ESI WaMi Rack 192L

Combining a PCI card and an external connection Rack, the 192 Rack WaMi The ESI play the quality card, audio side, the aim aussi difference to a driver Whose competition Would do well to emulate ...

Combining a PCI card and an external connection Rack, the 192 Rack WaMi The ESI play the quality card, audio side, the aim aussi difference to a driver Whose competition Would do well to emulate ...



Presentation

The WaMi Rack L 192 is a professional audio interface Offering 4 inputs and 8 outputs. Like l'autre cards ict in class, it is feasible to combine the waterfall 4 to extend inputs and recording capabilities. Ideal for attacking a digital console During the mixing sessions.

There are two versions of the Wami Rack distinguished by the quality of converters They Use: 104 dB signal / noise ratio for the theoretical WaMi Rack 192 L and 123 dB for the WaMi Rack 192 X (qui aussi Provides 128x oversampling digital filter and an output ).

Front external connection box of 192 L WaMi Rack ESI
The system Consists of a PCI card (FireWire model is under study) and an external connection box (Breakout Box) to the dimensions of a 1U rack.
The design is simple and neat. The breakout box is covered with a blue paint night look great with the brand logo screen printed on top. The front shows the 4 XLR inputs, Their volume pots and 2 pairs of switches (1 bus) to select the recording source and enable / disable the phantom power 48 V (used to power a condenser microphone). Finally, on the right headphone output That returns the Master and live listening.



Rear panel of external connection box of 192 L WaMi Rack ESI
The ports MIDI In / Out and audio outputs are site location is the back of the rack. It has a master output on XLR and TRS outputs 8 6.35. Providing a better level of output That Jack bases, the XLR output is Provided so That We Can Directly plug in powered monitors. Reviews The other outputs are line level and are adapté to attack channel strips.



PCI WaMi Rack L 192 ESI
It finally: has a digital input / output on RCA base: being Itself on the card, it is shared with 3/4 switchable inputs are That Either S / PDIF gold AES / EBU.
The included manual is short and allows rapid implementation of the interface. It aussi Provides all the information required to use the E-WDM manager selon the applications used. The plant managers, ALTHOUGH a bit special, no problem: you-have to install a driver For Each bus, the audio controller and MIDI controller. We restart the machines and go to 192 kHz!



E-WDM driver of the WaMi Rack 192 L ESI.
The control panel

ESI HAS Developed a multi-client driver That allows connections entre les Software That Is used: E-WDM. This driver, simple and very stable Merely two windows: one for management of bus and the sampling frequency, l'autre for internal routings.

Latency is adjustable entre 2048 and 64 samples qui leaves room to find a good setting suitable to the config. Yet I struggled to set my system to use Sonar 2 XL ... After a week I Had to test all values ​​to find acceptable compromise year, I finally atteint the value for idéalel my config: 0.7 ms latency with Sonar in 24 / 96.

The card works in and 16/24/32 bit at all can record sample rates from 16 kHz to 192 kHz! Also note que le Sample Rate can be fixed free gold. In the lathing box, we can change the software has while running, a bit like a pitch fader.

I / O management is done on three distinct groups:

The 4 inputs to the left switch with the analog / digital and S / PDIF pro / consumer switch and mono / stereo Above.

4 ASIO bus are Represented in the center panel with the 9th level meter for digital output.

4 software bus (MME / DX) Gathered right.
It has Several levels of editions to adjust the position of the faders (1 not 2, 4 and 8). Editing can be done in mono or stereo-gang but not Individually except for inputs. The master clock is adjusted in this panel and sync to master, slave or card-sync. In the case of a card with config-sync the first map of the facility `shall MasterClock l'autre.



use


The WaMi Rack is connected insert on my Yamaha console he gets the signal outputs of 4 Aux / Send. The test eu lieu le in Several courses: Registration of a group, mixing sessions and recording machines.

Registering 4 simultaneous sources Was no problem purpose the card Seems To need a good amount of RAM and a hard disk swift Serial ATA (highly recommended) to record and mix in 192hz ...

The tests Were Performed with The Following software:

Ableton Live 3 to save the group
Tracktor DJ Studio 2 to test the E-WDM driver
Sonar 2 XL to test the MIDI recording and a groove-box

1. Record a group:

5 Were microphones used to record the drums, all bounced on one stereo channel (1/2 Entries). In turn, the inputs 3/4 are assigned to When the simultaneous recording in mono and a guitar and a bass. No plug has-been used for the Taking.

So? While the sound quality is good and Registration Suffered no cracking or latency problem, all with the convenience of direct monitoring. The card bore the mix 12 tracks 192 kHz with the use of three effects in sending (1 compressor, 1 reverb, and one right back) + ten plugs. It Seems That HOWEVER MIDI uses of resources: when jogged through the Digital Operator, the CPU gauge Climbed Live in the red every time the fader. Note That Was this problem resolved by Adding 512 MB RAM config.


2. Using the E-WDM:

To test the driver, I Decided to record various software in live while Applying effects ...

