Us122 Vs Ua 5 Vs Echo Mia Vs Maudio2496, which one to go for ? Options

[k4444k]

hi people, it's a newbie

i am deciding to get my first interface for recording my own stuff, i need to record vocal, guitar and midi........ however, i'm with a tight budget (within US$250)....

my system is a 1.25dp running OSX only, guess i will go for Cubase SX as my sequencer

after an extensive research of interface, i've got the following choices i guess......

Tascam US 122
Edirol UA 5
M-audio 24/96
Echo MIA

firstly, i'd like to sort out the compatability with OSX, any experienced user can state their opinion on their drivers ?

secondly, should i got for an USB or PCI ?
USB seems not really good at audioi, is PCI's better (portability is not a big deal for me)
but i've read quite a few tutorial saying that it's better to get an External soundcard in order to avoid the radiation within the MAC, any idea ?

as i've got a Behringer mixer, do i really need the interface with XLR input ? (US122)

i will monitor the audio with headphones, should i go for the USB interfaces output headphone plug ? (the PCIs haven't got it)

as i will do a lot of overdupping, should i go for the USB with zero-latency direct monitoring ? (not PCIs as well)

However, i've read quite a lot of user having bad experience with the USB interfaces
(both UA 5 and US 122),



Can anyone give me advice on choosing ? or any suggestion of other interface ?
any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers ~~~~

This post has been edited by k4444k: Thu 3 Jul 2003, 13:38

[nosuch]

I tried the us 122 and the m-audio duo with good results in ableton live. usb is fine for recording and playback stereo - not much more. 24 bits/48 kHz is a realistic sample rate with this boxes (96 kHz works only oneway, in OR out). latency is like 5-6 ms. both interfaces work in osx. I think the duos preamps sound a bit better while the tascam is self powered, has instrument in and a midi interface. It's cheaper, too. I tried an edirol ua 5 before but couldn't make it work properly.

but why do you think you need an audio interface anyway? if your mac has an audio in you may not need such an interface. in my pb the internel card even manages shorter latencies than the usb interfaces.
it is 16 bit but I doubt you will hear it. I don't know for cubase, but live and reason work just fine with the internal card. you could use a preamp or your little mixer and a usb-midi interface or keyboard as input ressources. saves a lot of money. zero latency monitoring included (mixer to monitor)

This post has been edited by nosuch: Thu 3 Jul 2003, 15:57