All user reviews of 5/5 for the Echo Mia

Bought at www.midigear.com for 169.00 total(shipping paid!). Non-factory sealed special (still under warantee)

The Mia really is worth every penny you pay for it. The entry level price of only $200 dollars is what first got me interested in the mia. When I started doing research, I was pleased to find that every site that I came across offered a positive review.
Simple, intuitive interface and mixer that unlike a pricey sound blaster feature-fest, it is well designed to be used with professional recording software. I have only used the digital in/outs and the analog out. I haven't fully tested the d/a converters as I've only had it a week. Like what I hear so far.


The sorted windows sound drivers are a puzzle to get right at first, no fault to the mia or Cubase. Windows has several types of drivers to sort out.
The unit has no preamp, which although keeps the price respectable, cuts back on the versitility. I can't just plug in one of my mics as I have no separate preamp. Once again, no fault to mia, since the card is only 200 dollars instead of way more. Besides, cheap preamps are worthless. For now I use my Sony SBM-1 from my DAT which has nice preamps. Makes all the difference.

Well designed for an internal sound card. No basis for comparision since it never leaves the computer case.

Great sound. Priced right. Designed for use with real production software.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this card for its ability to record 24bit/96kHz, its low noise level trs, its sound quality (which I had heard the seller), and latency. Ha, I forgot too, for his input / output Jack 6.35mm is when even more productive.
I have a abit motherboard with a 533 PIV 1.8Ghz and 128MB of RAM, SCSI hard drive, I mainly use cubase and sound forge.
I work with a Roland synth and two expanders, a mixing desk Soundcraft, AKG studio microphone. So I record everything track by track and map the bed together without problem.

UTILIZATION

Installation is simple, that it is advisable to first install the drivers before the hardware. (The first time I did the opposite and I have not seen any diffrence, it must dpendre of the OS used.
The PB, because it there is one, is that under win98 the latency is 86ms (with PII 350) win2000 unlike o is 4ms (also PI 350), and under win2000 with cubase, if you of direct monitoring, output of the card is closed! (So ​​no direct monitoring, I personally am not)

GETTING STARTED

The drivers are stable, that I used with a PII 350: cubase no problem, but forge is trs sound greedy (loss of sync), I had to go to the PIV.
Currently with the PIV I do not regard the latency but I have no doubt about it since with a PII 350 and win2000 I 4ms, so for fans of any virtual synth washes.

OVERALL OPINION

was 5 months I have, I like his ability and sound quality, shame concerns for small drivers, but according to the OS used APRS several tests can not touch anything and roll! and then I look echoaudio to make us good little drivers.
I trusted the seller, I have not tried other card before, and I'm happy with my purchase trs of plusle qualitprix report is good.

- What technical specifications motivated your choice? the DSP, the 24/96 the reputation of this card

- For what purpose? for the sequence on cubase sx exclusively with virtual intruments

- What is your config (motherboard / CPU / RAM / Disk ,...)? Asus P4P800 / 1 GB of ram in dual ddr / P4 2.6C / ibm 7200
- Which instruments or Systmes (console, prampli, DTD ...) you use it and how connections? ... Cubase SX, FM7, Reaktor, battery

UTILIZATION

- Installation is no problem it? no problem you just pass the drivers before plugging in the card

- Have you encountered any incompatibilities? no

- The configuration gnrale is easy? very simple

- The manual is clear and sufficient? ... not really need a manual

GETTING STARTED

- The drivers are stable? ca is the two and I've pushed to the limit n I have the plant once or twice.

- Are they often put day? I don t know for the moment.

- What software do you use most often? Cubase SX ==> c is the ball!

- What you get lag? 5 ms

- How many runs you get record / play simultanment? ... j did not test more than 12 effects with a lot of

OVERALL OPINION

- How long have you use it? two months and it starts well!

- What is the particular feature you like best and least? the four output virtual card that allows me to use the bus in cubase and c is handy.

- Have you tried many other models before acqurir? yes but C was a card for notebook PCMCIA and has nothing to do ca.

- How do you report qualitprix? excellent.

- With the exprience, you do again this choice? ... of course.

- What technical specifications motivated your choice? the DSP, the 24/96 the reputation of this card

- For what purpose? for the sequence on cubase sx exclusively with virtual intruments

- What is your config (motherboard / CPU / RAM / Disk ,...)? Asus P4P800 / 1 GB of ram in dual ddr / P4 2.6C / ibm 7200 ==> all with the excellent Windows XP Pro that does not crash ever (and that s not the irony).
- Which instruments or Systmes (console, prampli, DTD ...) you use it and how connections? ... Cubase SX, FM7, Reaktor, battery

UTILIZATION

- Installation is no problem it? no problem you just pass the drivers before plugging in the card

- Have you encountered any incompatibilities? no

- The configuration gnrale is easy? very simple

- The manual is clear and sufficient? ... not really need a manual

GETTING STARTED

- The drivers are stable? ca is the two and I've pushed to the limit n I have the plant once or twice.

- Are they often put day? I don t know for the moment.

- What software do you use most often? Cubase SX ==> c is the ball!

- What you get lag? 5 ms

- How many runs you get record / play simultanment? ... j did not test more than 12 effects with a lot of

OVERALL OPINION

- How long have you use it? two months and it starts well!

- What is the particular feature you like best and least? the four output virtual card that allows me to use the bus in cubase and c is handy.

- Have you tried many other models before acqurir? yes but C was a card for notebook PCMCIA and has nothing to do ca.

- How do you report qualitprix? excellent.

- With the exprience, you do again this choice? ... of course.

Has your basic features a sound card can have. Can switch between asio, direct X, and WDM drivers using the MIA interface they provide in software form. Includes 2 Standard midi jacks( IN and OUT), and a pair of BALANCE 1/4 inch analog IN's and OUT's. Also includes S/PDIF digital in and out if that's your perrogative. Anyone with good monitors should keep this in mind, because you can hook them up directly to ur sound card without any external receivers! Includes a 4+ DB setting as well, which is very cool (this will keep you from overamping ur tracks, automatically amping your settings 4+ decibles!). Include 8 virtual tracks, which is cool when you get into multitrack recording. You can acually buy an external interface through ECHO to make use of these virtual tracks.

Price paid: $60 USD (used)

UTILIZATION

I would say the usability is above average. I use windows ME and the installation was seemless. Direct X and ASIO drivers work great, haven't seen any issues yet. DSP is great when it comes to recording vocals at high sample rates (24bit/96kHz). The MIA console in control panel works great, and lets you monitor output with the click of the mouse. Very acurate response. The only downfall is that it sucks for GAMES....of course, u shouldn't be using a DAW for playing games anyway.

GETTING STARTED

No issues in the 5 months I've owned the card. Usablity is great...no issues with incompatibility of outdated drivers. Sound is top notch....big change in how my mixes turn out. None of the inputs or outputs have come loose yet. Still cannot give it a 10, haven't pushed it to it's limits yet. Performs all same task effectively $200+ cards do and then some.

OVERALL OPINION

The sound quality is top notch! Went from using a soundblaster (audigy) to this, and the difference is incredible. This card reproduces the sound better at a higher sample rate do you can here inaccuracies in your production....which is what you need in order to mix effectively. This card does the job in that area. Also, the latency is very, very low using the asio drivers they provide you.

Don't know how I made music without it. Might purchase interface to take full advantage of the cards potential. If you're a professional with a budget, this is the sound card for you.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: kingartha ( 6-, 2005)