I have a simple question.

I have a Roland Fantom-S 61Key workstation and love it. My only computer, that I use anyways, is my iBook 800mhz G3, 640mb ram. I just want to be able to record the tracks to my iBook and save them to CD to transfer to the studio. Its easier than bringing in the board, stand, cables, etc.

I always seem to get the best sound going from the digital out port on my keyboard. Is there an external interface I could use with my iBook to do this? I have been thinking of buying an older g3 400mhz tower and tossing a sound card in it and going that route, but I am wondering if there is anything else availble to me? Would an MBox do this? And would I HAVE to use ProTools with it? I use Audacity now, and I like it. Its basic, but I dont do much with it so it suits me. Anyways, thanks for any replies I may receive!

Peter

Hello fellow audacity user. I would reccomend the Edirol UA1-D if all you want is stereo digital I/O. I think they retail for about 70 GDP, and have 16 bit SP/DIF in and out over optical and coaxial. If you also want a variety of other connections, my own card, the Edirol UA-5 may be suitable, as it had all the UA-1's features, plus analog I/O, mic preamps & 24 bit recording. M-Audio also makes excelent USB interfaces, but I have never tried them.

Yes an mBox has S/PDIF digital I/O and can be used with any program that supports Core Audio, including Audacity. You don't HAVE to use ProTools. However if all you really want is S/PDIF you can go cheaper. mBox retails for around $450.00. Down the road you may find you wish to utilize the features of ProTools LE then have a go at it. Plus mBox also comes w/ Reason Adapted, Ableton Digidesign edition, SampleTank SE, Amplitube LE, T-Racks EQ and of course PTLE. Not bad for the price.

Hope that helps.
TD