Musicians Collaboration Studio
How To => D.A.W. Help => Topic started by: Codemonkey on September 17, 2008, 08:35:42 AM
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I'd like to set up either a USB or Firewire audio recording system. But, I don't want to spend much. And, if I'm going USB or FW (i.e. hardware), I'd like to be able to do multiple inputs / outputs, etc.
So, that gives me several questions:
1) I don't want to spend over $200. Should I even bother? Or, at that price range, should I just stick with my mic jack (line in)?
2) FW vs USB? Pros & Cons? USB seems cheaper, but they should both be 800Mb/sec.
-Dave
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I'm not such a fan of USB for audio but I hear they've improved as of late.
You need to look at how your going to use the card and what you need.
I always wanted to try a fireone. Get a tactile interface thrown in for free.
Seen one on ebay for $99:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tascam-FireOne-Recording-Interface-MIDI-Fire-One-NIB_W0QQitemZ290257925179QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
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M audio mobile pre usb for 120$ on zzounds .if u can live with 2 inputs.
Otherwise have a look at others like EMU.
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The tascam looks awesome, but, looks like the controls are flaky, at best, under OS X.
I'll check out the pre usb too!
-Dave
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don't know if this is what you're really looking for but its done me wonders and I LLLLLLOOOOOVEEEE it! And, no latency issues whatsoever
Its the Roland Edirol UA-4FX It generally runs around $150.
http://www.roland.com/PRODUCTS/en/UA-4FX/index.html
ali
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I got one Roland Edirol UA-5 and it rocks al the way.
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A friend turned me on to the Boss GS-10. It would eliminate my huge recording setup at my desk, and has an audio input. Now I just need to find one at a reasonable price!
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Line 6 Ux2 with the pod farm plugin... $70.00 sounds pretty darn good.
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I see you have already made a decision but for the benefit of anyone else who would stumble upon this I will give the benefit of what took me years to find out. ;)
There is a lot more involved in quality digital recording than just an interface,(firewire or USB)
Depending on what type of mixer or preamps you have I would suggest you look at interfaces that have built in preamps (unless of course you just happen to have a Great river, RNP, Trident, or at the least a Soundcraft or Allen and Heath mixer laying around).
Signal path is crucial, and digital is notoriously merciless/unforgiving, in other words, what you put in is what you get out, so the warmer and hotter you can get it(at the lowest noise threshold) the better the result are going to be for you mixes in the long run.
If I had 2 bones to spend (which I do but use an ONYX1620 so I will just humor the thought) and I wanted to take a step up from a soundblaster card I would go with the cheapest used firewire box (like a used M-audio 410) I could get a hold of (at least 96k) that still supports and is stable with the O.S. I am using, and put the rest into a rack preamp (maybe a used ART or TNC).
OUtside of that, perhaps a MOTu MKII for now (you can usually get one for under $150 used) and invest in a quality board (if you don't already own one) or preamp later. that will get you to 8 tracks, but you will need something to drive it, some sort of preamp or mixer at the start of the signal.
keep shinin
jerm 8)
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Well, you also need to take into account the digital to audio converters (DAC) on the interface or soundcard. If your DAC is crap then no amount of outboard wizardry is going to make it sound great. Like anything else, you get what you pay for.
Mick.
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These days the DAC portion of things are all pretty standardized ... yes there are some crappy ones, but unless you're going totally bargain basement with it then they are not as crucial a part of the chain as they once were. Preamps though are a whole different story. A crappy preamp will not make anything sound good, where as a good sounding preamp will never hurt anything ... that's where some of the HUGE price differences come into account, really good preamps are not cheap!
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Check out the Audiogram 6 by Yamaha. It's served me very well, and its approximately $160.
(http://www.gadgetoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/audiogram6_top1.jpg)
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Avoid the stealth plug, very unstable drivers and on a scale of 1-10 its a 5 on sound quality.. also avoid the tascam 122, 122l and 144 worst audio interfaces I have used. Something that has not been mentioned is standalone interfaces/tonebanks.. any tonebank/effects processor with usb or firewire interface can be used as a sound card.. some examples are the Pod xt live, or various ones mad by digisign.
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Line-6-POD-XT-Live-Guitar-Multi-Effects-Pedal?sku=150394
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I agree with the tascam 122, 122l and 144 sentiment. I was looking for an all in one midi/audio interface (2 channel) and the tascam one looks nice but bought it one day,.. returned it the next,.. drivers suck shit balls!! >:( >:( ;D
I ended up back with my trusty ol M-audio mobile pre and M-audio Uno midi interface.