thanks for a very intersting info! I shall check those out more, meantime, I
am thinking about these two i've digged out on the net:
http://www.winic.com/2178sp.htm
This one is really simple usb<->s/pdif converter - after emailing to
manufacturer (Taiwan) and getting price list they are about $30 for single
purchase plus shipping, etc. - sounds kinda good to me and considering that
it is strictly very simply device - there should not be much issues with
compatibility (manufacturer states that device is full duplex and USB audio
standard compliant)...
the other is from
www.waveidea.com
it is called UASC-1 (more expensive), but has all online purchashing
fascilities, etc... don't know which way to go yet - but just thought people
would find it interesting (esp. the first device - appears to be real
cheap... - yeah i know it is gitial only - but that means that it modular
(i.e. can use either high quality AD/DA converters or a cheapish DAT
machines/ minidisc players, etc.))
The problem with the M-audio usb stuff is that it
needs a very specific quality of AC voltage to operate,
which makes destroys the key advantage of having an audio
interface on a laptop. One company researched and developed
a battery pack for these devices, but admits that hum
is introduced into the signal.
I've been looking for a long time, and decided that the
Apogee Mini-me is the best solution, but at $1200.00.
If you don't cream over 24/96k, you can look at the
mbox. Edirol has one with great features, but apparently
the mic pre's are very noisy. VXPocket looks good,
but has no phantom power. These can be had on ebay for
a reasonable price however.