Basically I bought 3 for shooting his live up to 24 simultaneous tracks. Direct recording of 24 out of the mixing desk (MX8000, I know something better. I now have a Roland M400), and editing the 24 inputs monitor. I also connected with BNC cables to. Sep 05, 2012 The Echo Layla 24 is a great rack able audio interface that I was so thankful to have a few years ago. Keep in mind that if you are looking for this device that it is no longer being created, they have upgraded it a little while go. But you can still find these online and people are getting rid of them to upgrade.
Classic unit was $800 when new, still sounds excellent. Some of the best digital converters that you could buy - AKM converters are still acknowledged as top quality.
Page 1 ® LAYLA ® GINA Owner’s Manual Version 1.0.1 for Macintosh.; Page 2 Introduction Introduction Thank you for choosing Echo Digital Audio. We think you’ll find your Echo product to be an extremely flexible, high-performance tool for your computer.
Comes complete with PCI card, main unit & A/C cable. Set up and ready to record high quality 24 / 96 audio immediately Product Description
Dynamic Range of 110dB (A-weighted) on inputs, 115dB on outputs
8 Balanced +4dBu TRS inputs
8 Balanced +4dBu TRS outputs
Headphone output with volume control
Both Alesis ADAT optical and S/PDIF digital inputs and outputs
MIDI In/Out/Thru
Word clock I/O
Esync to other Echo 24-bit products
Software Console for monitoring, metering, and setting levels
Low-latency drivers
Compatible with all popular recording/editing software
Full duplex operation (simultaneously record 8 analog channels while playing back 8 analog channels)
Will record analog and digital inputs simultaneously
Includes mixer application for audio outputs, monitor assignments, volume, and metering
When it comes to disk-based recording, we know you'll settle for nothing less than total sonic excellence. We know you're not willing to trade away performance, or features, or convenience, or flexibility, or expandability for the sake of price. And now you don't have to. Layla is a breakthrough multi-channel digital audio interface for your PC, loaded with the professional features and audio performance your music demands and deserves. Out of the box it comes with everything you need to record, arrange, edit, and master to CD your music and audio projects. And you can have it all at a simply irresistible price. It's the one you've been waiting for!! Layla24 uses the latest generation 24 bit 96 kHz converters with 110dB dynamic range and distortion of less than .002%. It has true differential, balanced outputs and a superb headphone output. ADAT lightpipe and optical S/PDIF are now included, as well as a new cool-running power supply. The new Layla 24 comes with a 15 ft. host cable that connects the rack mount interface to a PCI bus master interface card or CardBus card for LapTops!
You get the picture. Layla is a complete multi-track digital recording, editing, and mastering system. A system designed to help you make great-sounding music. Designed to grow as your needs grow. Designed to change the way you think about hard disk recording. Designed to knock your socks off.
This item is sold As-Described
This item is sold As-Described and cannot be returned unless it arrives in a condition different from how it was described or photographed. Items must be returned in original, as-shipped condition with all original packaging.
Product Specs
Condition
Brand New items are sold by an authorized dealer or original builder and include all original packaging.learn more
Brand
Echo Audio
Model
Layla 24/96
Finish
Silver
Categories
Interfaces
Made In
United States
PCMCIA Recording Interfaces [PC/Mac]
Photo: Mike Cameron
Despite the obvious attractions of portable recording systems based around laptop computers, high-quality compatible audio hardware is scarce. That looks set to change, however, now that Echo Audio have adapted their popular Mona and Layla 24 interfaces for laptop use.
The Mona and Layla rackmount units connect to a laptop using a specially designed PCMCIA card and cable. Users with laptop and desktop computers can switch the rackmount unit between the two, as long as they have both the PCMCIA card and the PCI card.
Those looking to buy an audio interface for a desktop computer are faced with a difficult task in choosing from the extensive range of PCI, FireWire and USB-based products on offer. For the laptop owner, though, there are far fewer options. To begin with, by no means all laptops have FireWire ports, and opting for a USB interface (arguably not the wisest decision at the best of times) can be particularly problematic if your machine doesn't have one of the relatively few reliable USB chipsets. The only other option has been to find an interface which uses a laptop's PCMCIA (or 'CardBus') slot, but aside from Digigram's VX Pocket and RME's new Hammerfall DSP, these have been thin on the ground. Now, however, American company Echo Audio have just released two of their well-established and well-respected audio interfaces, the Mona and Layla 24, in laptop versions, employing a CardBus card and newly designed interconnect cable instead of the original PCI card.
Lap Records
Photo: Mike CameronThe Mona and Layla 24 are clearly aimed at different types of users. Both use a CardBus card that links to an external, 19-inch rackmount unit housing A-D and D-A converters along with a range of analogue and digital audio connections, but the features on offer differ significantly. The Mona is something of an all-in-one solution, with built-in mic preamps, phantom power and metering. Its six analogue outputs make it suitable for monitoring and mixing in 5.1 surround format, and the inclusion of an eight-channel ADAT interface provides extra flexibility.
