The usual order process will start when I receive the big box of cards sometime next week
atm there is a small stock that marmes has so we thought this can be available now for vogons members that want such a card

The bad news is that PCMIDI addons (and by extension the standalone pcmidi isa card) will not be available for the time being because they are affected by the chip shortage.
Once this gets resolved it will only be a matter of inserting the pcmidi addon to the headers on the card and it will work, nothing to solder or mod 😀

I will be receiving a Behringer UCA222 in the mail today; that should make analog recording much less painful than my UMC22 where I have to equalize the gains on the stereo channels painfully every single time.

You know what that means? Yes, I will be recording a lot of games from my MK8330 in the coming days. So please list what you want to hear - not limited to games, of course, but for chiptunes you will have to send me the files. 😀

The Behringer UCA222 is excellent. This is what I do all of my recordings on. I have a fancier model with higher bit rate and dual inputs, but the UCA222 sounds perfect to my ears and is good enough.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-21, 10:25:

The Behringer UCA222 is excellent. This is what I do all of my recordings on. I have a fancier model with higher bit rate and dual inputs, but the UCA222 sounds perfect to my ears and is good enough.

Did you ever get a chance to look inside yours to see what chip it uses ?

Re: Choosing a good ADC for recording from MIDI synthesizers?

I got the gray one, which should have the TI PCM290. But I can check.

Edit.

It's a TI PCM2902. Here is the exact chip inside mine:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 00:02:

I got the gray one, which should have the TI PCM290. But I can check. […]
Show full quote

I got the gray one, which should have the TI PCM290. But I can check.

Edit.

It's a TI PCM2902. Here is the exact chip inside mine:

F4619175-01.png

Glad you got one of the good ones.

It makes sense with the good performance you are getting .

EDIT :
Anybody considering one those should be weary of getting one of those not based on the TI chip . This is one technical review of that "bad" variant . Earlier less formal reviews point in the same direction .
See https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/inde … er-uca222.2036/

darry wrote on 2022-06-22, 01:29:

Glad you got one of the good ones. […]
Show full quote

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 00:02:

I got the gray one, which should have the TI PCM290. But I can check. […]
Show full quote

I got the gray one, which should have the TI PCM290. But I can check.

Edit.

It's a TI PCM2902. Here is the exact chip inside mine:

F4619175-01.png

Glad you got one of the good ones.

It makes sense with the good performance you are getting .

EDIT :
Anybody considering one those should be weary of getting one of those not based on the TI chip . This is one technical review of that "bad" variant . Earlier less formal reviews point in the same direction .
See https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/inde … er-uca222.2036/

I believe that the review is wrong. It has since been pointed out that the CoolAudio V2902 chip found in UCA222 (as opposed to the BB branded PCM2902 chip in earlier UCA202s, which was also pruduced under license as far as I know) is actually the same IC produced under license by Behringer's CoolAudio brand. There is virtually no difference between the two units.

Datasheets:

PCM2902: https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm2900.pdf
V2902: https://mediadl.musictribe.com/download/docum … 2_DATASHEET.pdf

They are 100% identical down to every single electrical characteristic - the datasheets are essentially copy pastes of one another. Moreover, even newer UCA202 units come with the CoolAudio V2902, not BB branded TI PCM2902 chips. The issue here is that the PCM2902A as well as the V2902 (which seems to be a licensed clone of) share the same issue of phase shift at higher frequencies. This was fixed in PCM2902B onwards, but for V2902 I have no idea - it does not even have revision markings, I believe. Regardless, UCA202 and UCA222 units can come with PCM2902A/B/C or V2902 - it's a gamble.

I haven't checked mine, but I will. Are they easy to open up?

Two screws and you lift it at the USB connector which secures the board from moving with a rubber cable flex.

It's a piece of cake to open. There isn't a single plastic hook, clasp, or clip to worry about.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 10:26:

Two screws and you lift it at the USB connector which secures the board from moving with a rubber cable flex.

It's a piece of cake to open. There isn't a single plastic hook, clasp, or clip to worry about.

Just checked, it's the CoolAudio Y2902 clone inside mine.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-06-22, 17:18:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 10:26:

Two screws and you lift it at the USB connector which secures the board from moving with a rubber cable flex.

It's a piece of cake to open. There isn't a single plastic hook, clasp, or clip to worry about.

Just checked, it's the CoolAudio Y2902 clone inside mine.

Well, there are a couple of possible explanations.

Maybe the review unit was an outlier.
Maybe some of the early production runs of the licenced chip were out of spec.
Maybe unit to unit variation is significant.
Maybe the ADC performance on licensed units is still good even if DAC is worse and that is what most users use.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-06-22, 17:18:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 10:26:

Two screws and you lift it at the USB connector which secures the board from moving with a rubber cable flex.

It's a piece of cake to open. There isn't a single plastic hook, clasp, or clip to worry about.

Just checked, it's the CoolAudio Y2902 clone inside mine.

It the case color gray or red?

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 18:19:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-06-22, 17:18:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 10:26:

Two screws and you lift it at the USB connector which secures the board from moving with a rubber cable flex.

It's a piece of cake to open. There isn't a single plastic hook, clasp, or clip to worry about.

Just checked, it's the CoolAudio Y2902 clone inside mine.

It the case color gray or red?

It's red, and labelled UCA222.

You can compare it with my past recordings, so see how yours compares. I don't know if any variance will be audible, but it's an option.

Search my username with the keyword "midi".

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-22, 23:48:

You can compare it with my past recordings, so see how yours compares. I don't know if any variance will be audible, but it's an option.

Search my username with the keyword "midi".

I would gladly run some comparison tests between a TI and Coolaudio based variant if I could find a cheap sample of the latter . I have a MOTU M2 I can use to run some RMAA tests .

Anyway, this discussion about recording/playback gear should be transplanted elsewhere so discussion of the MK8330 can continue in this thread .

I have received today a nice stock of brackets 😁

since all pieces have fallen now into place it is now possible to order a MK8330 soundcard from it's site
I will eventually update the site with the final version pics and more info as things progress
also keep an eye out for a ctrl-alt-rees review video coming soon! 😀

Congrats about the public release guys! Looking forward to testing it 😁

How did you get these made? I still need a replacement bracket for a Voodoo 2.

Suggestions on replacing the I/O bracket on my Voodoo 2?

Not meaning to be spiteful, but I actually have a spare Voodoo 2 bracket I am holding on to in case one day I come across a card that lacks one 🤣

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-06-27, 11:17:

How did you get these made? I still need a replacement bracket for a Voodoo 2.

Suggestions on replacing the I/O bracket on my Voodoo 2?

one needs to send a CAD file to a factory that does this kind of work and they make them for you
pretty sure there is a voodoo2 bracket on thingverse so you can print one - until you find a spare metal one
making a single bracket in a factory makes no sense cost-wise ...

I have updated the 1st post with the final version photos , work has began assembling them!
There is also the option to bundle the card with the E-WAVE upon purchase
Also the MK8330 site has been updated with new pics and info - more stuff will be added as things progress!