I have always hankered after one of these ever since reading Mr Walker's glowing report on it.

I presently have two computers, one XP one W7/64 and each has a 2496 in it. My plan is to put a 192 in the W7/64 HP machine and two 2496's in the XP (not enough PCI slots in the W7..Bugger!).

I would like to know if the 192 is still up there with the best converters or is there now a better PCI/PCIe card?
I am a bit flushed at present hence my renewed interest but not so far as to go RME!

In each case the card will be driven by a ZED10.

Dave.

Bump.
Forgot to tick the friggin' box!

Dave.

I know I am bumping my own post....Again! But I have pretty much decided on a 192 but now cannot find a reliable source!

Neither DVs or Thomann have them and I don't really want to take a punt on Ebay!

Dave.

How weird - they've vanished virtually overnight; nearly bought one a month or so ago (ok, so not quite overnight...) but decided the 24/96 was probably adequate. At the time loads of places seemed to have the 192 in stock but have all but disappeared remarkably quickly, and a few sites suggest they've been discontinued.
Don't know how comfortable you are with buying from the US, but if you don't mind the longer shipping time etc then Amazon USA has some, e.g. Try Here - suggests $99USD plus $40-50 for shipping. Should be less than £100 delivered even if you use Paypal's fairly meagre fx rates, pretty much a bargain at that!
(Although not sure if you'd be liable for any import duty or similar - Mr Osborne may feel the need to help himself to some of the remaining contents of your wallet to help subsidise the needy folks at Starbucks, Vodafone et al.)

Hope this helps.
Would be interested to know how much difference you notice between the 192 and the 24/96. Having just revisited Martin's review, I'm still not sure the rest of my signal chain and listening environment is up to discerning much between them yet still I suddenly find myself wondering if I should have gone for the 192 after all...

Yeah, weird innit Logs!
I always wanted one ever since I read Mr W's review but since I had a Behringer 802 feeding a 5mtr balanced pair with two OEP 10k bridging tarffs at the end feeding my 2496 I thought it not worthwhile. The OEPs are GOOD traffs but still traffs!
Now I have a ZED10 and would like to do away with the unbal system. Also there is a level match problem that renders the z10 meters useless.
I have done the same with the Soundcraft Notepad 124, didn't really need one so prevaricated, now cannot find any!

Dave.

On reflection I suppose it isn't that strange - PCI is dying...
Perhaps we should expect a new USB-based offering from M-Audio giving similar functionality in the near future based around the same converters and with a similarly agreeable price?
Found a few remaining 192s in stock in the US with other retailers, but nothing in Europe.
Prices aren't a patch on the one Amazon.com has, and having ordered (far too many!) CDs etc this way I wouldn't think twice about buying the one at $99 - in fact I'd be obliged if you took it so as to remove the temptation from me

A few of the lines were running on fumes regarding component availability over the summer as they are a bit long in tooth these days. The recent M-audio takeover hasn't really changed much in those regards so I would expect a number of the older Delta lines (and before) to start dropping off the availability list over the coming months.

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Hi Pete,
Hoped you would drop by!
Do you think the 192 is a poor choice now? I really want to stay with an internal card for these PCs (I have a Ka6 for the lappy). What is the best choice for PCI-e? Is there any evidence that M-A will make PCI-e cards in the future?

I could stretch to the RME PCI-e card but in truth I would be wasting 75% of its capability, I simply do not need the expansion potential.

Seasons greeting and all that!
Dave.

I suspect the are better cards now as it is well old in tech terms. No evidence of forthcoming cards althrough you never know. Look at everything that Akai/Alesis/Numark does now however and PCI cards look to be a long shot to be honest.

If you've already got the cards then keep using them until driver support dies I imagine. I can't really think of another worthwhile internal card solution short of going to an RME.

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Quote Pete Kaine:

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I suspect the are better cards now as it is well old in tech terms. No evidence of forthcoming cards althrough you never know. Look at everything that Akai/Alesis/Numark does now however and PCI cards look to be a long shot to be honest.

If you've already got the cards then keep using them until driver support dies I imagine. I can't really think of another worthwhile internal card solution short of going to an RME.

---

I rather agree with that synopsis by Pete - in the main, audio interfaces tend to move in a 'generational' way, with a large clutch of similarly-sounding models appearing from various different manufacturers when each new generation of converter chips is released.

The AP192 was certainly a hike above the original APs, but I think recent releases have moved on even further, albeit by a smaller amount each time


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Thanks Martin (Pete)
I think yous have made my mind up! As I say, the RME is a possibility but it is a bit like buying a Mitzi Evo to go to Sainsburies (I don't know if the cards ever come up second hand but if anyone out there has one going spare I am open to dicker!)

Now, I know this next is an impossible question, the more so since you have not reviewed one,but would you say the NI Ka6 is the equal, sound qualitywise of the 192? I am seriously considering just getting another one and bolting it to a shelf above the relavent PC!

The things are just SO stable! I plug mine into one of 4 PCs and it just works!(I have yet to try it on my Vista works Toshi laptop. OoErr!).

Dave.

Quote ef37a:

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Now, I know this next is an impossible question, the more so since you have not reviewed one,but would you say the NI Ka6 is the equal, sound qualitywise of the 192?

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You can check out the manufacture figures:

Converter chip inside the 192
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet2/8/0ujaf1odljx67sd0t33t8kxx53cy. pdf

Released specs of the KA6
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/komplete-audio-6/ ?page=1906

On paper the 192 as far as the converter goes has the lead, but then I don't know the quality of the rest of the signal path (where he rated results for the KA6 is for the whole unit, rather than just the chip) so can't really give a whole answer. The KA6 is a newer design by over half a decade however so I'd be rather suprised if it doesn't hold it's own across the board.

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Thanks Pete,

If a 192 does not pop up in the next few weeks I think that is the way to go.

Dave.