[gsferrari]

Just got this baby to use with my laptop. Having trouble getting KS to work in Foobar and I dont know how to setup Foobar for ASIO. It also doesnt seem to like DVD playback (WinDVD 5).

If someone can walk me through the setup process it will be awesome.

Be back in one hour to check

 

[gsferrari]

Ok OK!! I am reading the...um...RTFM

Will post updates...if anyone has any guides I can use - ASIO, KS etc. please post.

 

[gsferrari]

Ok - being the computer audio n00b that I am I just figured out that to get the M-Audio Firewire device working you have to do the following :-

OS : Windows XP Professional

* Install Drivers off the Drivers CD using the instructions given in the Quick Start Guide

* Restart the computer

* Plug in the firewire cable into the device and then into the computer.

* Plug in the wall wart and power up the unit

* Windows will detect the device and ask you to install drivers - select the "Install Drivers Automatically" in both cases (first it will ask for M-Audio Midi and then for the M-Audio Audiophile device).

* Once this is done - Disable the onboard soundcard in the laptop

* Go to the control panel and then into the Audio/Sound sub panel

* Change the devices wherever applicable to the M-Audio 1/2 or 3/4

* Open up the M-Audio control panel and select the same sockets (1/2 or 3/4) as the output devices on the phones section.

* Remember - for some reason the M-Audio volume control is wierd and takes getting used to. Always plug in the headphones after making sure that the volume is turned down. Turn the volume down in the control panel before starting any application and then turn it back up to the required level.

I'll post more info as I learn...this can be used by other n00bs who are as clueless (and hopefully worse off) as I am

 

[gsferrari]

I figured out how to get ASIO working with Foobar 2000 and the M-Audio Device.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...hp/t22601.html

Download the ASIO plugin from there and place it in the component director of the Foobar installation folder.

Re-start Foobar 2000 and go to the Output prefs. You should see the ASIO (dll version). Select this and go to the settings...

Im still green on this part of the process - I dont know what changes affect the sound in what way. I am still getting pops depending on what else I am doing with the system (internet / mozilla ). I killed all other processes but it doesnt really help. I think resampling is the reason for this mess...

Any ideas??

 

[dknightd]

are you still using this device?
If so, what are your thoughts on it ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsferrari I figured out how to get ASIO working with Foobar 2000 and the M-Audio Device. http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...hp/t22601.html Download the ASIO plugin from there and place it in the component director of the Foobar installation folder. Re-start Foobar 2000 and go to the Output prefs. You should see the ASIO (dll version). Select this and go to the settings... Im still green on this part of the process - I dont know what changes affect the sound in what way. I am still getting pops depending on what else I am doing with the system (internet / mozilla ). I killed all other processes but it doesnt really help. I think resampling is the reason for this mess... Any ideas??

 

[gsferrari]

No I am not using it anymore. While I had it - it was good. Convenient for me and good set of features. ASIO support was a plus and sound quality was pretty good although still not up to high end redbook - but for its price it is a good piece of hardware to have.

Cheers!

 

[galiyosha]

How was the sound of the unit? A friend of mine is currently looking for an entry-level sound card update. Currently, she doesn't have a notebook but probably in a year's time or so, she will be getting one. She's not an audio freek so she probably wouldn't like the idea of getting some "expensive" card (well, compared to the zero price tag of the onboard sound cards, they are expensive just for one year and exchanging it afterwards...

The M-Audio Audiophile Firewire seems to be a reasonable compromise as it is external and has 4 outputs -- that's a requirement as she wants to play from it as a pseudo-DJ from time to time. But the everyday task would be feeding her HD555.

