Terratec AudioSystem EWS88 Reviews

[brandondrury]

Is The Terratec AudioSystem EWS88 The Right Audio Interface For You?
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Terratec AudioSystem EWS88 Description
The EWS88 MT represents the state-of-the-art in digital audio interfacing for the PC platform. Whether you are using digital or analog audio interfaces, the system provides full 24-bit resolution with sample rates selectable between 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz. The EWS88 MT consists of two key elements, a PCI card and a 5 1/4" breakout box linked with 2.5m multicore. The breakout box has the option of being mounted in an empty drive bay in your PC case with a ribbon cable connecting internally to the PCI card for a neat alternative.The EWS88 MT PCI card has an analog stereo monitor output (16-bit/48kHz) on a 3.5mm stereo jack socket as well as the external breakout box connector and S/PDIF stereo digital input and output connectors using RCA Phono connectors. On the card itself there is a connector pair enabling internal daisy-chaining of up to 4 EWS88 MT in a single PC to run off a common clock source for perfect synchronization of up to 40 tracks (PC permitting).

[MetalDave]

Quality: 9
The EWS88 MT is one of the best sound cards I have ever used. It can record 8 track simultaniously. You can also run 4 of them together in one computer if you have 4 PCI slots. They sound incredible! Very clean. I let my son put one in his computer. We replaced his audogy Sound Blaster by Creative. (He is a gamer) these are not made for gaming but will blow away any card out these that is. He heard things in the games he had never heard before. Also Fruity Loops sounded and worked way better. When he would try to listen to certain pre made loops before we put the card in, it would freeze up and crackle. They played very smoothly after we put in the EWS88 MT. It comes with a breakout box that can be mounted into a 5¼" drive bay. Or you can run them externally.

Reliability: 6
I have never had a problem with one of these cards I have recorded on 3 of them so far with not one glitch. I haven't had to call for technical support but I have read they are ok. Nothing to get excited about but not bad. I have read some reviews about the drivers not loading right in some computers but I have 4 different driver packages for them. They have kept up with the times even though they don't make them any more.

Overall Rating: 9
I would highly recommend these to anyone who would like to have a great sound card with excellent Latency and great audio quality. I probably will not buy one again because I want to record on 24 tracks and they are getting very hard to find. These aren't being made anymore so I have started looking at some of the other interfaces out there. They were great card and I wish Terratec would have kept producing them. It is sad to see them go!