After hearing all the hype around Hoontech's C-Port, I decided I needed
to check this sound card and rack out. I was given a contact at Sound
and Music (Victoria Australia)and about a week later, the C-Port was
in my hot little hand.
The C-Port is very easy to install and the latest drivers are readily
available from ST Audio's
web site. Within 10 minutes the C-Port was installed and configured and
ready to blow my mind!!! If you are looking for the top end of the professional
sounc cards at a reasonable price, with sound like you would not believe
then you need to read on and find out why the C-Port ROCKS!!!
The unit consists of 3 major components: The internal sound card (DSP24),
the XG Daughter board, and the external rack (ADC & DAC2000). Let's
take a closer look at all 3 components and find out why in my opinion
that this is the best solution for any sound
solution.
- The internal sound card (DSP 24): This is the center of the C-Port's
functionality. Designed to sit in any PCI slot (I recommend the furthermost
away from the AGP slot as the card functions best with it's own IRQ).
The card has a high 24 bit 96Khz, with ultra low latency capabilities.
On the card, it has facilities to connect to either the analog or digital
out of your CD-ROM (Dependant on the CD-ROM) and the XG Daughter Board.
(Both are internally connected). It also has the "standard"
1/8 inch sockets for microphone, line in and line out (The line out
is only capable of 24 Bit / 44Khz). It also has a female 44 pin socket
for the h-bus cable that connects the external rack to the sound card.
- XG Daughter Board: The XG Daughter board is connected to the DSP24
internally. The XG has sockets on board for S/PDIF (Both RCA and optical)
and 1/8 inch AES/EBU digital input and output. This allows for the transfer
of Audio from either a DAT Recorder or Mini disc.
- The External Rack (ADC & DAC2000): This is what sets the C-Port
head and shoulders above the rest of the home studio set-ups. The 19
inch external converter has 8 1/4 inch inputs and 81/4 inch outputs,
2 XLR outputs, 2 microphone sockets (Yes, they are pre-amped and use
phantom power), 1Midi in and 2 Midi outs and a 1/4 inch headphone socket
with built in amp (you can probably start to see why this is such a
great setup). The "rack" is designed to work in full 24bit
96k resolution and is easily configured in all decent audio software.
I have been told that you can record through all ports simultaneously
(I am yet to check this out as I can't play 10 instruments at once...lol)
basically all you need to do is plug in the instrument or microphones
(set the gain for the mic's) and you can record straight away. The "rack"
is easily configured using the external mixing software designed for
the C-Port and if you want to add more channels to record with you can
add another 3 "racks" to the configuration.
Now, if all the above is not enough...The system comes packaged with
software written by Emagic specifically for the C-Port. This software
Logic Audio 24. There are 2 disks, Volume 1 is for windows 95/98 users
and Volume 2 is for Windows 2000/XP users.
The reason remixers and bedroom producers buy this sort of equipment
is for the end result. I have to tell you this system TOTALLY ROCKS!!!...I
set up my wife's favorite song at the moment (You don't want to know what
it is....you would wet yourself with laughter) and called her into the
room. She was absolutely blown away by the quality of the sound (She is
no expert in sound quality but she noticed how clean and warm the sound
was) and I was running as I couldn't stand the song she likes :-).
The C-Port will run on most systems (at least a Pentium 133). Hoontech
recommends upgrading from Windows 95 to Windows 98SE and updating the
chipset drivers. It will run on 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP. Drivers for BeOS are
in development and there are drivers available for Linux. My system is
as follows: AMD 1200, M810L Motherboard (Pcchips) with onboard video,
sound, modem, 512Meg RAM, 40Gig (7200RPM) HDD and Windows XP and the C-Port
performed exceptionally well.
Finding the downside of the C-Port is very hard, infact almost impossible,
one thing I did notice was the wife started to nag me more about spending
long hours in front of the computer "playing" with music....
The C-Port is available from Sound
and Music and in my opinion, if you are serious about your music GET
THE C-PORT!!!
Review by DJ Scott - e and thanks to Sound
and Music for allowing me to review the C-Port.