Advanced Routing with the E-WDM driver of the WaMi Rack 192 The ESI.
The driver plays the role of a real mixing console software entre, a kind of no ReWire MIDI sync. To give you an idea of ​​the power of the E-WDM, I Was able, from Wavelab, to record a session of Ableton Live, qui Took up the signal Tracktor playing on 5/6 and MS Fruity Loops 3 of MS 1 / 2 ... all without latency, along with a Elektribe and various plug-ins! Suffice to say que le thing is Rather impressive and it is expected to happen ReWire VST or protocols to record a performance ... I have beens aussi remixed in Ableton Live Sessions Sonar through this without significant CPU overload driver.

This driver allows Powerful complex routings That shoulds Those Who delight, working with software Mainly, find Themselves Often in situations Where a Particular is incompatible format with l'autre.


3. Use MIDI:

Sonar Caused me some problems related to a poor choice of sync options and buffers. I must say que le interface is Provided with So Many drivers get lost That! Fortunately, the Doc Explains the settings suited to The Most common apps ...

Moreover, once completed the configuration, it is clear que la Wami Rack Has not-been a problem. For testing, I Recorded the 4 audio outputs of my Elektribe EMX1 (with treatments Applied to the output-like reverbs, delays, etc.) and 6 MIDI channels by turning off the monitor to use direct monitoring of Sonar. The recording Was done without latency or dropping crunches, DESPITE the Relatively intensive use of plugins.




Conclusion

Front external connection box of 192 L WaMi Rack ESI
The Wami Rack is a polvalente That interface can be used in the development of complex and studio able of recording at 192 kHz. Offering, thanks to good converters, audio playback and seamless enjoying quality year, thanks to clever driver has, powerful capabilities of internal routing, it is ideal for Both DJs and Those Whose needs inputs / outputs are not a criterion of choice Determining. If one wants to extend the possibilities of recording, there est aussi to be cascaded up to 4 Wami Rack and so combines the I / O and MIDI channels (up to 64 MIDI channels and 16/40 E / S). Remains at around € 500, the beautiful is not The Most affordable audio interfaces, Especially since it offers only 4 audio inputs. Proof That Has Its quality price ...

[+] The E-WDM driver
[+] Monitoring system integrated headphone output
[+] The quality of the converters and the lack of latency
[+] The length of the connection cable rack. qui allows a remote facility of the workstation.
[+] The aesthetic rack
[+] System card sync

[-] Requires a Powerful Machine to Work 192kHz
[-] The price



Strengths Weaknesses
The E-WDM driver
integrated monitoring system to the headphone output
The quality of the converters and the lack of latency
The length of connection cable rack. qui allows a remote facility of the workstation.
The aesthetics of the rack
Sync card system
Requires a Powerful Machine to Work 192kHz

The all-in-one, the quality of wamirack 192X trssduisants are certainly ...
My stuff is rcent: rcente msi motherboard, athlon xp 2000 +, etc ...

UTILIZATION

I had a terrible weekend, you can not make it work by removing all the rest, formatting, etc ... I finally brought this card to the magicians who made the mistake of selling it to me (Piano show, moreover trs cool)!

GETTING STARTED

I tried the latest drivers, however, fresh from the ESI website EgoSys ... Do nothing or Windows XP or on Windows 98 (I have not tried Windows 3.1 or ATARI, that said ...)

OVERALL OPINION

I could not hear it running (when I install it, the test setup is done asio splash! To restart my computer, which then replouf, and so on ...) The dealer I prcis he had doubts about this card that does not know a great success so far.

- What technical specifications motivated your choice?
Especially the quality of acquisition and micro 4 prampli

- For what purpose?
Sound / guitar / synth mix of everything and prototyping

- What is your config (motherboard / CPU / Ram / Hard ,...)?
Win2000, AMD XP2400 +, 512 ram

- Which instruments or Systmes (console, prampli, DTD ...) you use it and how connections? ...
Just right: a Yamaha S90, an Oktava M-319 and a bass guitar

UTILIZATION

- Installation is it without problem?
No problem in either win98 or win2000 Souwer

- Have you experienced any incompatibility?
No

- The configuration gnrale is easy?
Very easy, the mixer is very practical, especially to switch mono / stereo, for example

- The manual is clear and sufficient? ...
I did not need

GETTING STARTED

- The drivers are stable?
No crash after 3 months of intensive use
Latency of 11 ms
Simultaneous recording of 4 tracks without pb
Then the reading is really trs trs trs can push away

OVERALL OPINION

- How long have you use it?
4 months

- What is the particular feature you like best and least?
Plus: converter, prampli
The least: if 4 inputs and more ...

- Have you tried many other models before acqurir?
I had an echo gina prcdemment 20. I think this card is better than the echo

- With the exprience, you do again this choice? ...
Yes, but it's a shame that the entries are limited 4. I wonder if the cards like Edirol UA-1000 (4 preamp) and other inputs symtriques is a real alternative