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Philipp Wachtel
 
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Default Marian Marc2 - any opinions and experiences with it?!

Hi everyone!

Please, excuse my silly question!!!!

Iīm considering to get a new audio card. So far, Iīve chosen either the
Marian Marc2 OR Terratecīs EWX 2496 (with the same envy chipset as M-audio
2496, but way cheaper).

The Marc2 seems more "pro" to me than the EWX2496. Iīd just like to have
some opinions on the Marc2, if possible even comparisons in usage behaviour.

Iīve taken some time to check out, which cards on the market would match my
very tight budget / features wishlist. The M-Audio2496 is a good product,
but it costs about 50 ? more than the EWX with the same chipset and thatīs
more than I want to spend - yes, I know there are more manufacturing factors
to the result than just the chipset ;-)


What I want to do:

- record AUDIO from external sources (Iīm not interested in wavetables /
MIDI stuff) in decent quality (something better than that crappy borrowed SB
live Iīve been using for some months now)
- I use Cakewalk Sonar for audio-recording, Cubase SX for mixing

- have the ability to copy recordings digitally from/to my MD-recorder (Sony
MDS-JE 500, only _optical_ TOSLINK digi IO !!!)


Phil


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Nick H (UK)
 
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Default Marian Marc2 - any opinions and experiences with it?!

Ralph Stens wrote:
Hello Philipp,

I use the Marc 2 now for more than 2 years for recording analog
tapes to CD and digital SPDIF signals (ADR tuner). It is a
wonderful and very good professional audio card. There is
only one big problem - if you want to use the Marc 2 with Linux
you have no chance, but the Windows implementation works great
(I use a 2000 system).


I tried to buy one recently, but the supplier found it hard to source.
I ended up buying an RME digi/96 PST, with which I am well pleased. My
priority was for better quality playback from the PC through the hifi --
results are excellent. But it blew my budget completely, especially as
I had to add an external mixer to control analog input. So :-) and :-( !



- record AUDIO from external sources (Iīm not interested in wavetables /
MIDI stuff) in decent quality (something better than that crappy borrowed
SB live Iīve been using for some months now)


My thoughts were to buy a card that did nothing else but analog and
digital stereo I/O, thus hopefully spending the money on quality rather
than unwanted features.

Nick H

- I use Cakewalk Sonar for audio-recording, Cubase SX for mixing

- have the ability to copy recordings digitally from/to my MD-recorder
(Sony MDS-JE 500, only _optical_ TOSLINK digi IO !!!)



The Marc 2 has optical and electrital digital I/O's.

Best regards

Ralph



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Philipp Wachtel
 
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Default Marian Marc2 - any opinions and experiences with it?!

First of all, THANKS for your replies!!!

Sorry, I totally forgot my systemīs configuration:

- Athlon 1333
- Epox 8K7A mainboard with AMD 761 chipset
- 256 MB DDR RAM
- Windows XP Home Edition (with a dedicated partition for an audio-only
installation)

only one big problem - if you want to use the Marc 2 with Linux
you have no chance, but the Windows implementation works great
(I use a 2000 system).


Well, I donīt use Linux and probably wonīt try it again in the future (tried
it out some years ago and realised, I was just too stupid for it). I have
WinXP Home Edition running well...

I tried to buy one recently, but the supplier found it hard to source.


I think, since Marian is a German company, it should be easy to get one
here - I asked at a local music shop 2 weeks ago and they had 3 marc2 cards
in stock.

I ended up buying an RME digi/96 PST, with which I am well pleased. My
priority was for better quality playback from the PC through the hifi --
results are excellent. But it blew my budget completely, especially as
I had to add an external mixer to control analog input. So :-) and :-( !


Well RME is fine, but more expensive than I can afford. Maybe, I have to buy
a an external mixer too in the near future and want to save my money for
this and other stuff like cables etc.

My thoughts were to buy a card that did nothing else but analog and
digital stereo I/O, thus hopefully spending the money on quality rather
than unwanted features.


So were mine... ;-)))))

- have the ability to copy recordings digitally from/to my MD-recorder
(Sony MDS-JE 500, only _optical_ TOSLINK digi IO !!!)


The Marc 2 has optical and electrital digital I/O's.


I know, the Marc2 features both electrical + opt. digi I/Os - that was meant
for those who would rather suggest the Delta Audiophile 2496, which only has
electrical digi I/Os, that I donīt really need at the moment...


best regards,

Philipp


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Nick H (UK)
 
Posts: n/a
Default Marian Marc2 - any opinions and experiences with it?!

Philipp Wachtel wrote:
First of all, THANKS for your replies!!!

Sorry, I totally forgot my systemīs configuration:

- Athlon 1333
- Epox 8K7A mainboard with AMD 761 chipset
- 256 MB DDR RAM
- Windows XP Home Edition (with a dedicated partition for an audio-only
installation)


only one big problem - if you want to use the Marc 2 with Linux
you have no chance, but the Windows implementation works great
(I use a 2000 system).



Well, I donīt use Linux and probably wonīt try it again in the future (tried
it out some years ago and realised, I was just too stupid for it). I have
WinXP Home Edition running well...


I tried to buy one recently, but the supplier found it hard to source.



I think, since Marian is a German company, it should be easy to get one
here - I asked at a local music shop 2 weeks ago and they had 3 marc2 cards
in stock.


I ended up buying an RME digi/96 PST, with which I am well pleased. My
priority was for better quality playback from the PC through the hifi --
results are excellent. But it blew my budget completely, especially as
I had to add an external mixer to control analog input. So :-) and :-( !



Well RME is fine, but more expensive than I can afford. Maybe, I have to buy
a an external mixer too in the near future and want to save my money for
this and other stuff like cables etc.


My thoughts were to buy a card that did nothing else but analog and
digital stereo I/O, thus hopefully spending the money on quality rather
than unwanted features.



So were mine... ;-)))))


- have the ability to copy recordings digitally from/to my MD-recorder
(Sony MDS-JE 500, only _optical_ TOSLINK digi IO !!!)

The Marc 2 has optical and electrital digital I/O's.



I know, the Marc2 features both electrical + opt. digi I/Os - that was meant
for those who would rather suggest the Delta Audiophile 2496, which only has
electrical digi I/Os, that I donīt really need at the moment...


We both followed exactly the same reasoning, and had I been able to get
it easily I would have bought the Marian card that day. I'm not sure I
remember accurately, I think I was told that that model is being
discontinued (could well be wrong). That in itself doesn't bother me,
the RME digi/96 PST is now obsolete, which made it much cheaper




best regards,

Philipp




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