The Layla, however, is probably better suited to the user who already has a mixer and/or outboard mic preamps as it offers eight analogue inputs and outputs that operate at line level only, along with eight channels of ADAT-format digital I/O, but has no metering. Both have S/PDIF connections on dedicated phono sockets, and the ADAT optical connection can also be switched to handle S/PDIF optical instead. Sadly, though, ADAT and S/PDIF can't be used simultaneously even if you opt to use the phono sockets for the latter. Both the Mona and Layla provide word clock I/O, and the latter adds MIDI as well (see the Specifications box for more details).
Both the Mona and the Layla rackmount units look and feel exceptionally well put together. The brushed aluminium front panels give them a very classy air, and the feel of all the controls and connections inspires confidence. The interfaces connect to the CardBus card using a 12-foot cable sporting a computer-style nine-pin plug at the breakout box end and a compact 30-pin connector which plugs into the card itself. I'm pleased to say that both the Mona and Layla use decent IEC 'kettle-lead' mains power cables.
In Use
Echo Layla 24 96 Pci
They say that first impressions count for a lot, so it was unfortunate that the first time I tried out the Mona and Layla was in conjunction with an Apple Titanium Powerbook that was clearly struggling with some sort of software conflict and may well have had a damaged CardBus slot. I won't go into details, but let's just say that most of the recordings I made were of various expletives and gnashing of teeth, all in crystal-clear 96kHz, 24-bit audio of course! After this inauspicious start I tested with a Gateway laptop running Windows 98.
Echo Layla 24 96 Drivers
Opening up the Mona's packaging first of all, I was met with an absolutely unmissable single-sheet leaflet entitled 'For best results do this first!' which described the hardware and software installation procedure. An auto-booting installer on CD-ROM offered to install Windows drivers, the bundled Cubasis VST software, and product manuals (in PDF format, together with Adobe Acrobat Reader if necessary). I opted pretty much for everything, and after shutting down the laptop, inserted the CardBus card and connected the rackmount unit to it. On booting up once more, Windows detected the new hardware, installed the necessary drivers, and I was up and running. A more hassle-free installation I couldn't imagine.
Echo provide drivers in ASIO format (as used by the bundled Cubasis VST and other sequencers) along with WDM and VXD drivers for the various incarnations of Windows, including 98, ME, 2000 or XP. If you have a Mac you'll need OS 8.6 or higher. In Windows 98's Multimedia control panel the input and output options for the Mona or Layla are accurately reflected, as are Layla's MIDI connections, and I had absolutely no trouble persuading Windows to route audio via the interfaces, although Echo recommend disabling playback of Windows' system sounds.
A software console for configuring the Mona is included as part of the installation, and a capital letter 'M' in Windows' Taskbar provides easy access to it. Initially the Mona console can be a bit confusing, but it's covered in depth, along with all other aspects of the interfaces and their software, in the excellent PDF manual. The console allows latency-free hardware monitoring to be set up between any input and output, and other essential aspects of the Mona's operation, including clock source, can be configured with it. A preference page opens up some other setup options, and it was very nice to see a dither option for the digital inputs here.
Installing the Layla 24 was similarly straightforward, but its console software is necessarily more complex to cope with the greater number of analogue inputs and outputs, and of course instead of a capital 'M' in the Windows Taskbar you get an 'L'. The console also includes some MIDI configuration options. In both cases, I was impressed with how easy installation of these interfaces was. Echo have clearly done a very good job, and their Windows and ASIO drivers seem to be absolutely reliable.
Logitech illuminated keyboard k740 user manual. The Mona is designed as an all-in-one recording system offering mic and guitar preamps as well as line-level I/O.The Layla provides a well-specified eight-channel analogue interface with the addition of ADAT and S/PDIF digital I/O, word clock and MIDI.
Recording With Mona & Layla
The PCI version of the Mona was reviewed in Sound On Sound by Martin Walker back in October 2000. He commented then on its excellent sonic performance, particularly in terms of dynamic range and accuracy. I can only agree with him — both the Mona and the Layla 24 are fine-sounding interfaces with superb on-paper credentials. I've always found good A-D converters to be characterised by noticeable clarity and separation in the treble registers, and a subjective 'sweetness'. The best I've heard are those in MOTU's 1296 interface as well as some dedicated outboard converters such as the Apogee Rosetta. For the price, you wouldn't expect the Mona or Layla to sound quite like a Rosetta, but they get mighty close, and having a 96kHz option makes you feel pretty good even if you never have cause to use it!
