Hi guys, this is my 1^st post on this forum, but I need some help, I have searched the internet high and low for answers regarding this matter .

Basically I just want to know what sound card I can get for making music on osx86 out of the box? I don't want to use any homemade drivers etc. It needs to be a good Card (M-Audio or something like that)

Example – Can I get an M-Audio PCI Card and use the drivers from the M-Audio website? or Can I get "any sound card" and Use the drivers from the makers website.


I have IPC PPF5 OSX86 10.5.6 working fine on my system (below), it took a few installs to finally get it going! Using different driver options etc had to download a few kexts files and do some tweaking as you do!

I have my EM-U 0404 PCI Card working fine with the The kX Audio Driver 1.2b1 (BETA), Working with all audio programs, Logic Pro 8, Itunes, dvd player etc etc.

It gets a Kernel Panic now and again with the IOAudiofamily Kext. I know this is an issue with the The kX audio driver and the EM-U 0404 PCI Card. I need to reboot every time I get it!

I have used the EM-U 0404 card with Logic pro 8 with 20 midi channels working fine, all playing Audio unit instruments (vsts) and 5 audio channels playing all at the same time. This was tested by me yesterday for about 6 hours! With no problem, but sometimes I get this Kernel Panic just playing a dvd! seems weird!

Ok so after a lot of searching....

To use the EM-U 0404 PCI Card I need to reset FPGA firmware. I need to type edspctr into the OSX terminal then the sound works, so I have made a script for this to be done automatically at start-up, so I don't have to do it every time. So basically I can't use the sound card I have just now (EM-U 0404) as its not stable enough.

Can anyone help with suggestions of a Sound Card that will work for music production out fo the box? (Vanilla)

My System is:

IPC PPF5 OSX86 10.5.6
ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard (nForce 650i SLI - LGA775 Socket)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6660 Kentsfield 2.4GHz CPU
3gb Ram
EM-U 0404 PCI Sound Card
Working On Board sound (disabled now though)
Working Network Card
Firewire (not tested)
USB (Very slow speeds with external hard drives USB 1 speeds 12mb/s)
Working PCI-E Graphics Card

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I hope someone could help me out.
Thank you

I would go RME AIO PCIe or any RME PCI card but they are expensive, they cost between $500 - $800 or wait for Maya 44e PCIe with mac drivers but they haven't posted any mac drivers yet.

Ok thank you, I need something soundcard wise asap, that will be stable for osx86.
anyone else with suggestions?

thanks

Perhaps you should take a look at the Mackie external firewire soundcards, especially the Onyx 400F (8in/8out - 24b/192 khz), yes they're a bit expensive but they have a real sound, just do the test and compare them to M-Audio, Presonus & co, to my ears they sound exactly like a big console of the same brand.

But just an advice you say that you haven't tested your firewire yet, i recommend you to try to connect some fw peripherals to your comp' to see if everything is ok before any decision.

I'll defo be looking into this before I buy anything soundcard wise, Do you think if I got a Firewire soundcard my system would be rock solid stable? no more kernel Panics for the sound card (PCI).
The Mackie one above is good and would fit nicely into my studio but is to expensive just now, I think thinking more on the lines of the M-Audio 192, EM-U 0404 price range £60 -£100


Thanks again guys.

I have build a Hackintosh with Q6600 running at 3,2GHz for a friend of me.
He's using a Saffire Pro 40 with FireWire interface. Works like a rock!
It's just to give you an idea of the possibility. If your FireWire ports works then any FireWire device will work!

Ed

Thanks Ed, is your friends system stable? no kernel panics at all? thats the only problem i have just now! this dam kernel panic when i am working on music! damm PCI cards!!

Really i think i should be looking to get a firewire sound card that used osx drivers (not patched or homemade) for about £100 to stop all this kernel panic stuff and sell the EM-U 0404 PCI card i think is the way to go.

Great feedback guys! anymore sugestions anyone.

In fact there's a very positive point with these fw external soundcards (and @*=° usb too... sorry i hate usb!): most of them are CoreAudio compatibles!

It means that most of the time you have no drivers to install at all!.

You plug the thing, osx recognize it immediatly, and then you use the standard Audio Config panel of Leo to set it.
Of course, for some internal particular settings (wordclock, some tricky monitoring/routing options...) you have to install a simple control panel wich is specific to the model you have.

So for us, happy hackie users, there's no risk of kernel panic, incompatibilities or other joynesses, because there's nothing wich have access to the kernel!

I've tested that on a friend's config (an old Dell PIV 2ghz running 10.5.5) with an Echo audiofire 2;
...when you compare with the same installation, but on windows...

True. Any USB & Firewire should work out of the box.

And I am dare to say any pci card would work if it has osx drivers. When something fails in your osx is due to a motherboard unrecognized part normally but any extra component you add that comes with drivers should work.

M-Audio is cheap and nothing superb but it could do the job if music is your hobbie. Just check prices and something from about 300 to 700 for something a bit more serious. From that above you only get sound cards are made for recording purposes due to their conversors quality so the price.

I got an USB 2.0 Motu 828 mk2 and I can say is rock solid but it has too many things you might don't need.

RME is one of the best but the price could be a bit high for what you need.

I would say to get M-audio or Edirol ( the red one ) Cheap and easy. If you only want to reproduce your logic output.

Apogee Duet is something not too expensive and has the claimed apogee converters if you play any instruments but 2 in 2 outs only. Volumen knob control, mic in etc...

Anyway I gotta go to sleep.

Good luck mate.