Hi,

I'm a guitarist, and just switched from Windows to Mac and bought brand new intel IMac. Could anyone recommend a audio/midi interface (either usb or firewire based) that works well with OS X? My sequencers are Garage Band and Tracktion (a cheap but nice program).

Thanks!

Trouble is, right now, the interfaces with macintel support have their macintel drivers in beta (MOTU, M-audio), add to this the market is not ripe as mostly only Apple software are UB. But all this will clear in the coming weeks.

Do you want a "generic" interface or one specialised into guitars?

Thanks for an answer lepetitmartien!

I just want an interface that I can use to record guitar, vocals and midi-stuff. Minimal setup would be with 1 audio port and 1 midi-in port. Preferrably 2 audio ports and 1 midi-port.

But what about usb and firewire? Is USB fast enough to handle real-time recoding?

-pom-

If you're doing 16 bit/44.1 recording, USB is fine for one or two channels at a time. If you think you might ever go to 24 bit/96, look for a Firewire interface.

I bought a USB interface and the latency (the time from when you strum the guitar to when you here the actual sound) was bad. I returned it and bought an M-Audio Firewire Solo. It allows one guitar and one mic to be plugged into the system. I think it works great!

Actually, MOTU released Mac Intel drivers for all their products in January

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2006/...ac-Drivers.html

I just picked up a Fastlane MIDI interface to use with my MacBook Pro. Works like a champ. I haven't tried it yet with my MOTU 828 but I have no reason to believe it won't work. I like MOTU products anyway, and I recommend supporting companies who are on the ball with the transition.

That said, I was very close to getting the Fast Track Pro from M-Audio:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Fast...ckPro-main.html

Looks like an attractive product, and it does have beta drivers for Mac Intel. But I haven't used it so can't speak to the quality/latency issues.

Good luck.

aSwindler

I'm still shopping for an audio interface for an Intel Mac myself. There still isn't much out there. The M-Audio Firewire Solo, at the moment, looks like the best deal to me. I'm holding off because I'm hoping Presonus will have an Intel-compatible version of its 1394 Inspire model in the reasonably near future. Check it out here. It costs $200, and it has a few more bells and whistles than the M-Audio, including the ability to daisy-chain up to four units. This meets a long-term goal of being able to record my band live all the time.

Anyway, good hunting and good luck.