E-MU 1820m vs 1212m, kind of a noob question.

I'm about to buy one of these cards very soon but I have some concerns about the 1212m. It doesn't have enough inputs for my needs. Basically I need more inputs because I don't want to be plugging and unplugging stuff all the time. I'm not going to record several instruments at the same time, except maybe when miking a guitar cab with two mics.

However, that being the only reason for my needing the 1820m, I have to wonder, is there a more sensible (cheaper ) way of going about this? Like for example getting the 1212m and some external ADAT box, or whatever, that I plug into the s/pdif input of the card? Would that sound worse than going straight into the inputs of the card? And what kinds of external I/O boxes could I use?

Please help a helpless guy...

However, I'm PRETTY damn sure it's gonna be one of these cards so please, don't recommend me other cards. I have an M-Audio 1010LT right now and it has enough I/O but I want a better quality card.

Edit: a bit clearer..

Well, with the 1820M you'd be taking a small step up in quality, but a step down in drivers.

For about $500 you've got the TASCAM FW1804 or the M-Audio FW1814. Both have 8 analog ins and ADAT I/O.

You could use a Behringer ADA8000 into the 1212m's adat i/o's to gain 8 more preamps & i/o's. However, that's a step down in quality so you should only do that if you really need 10 i/o's & 8 preamps. The price of the two together will be nearly the same as what you could get an 1820m for. IMO, you should just get the 1820M & be done with it.

I have the 1820m, and I think its a no brainer for sound quality. Alot of people are getting the Berry with the 1212m, but like Eric said.......

Emu is finally getting the drivers under control, after a Loooong time of problems with some people. I think the patchmix is a killer piece of software, and it probably does TOO much, but great product as far as sound and flexibility.

This is the 4th interface I have had in a year and a half, I think Im home.

You could also just go with the 1212 and get a patch bay. That's kinda what I'm doing with a DAL card deluxe. Just patch your mic amps and mixer into the thing and also the ins to the card. Then it's just a matter of plugging what you want into the card's inputs to record. Really fast and tidy.

If you are thinking about either of the EMUs, you should spend a little time looking at:

http://www.productionforums.com/index.php?f=52

this is the EMU users forum.

You will probably get a sense if this is the right interface for you.

We have a 1212m installed in one system that runs flawlessly. The thing is that the drivers are still the original ones that were shipped with the card early last year, so I think it's only these later drivers that are bad. The newer ones will allow you to load E-mu dsp plug-ins from within your app but, to be completely honest, those plug-ins are nothing special.

Naw, those plugs are good for wet cans, non committed... but, in the 1820m, when going 96, you lose all the effects.(Not to mention cans out) This is one of the things they were working on.