New interface

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Permalink Reply by Escape Velocity on July 5, 2008 at 2:04am

Hi Rick,

There's a few decent comparison charts out there that show the different products in different ranges. Tweakheadz has reasonably good lists for PCI, USB and Firewire interfaces - not 100% up-to-date by the looks but it's a good start. Tweak's commentary that precedes these pages (and the FAQ afterwards) is also a valuable resource in its own right.

Note that unless you're using a laptop for recording, PCI's not a bad way to go for smaller numbers of I/Os... the latency on PCI (especially PCIx/PCIe) devices is typically even lower than that of firewire devices. I mean - ProTools HD is based on PCI cards, right? Firewire and USB devices usually become a lot more practical when you're using a laptop or portability is a requirement.

Sound On Sound Magazine has some good advice on how to go about Choosing a PC Audio Interface, in which they discuss the implications of issues like sample rates, bit depths, external connectivity formats and pro (balanced) vs consumer (unbalanced) instrument output formats. Worth a look if you haven't yet wrapped your head around all the buzzwords & feature sets out there on the product glossies.

Yamaha's Go46 isn't a bad choice in small-format FireWire devices, but it might be at end-of-life. Mackie's Onyx Satellite might be a good option and close to your price range. I'd personally spend the extra money to get an Onyx 400F if I was going down the Mackie path though. If you like Mackie designs, but can't afford Onyx equipment, you might want to look at the Tapco Link.Firewire interface - 4 in, 6 out and built by the same parent company as Mackie, but constructed in China. Tascam's FireOne might be a good choice at just a shade over £200, as it provides you with transport controls, a big jog-wheel and a mix of Mic/Line and Hi-Z (guitar/bass direct) inputs. The function keys on this unit can be assigned freely in most DAW software tools. There's also options from Presonus (FireBox, Inspire 1394), Roland (FA101), FocusRite (Sapphire), Lexicon (Lambda, Omega) and M-Audio/Digidesign options too numerous to list here.

Lots of choices there, but probably worth digging in and doing your research as the M-Audio 410 is now a discontinued product.

Hope that helps :)


Jez

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Permalink Reply by Throbber on July 5, 2008 at 2:17am

Hi,
Escape Velocity, what a man. This guy is a mine of information, incredible, comes up with the goods everytime.

Tweakheadz is a great site, I would suggest reading through it entirely, last time I checked it was pretty much up to date, anyway, somethings don't go out of date.

Jez has slipped up and not provided a link for you, tsk,tsk. He must be tired. LOL.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

PCI option won't take up any extra space. M-audio AP192 is a good choice. Good mastering card. What about Mic Pre ? . You don't say anything in this regard.

What kind of mic do you have ?

Thanks,
Throbber.

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Permalink Reply by Escape Velocity on July 5, 2008 at 2:39am

Nooo!!!! I made a boo-boo! :P

For the record I used to run a DSP Factory rig (Yamaha DS2416 mixing card + AX44 front-plate TRS interface + SW1000XG synth card) and it worked pretty nicely. That rig was around a decade ahead of its time - and has sadly gone the way of all great hardware solutions that had less-than-fantastic software support. The power spike that zorched the PC that housed it all didn't help either. PCI can be good as long as you can get to the I/O ports or you get a decent break-out box on a LONG cable.

Still - the replacement system (Tascam FW1804 + Yamaha Motif ES Rack) gives me more I/Os, portability benefits (all racked up in a 19" case) and can be run disconnected from the PC if needed.

I don't mention this to say that Rick should be looking to use the same gear as me - just to provide an example of the kinds of things that might be considerations at a later date.

Cheers


Jez

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Permalink Reply by Jim Gray on July 5, 2008 at 7:14am

I had an M-audio 410 it sucked because you can't use all 4 1/4 inch inputs at once. You have to either use the 2 in the front or the 2 in the back. Hope that makes sense. I use the M-audio Ozonic and can use all 4 inputs on it.

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Permalink Reply by Rick James on July 5, 2008 at 3:36pm

Hey thanks all of you for the advice...
ive looked at the sound on sound review and review on here, and there seems to be little issues with the 410.

I go to tweakheadz now and then, on the way again now to look up the interfaces.
And Throbber i have a AT2020 mic not, that up market but gives me a great sound so i like to stick with it. and with Mic Pres, im looking for the interface to come with a decent one, other wise i will end up going down the pci and pre mic route, which i want to stay away from if i can, as me and cables dont always get along lol

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Permalink Reply by Escape Velocity on July 5, 2008 at 6:53pm

If you want good Pres, look into Onyx from Mackie, and the Focusrite pres used in the Sapphire products. Both have excellent reputations!

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Permalink Reply by Throbber on July 5, 2008 at 7:57pm

Makes sense, the PCI route is okay if you are running a patch bay, (not a Bahringer, that's a patch bay shaped object, signal attenuator).
If I was looking myself, I would probably end up with the Sapphire. I have other Focusrite gear, so would know what to expect.

Try to imagine yourself in six months and try to figure out how things might change for you. You might start wanting to record other people or drum kits after upgrading.

I know that predicting the future is not easy, otherwise you would have already predicted the winning lottery numbers and none of this would matter.

Don't be in a hurry to spend.

Thanks,
Throbber.

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Permalink Reply by Rick James on July 5, 2008 at 11:27pm

haha if only about the lottery numbers.
No im not in a rush to spend, not with something that may end up causing me to spend more money if i get the wrong thing.

Ive been looking around some more actually, and short listed the EMU 1616 PCI and the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra.. but higer than my origonal budget but not by much. What you think?

they both seem to have good pre mics and good pre's for guitars and bass, and they have more inputs and outputs than the omega and slightly more than the 410, so i could add in any extras.

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Permalink Reply by EOSPete on July 6, 2008 at 1:08am

Gotta say I am v. happy with my MAudio Delta 192
2 ins
4 outs
2 MIDI
SDPIF
Low latency
PCI card based with breakout cable

P

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Permalink Reply by Throbber on July 6, 2008 at 2:14am

Actually,- The AP192, Cmon Pete, LOL.
it is more like 4 in 6 out, although 2 are the same feed.
2 analogue in (Balanced)
1 midi in
1 spdif in
4 analogue out (2 are monitor 2 are Main)(Balanced)
1 midi out
1 spdif out.

Tsk, Tsk.

Throbber.

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Permalink Reply by EOSPete on July 6, 2008 at 9:11am

Did you find your manual then Throbs?

Back atcha!!

P

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Permalink Reply by Howard Williams on July 7, 2008 at 10:39pm

I've just taken delivery of a presonus firebox (firewire) for my laptop the latency seemsfine but have yet to test the preamps but my previous experience is good of their preamps though I have Mackie onyx desk in my studio.

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