Echo Audio Interfaces

(Originally written by tweak/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Very good sound card with comprehensive and professional connections. In the beginning I used it to record single tracks and now I use it for multitrack recording. My computer is a bit old: I bought it in 2004. It's a P4 2.8 GHz with 1 GB Ram. The sound card is connected to a mixer via a patchbay. It gives me a great routing flexibility. I use it to record synths, samplers and drum machines. UTILIZATION I needed some time to find out which of my 3 PCI ports worked good with it. The computer crashed while booting with two of the PCI ports. So it was not easy to find the right port. The installation is easy and fast. Install the driver, reboot, connect the card, reboot again, turn on. The first time I used it the sound blew me away. I have almost forgotten that the card is in my rack and that's perfect! It does the job very good and doesn't cause any problems. I almost didn't need the user's manual so I can't remember if it's good or not... That means it was well conceived. GETTING STARTED The card never crashes. I use it with Samplitude Pro 8 and Soundforge 6. It's perfect for audio playback and recording. I don't know how many tracks I can record simultaneously because I don't record many tracks at the same time. I had project with about 20 tracks for playback and my obsolete computer couldn't handle it. I don't use the internal mixer a lot because I have an external one. OVERALL OPINION I've owned it for one or two years. I previously had an Edirol FA101. And I immediately heard the difference!!! This card is more stable and it doesn't crash. The sound is more dynamic and clearer with brilliant highs and round lows. The connections are comprehensive. The internal mixer is convenient. It does its job and can be mounted in a rack. Compared to the FA101 I can hear the improvement even with Ghost PA speakers! It's so obvious! I get a very good sound with a JBL LSR 4326 monitoring system. The playback is faithful to the recording. I get a huge output level and a punchy sound. I'm very satisfied with this product. I paid less for it than what I got for the FA101. So in the I earned some money and got a better sound. If it ever breaks it will be difficult to find a good replacement. One thing is for sure: I don't want a Firewire solution anymore... The next card I buy will be a Lucid Audio + PCI Adat card, for example.