m-audio audiophile 2496 real review

[jes&music]

I have some time so I want to review my audiophile 2496.
First off I want to say it is good on a DAW, not a PC.

the only problem I have had was with the drivers conflicting with my messenger audio. Basically, it is the problem of not tuning your computer into a true DAW, or partitioning a music side.

The problem:
M-audio drivers and Windows messenger drivers conflict to where I had to reinstall the audiophile drivers many times after using Windows messenger with audio.

Personal conclusion:
I think it has to do with windows messenger drivers. they just don't like each other.

answer:
Don't use audio chatting with windows messenger if you have an audiophile 2496. Setup your computer to where you don't use the internet. Just keep it strictly music.

[.Jon]

hmm, thats very odd. I have a 24/96 and use it with windows messenger alot, sometimes video/audio communication with it. never had a problem. its in my only pc, so it gets alot of use on a wide range of things and its fufilled its duty everywhere. have you dled the latest version of windows messenger? good luck to ya

[jes&music]

have you dled the latest version of windows messenger?

Yes I have. I just haven't used the audio/video feature yet. It gets tiring when that happens.

[nmodi]

I could never get my Audiophile working for day-to-day audio. I just ran it in the music software, and used my on-board sound for everything else. They lived together just fine. Then I got a dedicated DAW.

[adhesive]

Strange. My pooter has enjoyed every minute of the 2496's invasion. No conflicts. I use it for all things sound-related, and my computer is not a dedicated DAW either.

[jes&music]

I just completely formatted my hard drive. And stuck just the bare bones in for now. I will tell you if anything comes up.

[.Jon]

make sure to dl the latest driver from m-audio. like i said i use it on my everyday computer and its worked perfectly for everything

[jes&music]

I just tried the audiophile 2496 with windows live messenger video chat and it works. I guess it might have been just my system that needed reformatting.

But one thing that stayed the same even after my reformat is, when the drivers are installed, It asks me if I want to shut down the computer, and I say yes. But nothing happens. So I have to shut the computer with the start menu. Other then that it has been working fine so far.

[jes&music]

Also sometimes in WinXP the M-audio taskbar icon dissapears. )Usually when the computer has gone through a big task. Kinda unhelpful when you want to change paramaters on it. But its only happened twice in the almost 3 years since I had it.

Like right now. I will post a picture showing how the taskbar looks without the m-audio icon which should be in the space that's empty.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9022/glitchestp8.jpg

Well. I still love M-audio. But it's not as stable as a preamp.

[ronsavoy]

I use mine for everything too, the only problem I have with it is it seems to be getting interference from the video card, things get poppy with games, even Windows Media Player... it's weird, I use the mouse wheel to scroll down a window and the music actually draaggs... crazy. Anyway, it works fine when in Cubase, which is what really matters to me.

[nanashiwanderer]

I never had any of these problems with my audiophile and I had it for 3 years. Worked bug free...

[jes&music]

Anyway, it works fine when in Cubase, which is what really matters to me.

Yes it works fine for me on my music partition where everything is just that...music.

[Solid Noise]

my 2496 is a workaholic
i want a 1010 tho for more in's

i have had the 2496 for about a year now and with updates from m-audio i have had zero problems.

if there is ever a problem with something i am trying to record or play back the 2496 is the last place i would check.

[.Jon]

I use mine for everything too, the only problem I have with it is it seems to be getting interference from the video card, things get poppy with games, even Windows Media Player... it's weird, I use the mouse wheel to scroll down a window and the music actually draaggs... crazy. Anyway, it works fine when in Cubase, which is what really matters to me.

you have your buffer set too low. on my old slow pc it did that until i put the buffer up all the way at 2048. bring the buffer up a step until it doesent crackle or pop anymore

[MrHope]

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 works just fine on my computer.

My computer: 750 MHz 128 MB RAM with Windows 98 SE.
I use my computer exclusively for multitrack mixing, MIDI, and stereo recording. The operating system was tweaked for audio by using registry tweaks and editing important .INI files.

The soundcard has clear sound and noise is so low as to be inaudible.
The ASIO drivers allow usage of VST instruments in real time.

One issue: The installation CD that came with the soundcard
didn't work well. However, the drivers available from the M-Audio
website worked just fine.

[jes&music]

I just tried the audiophile 2496 with windows live messenger video chat and it works. I guess it might have been just my system that needed reformatting.

Back to reality on my computer.
It still screws up-either lowering of volume or no sound, when I use MSN messenger. I still won't sell this thing. But thought I'd let you guys know.

It really could just be the mother board itself. It's a cheap hand built computer.

[adeptsauga]

i've got an an audiophile 2496, works beautifully, messenger and all that. Never had any problems with it, very easy to install, very little noise, very good card.

[madcat]

ronsavoy wrote:
I use mine for everything too, the only problem I have with it is it seems to be getting interference from the video card, things get poppy with games, even Windows Media Player... it's weird, I use the mouse wheel to scroll down a window and the music actually draaggs... crazy. Anyway, it works fine when in Cubase, which is what really matters to me.

you have your buffer set too low. on my old slow pc it did that until i put the buffer up all the way at 2048. bring the buffer up a step until it doesent crackle or pop anymore

If you're listening to a track in Windows Media Player, and open IE or some other application, does the sound crackle or get poppy?

For me, no system tweak in the world will correct this problem. Nor will trying different PCI slots and checking for IRQ conflicts. If I let the music play without touching anything else there are no problems. But as soon as I open an application the popping starts.

After updating all of my drivers, including the chipset, I can safely say that there is a PCI bus latency issue. Many people have had success trying to change these settings with low level tools like PowerStrip... changing latency on their video cards for example. This may work for you, but my settings are locked so I can only deal with this until I get my next computer... which will be custom built by audio specialists I assure you.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=45491&mpage=2

[123take]

This is a good basic card for a mixerless studio. I do not know if it is just mine, but it makes a beeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaach, screeching noise when the computer powers down or goes into standby.

A good thing I use it for it bouncing tracks. It has this capability wherein you can record whatever your computer output is. You can just connec the output to the input through software mixer.

I have a behringer xenyx small mixer that I use to just control the audio output to my monitors. Otherwise the screecing noise is very damaging to the speakers.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Doing a little necroposting, are we???

[ronsavoy]

Necroposting? Sounds... deadly.

[cmreal04]

K, so you can hook up your monitors, but there's no headphone jack No option to listen while sampling with the m audio cards.....or am I missing something.

[Blue Bear Sound]

K, so you can hook up your monitors, but there's no headphone jack

Of course there isn't - it's not a gaming card!

It has a line-out, which you'd then route to either a mixer or other line-selector device that will give you both a headphone out and outputs to send to monitors.

[cmreal04]

I was afraid you might find this post, and beat me with a chair Thanks tho.

CM

[cmreal04]

Update: Just had the 2496 installed today, outs running to a mon800, and am very happy with it ! Thanks again Tweak for the recommendation