Which Interface Is Best For Me And Imac G5?, Mbox, Spike, Omega, Firewire 410? Options

[bigheadjoe]

In a couple weeks I will be getting a new imac G5. I am fairly new to recording music. I've used Cakewalk Sonar on my friends computer as well as Cubase SX. I prefer to use Cubase SX. I need a good solid interface, but I don't really care about the software that comes with it since I will be using Cubase SX3. I am a singer songwriter and currently I don't need more than two channels of audio recorded at the same. I am stickler for low latency. I've heard a lot of good things about Digidesign's Mbox, however it sounds like I'd be paying mostly for the software that comes with it. I've also been looking at:

Mackie Spike
Lexicon Omega
M-Audio Omni
M-Audio Firewire 410

Any suggestions?

P.S. Is the 600 Mhz bus worth the extra 200$ for the new iMac G5's

Thanks,
Derek

[Don't EVER put your email in full in the forums! We don't give them away, don't do the job of spammers! People can always write to you with the link in your profile. LPM ]

This post has been edited by lepetitmartien: Tue 14 Sep 2004, 03:26

[Metalflkk]

I would highly advise something other than Protools/Digidesign gear for anyone other than a seasoned engineer with a dedicated Mac system just for audio. I worked with the Digi001 at home (finally ditched it in frustration for a Novation interface, and a Motu 828 eventually!) and subsequntly the 002R in the studio and neither ever seemed to work correctly in Non-Protool apps, (ie. Live, Cubase,Soundtrack ect.) Plus there are many many quirks with Digidesign's CoreAudio driver workings, like you can only use the interface for 1 program at a time, (ie. you can't fire up itunes, Final Cut, ect. for a quick listen, you can't preview in Quicktime, hear system sounds, ect.) , and its painfully tedious to troubleshoot when no sound (as often happens) comes out! The studio I worked for still uses the 002R as its brand is so highly regarded by musicians, but, again, it seriously sapped a lot of creative energy when it frequently failed to work correctly!! On the other hand, the lab I've worked in with MOTU interfaces always worked just fine, (ie. normally!!) Seriously though, Protools hardware is nice and clean with dedicated Protools software on a consistent music-only setup, but if you plan to use other more comprehensive software anyway, and plan to run other apps/hardware on the system it can be a quirky and expensive nuisance! As for audio quaiity, the Digi002R atleast, sounded great direct from the keyboards/PodXts, then again, my far cheaper PodXt D.I 24b-48Khz interface run straight in USB sounds pretty tight and with little or no discernable quality shift! So, the 828 gets my vote for price/performance/reliability, plus you could stick it in a rack and take it anywhere, plus it (apparently, have not tried myself) functions as a stand-alone mixer!! Too bad there's nothing like Emu's Emulator X in OS X though, that makes me jealous for a PC.

This post has been edited by Metalflkk: Wed 3 Nov 2004, 03:33