It initially works fine until I select the device in Vegas for either capturing or for external preview.
This probably has nothing to do with Vegas. I had the same problem to some extent on the old Win2K system unless I had all the FW devices connected on boot.
I'm not adverse to buying the newer unit if that'd fix this problem but I sure don't want to do that and find I have the same problem. I need a system that can both send video over FW to an external composite monitor while I record audio. On the other hand I might not need this capability before I upgrade to Win7 and maybe that'll fix the problem.

TIA for any input.

Bob.

logiquem wrote on 4/12/2011, 7:36 AM

Is your Firewire card based on a TI chipset?

rs170a wrote on 4/12/2011, 7:50 AM

...it works just fine until I try to use it with any DV firewire device for capturing or monitoring.

Bob, you've forgotten the advice you gave me (and others on here) when I bought a 410 and that was to put it on it's own separate firewire card.
All problems are solved when that's done.

Mike

farss wrote on 4/12/2011, 7:54 AM

You're right :(

This machine has a very nice Firewire card with 2x 1394b ports and 1x 1394a ports.
Firewire cards are cheap, argh, I'm a blithering idiot, I've got another one doing nothing.

Thank You.

Bob.

musicvid10 wrote on 4/12/2011, 7:59 AM

"Interesting device indeed... The only drawback i can see is the firewire connection wich tend to disapear on laptops."

The expresscard-to-firewire adaptor is a solution, and they reportedly work well.

logiquem wrote on 4/14/2011, 12:55 PM

Well, it seems the Profire 610 is not a solution for 5.1 analog output playback:

"The 610 and 410 use different drivers (the 610 is a ProFire series, the 410 a FireWire series). These are designed for the audio recording industry, not multimedia playback."

http://forums.m-audio.com/showthread.php?800-FireWire-410-unable-to-output-multichannel-audio-with-DirectSound-under-Vista/page2&highlight=surround

musicvid10 wrote on 4/14/2011, 4:45 PM

It seems you may be confusing apples with oranges.

Discrete multichannel PCM is different than ENCODED 5.1 multimedia (AC-3 audio).
Vegas surround timeline outputs six channels of discrete PCM audio to six discrete outputs on a multichannel sound card.

Vegas timeline does not output encoded 5.1.
610 does not decode multimedia 5.1 or 7.1

If there is an issue with Win7 drivers, or anyone has direct experience that 610 will "not" accept 6 channels of discrete PCM from the Vegas timeline, that information is welcome (and relevant).

logiquem wrote on 4/17/2011, 8:30 AM

Thank you very much musicvid for your help. Maybe my english os not up to the task :-), but, sorry, there is no confusion at all...

I want a card that can output multichannel analog pcm from Vegas (via Asio drivers or whatever) *and* multichannel analog from a Windows app. (actually a 5.1 project in Macromedia Director) via standard Windows driver. As simple as that: monitoring multichannel from editing app. *and* monitoring an AC3 or WMV 5.1 encoded source from a soft player (be it Director app., VLC, etc.). Monitoring the editing project *and* final encoded source on the same card...

The information from MAudio forum was that the 610 can't playback thru its analog outs a multichannel source decoded inside Windows.

I know some RME expensive cards like this one:
http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php

can do that but have no clue about cheaper ones... Got the idea?

musicvid10 wrote on 4/17/2011, 10:57 AM

Yes I do, thanks for the detail.
Maybe one of the Creative / EMU cards will do all that, but I have no recent experience.
Good luck.

logiquem wrote on 4/17/2011, 12:40 PM

I will report it any way if i find something. I thing it would be usefull for anybody working in multichannel.

musicvid10 wrote on 4/17/2011, 1:30 PM

I believe many audio people here run multiple sound cards.