However, on the M-Audio Japan web site I found that the DAC used in the Audiophile is AK4628. Well, can't say I was impressed... Technical specifications of this chip are nearly identical to those of AK4529 used in Sonica Theatre (SINAD 90 dB, DR 106 dB). Even the Revolution 7.1 has (on paper) better DAC on the "front" two outputs... Compare:
http://www.chipcatalog.com/AKM/AK4529.htm (Sonica Theatre; no longer on the AKM site)
http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/...28/ak4628.html (Audiophile Firewire)
http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/...81/ak4381.html (Revolution 7.1 "front" output)

Given the price, the surrounding circuitry would probably be better on the Audiophile Firewire than the Revolution... But what about sound? Does it sound at least as good as the Revolution? And does it sound better than the significantly cheaper Sonica Theatre?

Or what reasonably priced external sound card would you recommend? The only requirement is 4 different outputs (ie 2 stereo pairs) and 24-bit DACs (doesn't have to be able to feed all the outputs 24/96 at once, so it can be a USB 1.1 device too). Even a recommendation of a decently priced internal one would help. (I know about the Revolution but is there something else that has at least two stereo outputs? I was hoping for the E-mu to come up with something but all the lower models has only one stereo output AFAIK.)

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[Ultraviolet]

I've been using (or trying to...) the Audiophile Firewire for about 6 months now. With each new driver update that M Audio comes out with I seem to have more conflicts. I think it sounds good, but I can only listen when nothing else is running on my computer and several programs cause the sound to drop out altogether and only a restart will bring the sound back. This has happened on two different machines (both XP though) and I formatted one of them. Although it sounds good, I can't recommend it. I would have picked up something else if I would have known what a pain in the ass this card was going to be.

 

[es2mac]

I have one for my PowerBook, and although it's not without little problems, I never feel much troubled using it (and I quickly got used to that volume control...)
So this is on the Mac side.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultraviolet I've been using (or trying to...) the Audiophile Firewire for about 6 months now. With each new driver update that M Audio comes out with I seem to have more conflicts. I think it sounds good, but I can only listen when nothing else is running on my computer and several programs cause the sound to drop out altogether and only a restart will bring the sound back. This has happened on two different machines (both XP though) and I formatted one of them. Although it sounds good, I can't recommend it. I would have picked up something else if I would have known what a pain in the ass this card was going to be.

 

[Ultraviolet]

es2mac, I assume you're talking about the "nonlinearity" of that volume control? 1/8 of a turn blows out your eardrums and then it takes 45 turns to get it back down or vice versa? There's new software on the m audio website that addresses this. This was only one of my problems. What pisses me off was that I bought m audio because I'd heard such great things about the company, their quality and the speed with which they addressed problems. A product with this volume control problem should never have been shipped. A feel like a beta tester with blown eardrums.

 

[es2mac]

Was that an actual problem? I don't know, it's easy for me to adjust to the volume I want. The volume increases faster if I turn the knob faster, or change subtle when I turn slowly. On the mac I open up the "console" and see that the volume adjusting numbers do differ with different turning speed.

 

[Jose R]

Well, I'm also using it with a Mac - 14" iBook running jag. Just got it today. A few kinks starting up, but works just fine.

iBook (iTunes) ->1394a -> M-Audio -> Marantz 2235B -> ASL Signature -> AKG K501

I've disabled the volume control on the M-Audio FW Audiophile and either use the built in VC for itunes or the volume knob on the Marantz.

Never noticed the nonlinear attenuator of the M-Audio.

I will be hooking up an external Raid case with two 250GB WD drives. Hopefully I won't encounter problems.

 

[Ultraviolet]

The volume was a problem actually and one which they acknowledged and finally fixed. You're lucky about the speed of turning the knob actually correlating to the degree of volume change. Mine had no correlation whatsoever. It's fixed now though. All in all, it's fine, but it was way more work than it should have been and I still have all sorts of strange conflicts (DC++ causes complete sound dropout which requires a reboot to fix, but that could be something uniquely strange about my setup--I'm about to format to see if I can remedy this). The sound is good, but not fantastic-I actually only use the digital out now and the headphone jack. This is my first decent sound card, but without comparing it to any other cards I'd have to say that it is overpriced and a bit of a pain in the ass to use--but far far superior obviously to my integrated sound prior to this.