I do, however, have some reservations about the Mona's guitar inputs, which to me sounded a touch weedy. For comparison purposes I recorded guitar (and then bass) directly through the Mona's inputs, and then through an M‑Audio DMP2 outputting into one of the line inputs. The cheap-and-cheerful DMP2 can hardly be described as esoteric, but it's an astonishingly capable little mic preamp and DI box. In all cases, and with very careful level matching, guitars sounded fuller and somehow more articulate going through the DMP2. I had few complaints with Mona's mic inputs, though as you might expect, a good, dedicated outboard voice channel still sounded subjectively better.
My only other concern about the Mona and Layla is to do with the connection between the CardBus card and the breakout cable, which looks like it could suffer if, say, something was inadvertently dropped on it. Echo have assured me that they decided on the card/cable connection only after extensive testing, and that there have been no problems with all the laptop units they've shipped so far. Nevertheless, I still feel that it's a potential weak spot — not necessarily for a home-studio setup, but maybe for a travelling rig. At one point, for instance, I experienced a spike of digital noise on all four inputs of the Mona when I slightly repositioned my laptop, causing the cable to be lightly strained, though I'd stress that this happened only once, and was not a problem at any other time during the several weeks I had the interfaces on test.
I'm in a home office with no other sounds, yet normal recordings have humming or background white noise. Where is with the headsets it was just my voice.Sadly, I had to return them after using them for a couple hours. They do not fit my head at all well since the top is not bendable at all. Plantronics blackwire c720 m headset.
Conclusions
Both the Mona and the Layla 24 sound excellent and, with virtually no exceptions, proved very reliable during the time I spent with them. They were easy to set up and nice to live with, and would be suitable for both the first-time audio interface buyer and, by virtue of their word clock connections, a more experienced user looking to add a mobile recording setup to a pre-existing studio. It's also worth mentioning that Echo sell their PCI and CardBus interface cards separately from the rackmount units if need be, so both the Layla and Mona can easily be shared between desktop and laptop systems.
Dell e6500 manual pdf. Ultimately, the Mona and Layla 24 are among the best-specified PCMCIA/CardBus based interfaces on the market, and are available at a price which competes with similarly specified PCI and FireWire-based products. The fact that neither is expandable might be a problem for some, but for the majority of laptop users, who want a good-sounding interface to use at home and on the road, they're the business.
Specifications
As I mentioned in the main text of this review, the Mona and Layla differ significantly in the range of inputs, outputs and other features they offer. The Mona's analogue inputs are all on the front panel in the shape of four combination XLR/quarter-inch sockets. Plugging in an XLR cable configures an input for microphone-level operation, whilst the quarter-inch sockets are for balanced or unbalanced line-level signals. They'll also handle a high-impedance guitar input, courtesy of the front-panel 'Guitar' switches. All four inputs have trim controls which can dial in up to 60dB of gain for the mic preamps, and up to 40dB for the line-level inputs (50dB with the Guitar switch depressed). Phantom power is available to all four mic inputs, and turned on or off with a front-panel switch.
The Mona's six analogue outputs are on balanced (+4dBu) XLRs and unbalanced (-10dBV) phonos. There's optical digital I/O switchable between ADAT and S/PDIF formats, and a dedicated S/PDIF input and output on phonos. BNC connectors for word clock (in and out), a three-pin IEC mains socket, and the nine-pin breakout cable connector round off the rear panel. Finally, on the front panel, there's a power switch, a remote footswitch socket, a nice loud headphone output (with volume control) and four 10-segment input level meters.
The Layla, in comparison, is more of a 'no frills' interface. The front panel has only a headphone output with volume control, and a power switch. Around the back there are eight software-switchable -10/+4dB line inputs and outputs, all on quarter-inch sockets and all balanced/unbalanced. There are the same arrangements for ADAT and S/PDIF as the Mona, and in addition to a pair of word clock BNCs there's MIDI In, Out and Thru.
The on-paper audio performance of the Layla and Mona is the same, and both achieve very impressive results. Frequency response for the balanced line inputs is 10Hz to 22kHz ±0.25dB with 110dB dynamic range (A-weighted). For the outputs, dynamic range is greater still at 115dB (A-weighted). Both A-D and D-A converters are 128x oversampling designs with 24-bit resolution, and support sample rates from 8kHz right through to 96kHz.
Pros
Excellent sound quality.
Robust construction.
Easy to use, with well-written drivers for PC and Mac.
Hardware monitoring and decent latency performance.
Cons
Not expandable.
S/PDIF and ADAT I/O aren't available simultaneously.
Card/cable connection doesn't inspire confidence.
Manual supplied only in PDF format.
Summary
The Mona and Layla Laptop are probably the most versatile PCMCIA-based interfaces currently available, and amongst the best-sounding regardless of computer connection method.