Suggest A Good Usb/fw Interface, Help beginners find affordable quality Options

[OneDerBoy]

One and all: Give your suggestions for a good quality, affordable interface for the beginners of the world.

I'm new to comuter based music production and I plan to run Logic Express 7 on a new iBook w/ 768mb of Ram. I need recommendations on audio interfaces with at least two input channels, including a good mic input as vocals will be a priority, hopefully under $500. This set up is to be used for demo song/sellable cd production; the focus however is to produce usable tracks for later studio additions. All suggestions are apreciated. Thank you.

This post has been edited by OneDerBoy: Fri 15 Jul 2005, 22:06

[arvidtp]

i like my firebox ($400) - see the "Presonus Firebox Reviews" thread. It make a bit of a CPU hit, but just generally works all the time and sounds good.

[Jsegura]

Yes, Firebox is a good option. For its price and size is very complete.

[OneDerBoy]

Thanks guys.

The price for the firebox seems comperable to the mbox. what kind of differences am I looking at with USB vs. FW? If it's not much, I think I'd be more interested in getting the ProTools software bundle with the mbox.

[arvidtp]

not sure i agree - i have an mbox and take it from me, its a dog of an interface - not terribly good for anything except running Pro Tools if you absolutely have to in my opinion. The Firebox is a much nicer piece of hardware with more features, but it cant run pro tools. But I perfer Logic anyway.

Both interfaces make a small CPU hit. I think the Firebox's is less, but you dont ever notice it with the Mbox because it does not even let you set it to low latencies. Firewire is better than USB generally for audio - its stream based instead of packet based. Ok gotta run!

[OneDerBoy]

Really? Interesting. Thanks for the suggestion. I plan to run Logic express 7 alone for now so it's good to know they work together.

[ArchivalAudio]

my 2¢
I don'thave experience with M-audio....but I have read and heard about the issues with a Mac ,besides it'sUSB...
the FireBox is FireWIRE..
NOWTHAT I GOTA GOOD UNIT I LOVE MY FIREBOX...AND YOU CAN HAVE (oops caps lock on) not yelling........
you can have multiple channels running.

I would not go with a USB unit ...sitck to firewire...its faster and more reliable

ok?

-- ian

This post has been edited by ArchivalAudio: Tue 19 Jul 2005, 07:10

[B3 Basher]

The Mackie Spike has my vote. It may be USB but that does not seem to affect its performance. It has the best Pre-Amps for the budget market, so if you wish to record vocals/acoustic guitar, you can't go wrong. Traktion comes free as a bundle too so if you want to break out of GarageBand, you have an option.

[edge100]

The Mackie Spike has my vote. It may be USB but that does not seem to affect its performance. It has the best Pre-Amps for the budget market, so if you wish to record vocals/acoustic guitar, you can't go wrong. Traktion comes free as a bundle too so if you want to break out of GarageBand, you have an option.

Sorry to dig up a (kinda) old thread...

I doubt the Mackie pres are anything more than the XDR pres found in budget Mackie mixers. Nothing wrong with them at all, but the Presonus pres are really a cut above (in line with those in the Real Nice Preamp from FMR).

The M Box also has some nice Focusrite pres (similar to those in the Platinum range).

All in all, if you're main concern is mic pre quality, I'd go with the Firebox or MBox. That having been said, I wouldnt get the MBox unless you NEED to use PT LE. I use Logic, so the Firebox is my next interface.

[CmdrLaForge]

I recommand the Focusrite Saffire! Strongly! Awesome interface.

[MoonDark]

hello , I have like 550 bucks

And I am planning to get a new interface ( since I sold my M-Audio FW 410 , what a piece of crap, not returning to M-Audio anytime soon ... )

I was thinking on the MBox 2 , but now that I have read here, are there other options available ??? I need strong driver support, I want to record synths , maybe little vocals and guitars... but not too much of those..

Suggestions?

[mortalengines]

I hear nothing but good things about the presonus firepod- I myself have a Mackie 1220 mixer with firewire option & like the heck out of it, but that would be about 650 bucks (worth every penny though).

[arvidtp]

if you need strong driver support, stay away from anything that says Mbox. my experiences with the Mbox 1 have been nothing but trouble. From what it looks like, the Mbox 2 doesn't seem much different. I saw the video - they say it uses USb 1.1 - then the guy, looking like he needs an excuse says "...for the widest compatibility..." Its almost a joke how much the thing has not changed, and how ugly it looks. [Sorry digidesign, i just have bad memories from those early OS X/pro tools LE/Mbox days.]

This post has been edited by arvidtp: Sat 17 Sep 2005, 23:27

[MoonDark]

Thanks a lot , I think that I may go with MOTU stuff, it can cost more, but the drivers seem to be very solid ,

maybe ill go with a 828 MkII

[SadPandas]

For what it is worth. With the Presouns products you don't need drivers. I have the FIreBox and it uses the core audio frivers native to OSX. Good luck.

pandas

[mortalengines]

the same is true of the mackie onyx firewire card- The Mac audio drivers automatically recognize the onyx. very cool if you have 10.3.5 or higher.

[rickenbacker]

Moondark: the destinies of Mbox and M-Audio are now inextricably entwined, what with the Pro Tools tie-up, so personally I'd stay away from both. All other recommendations here seem wise. I like the FireBox very much, didn't enjoy the Saffire like I hoped, and can vouch for the non-falling-over capabilities of the MOTU 828. I actually sold mine and switched to the FireBox, but that was more of a portable/space-saving issue than performance.

[groovey]

I''m also in the middle of buying an interface. Guess I'll also be going for the Firebox. But why the heck does it have such high requirements?? I have an iBook G4/800, which is just on the edge of being enough. What kind of machines are you Fireboxers using it with? My baby just can't be THAT old! Also what about those CPU usage peaks I read people are having with Firebox. I hope it's just a rumour...

[rickenbacker]

From what I can tell, the only real requirement of the FireBox is OS X 10.3.7, as the drivers for it are contained in the CoreAudio of that particular update. It has worked on my iBook G3 600MHz as a basic I/O audio interface. I don't record on this machine, but I'm happy with its performance on my PowerMac

[groovey]

Thanks, rickenbacker! I guess it is going to be FireBox. The specs are just what I need, and the price isn't that bad either.

[dedart]

If you have the money, try a Apogee MiniMe. Why?
1/ You will record with a quality that you will never regret
2/ It will retain more of its initial value for selling later
3/ A firewire option is coming to upgrade the throughput

dedart
www.dedart.com
Strange images, Strange music, Strange words.

[muzza]

Hi. I'm new here and this is my first posting. I have scoured the internet for reviews of appropriate audio/midi interfaces and have come to the conclusion that the Tascam US-122 and any m-audio products should be avoided at all costs.

I have come down to a choice between the Firebox and an Edirol FA-66. I know there are other choices out there, but these ones seem to get the most positive comments, though it's nearly impossible to find reviews of the FA-66.

My question? I'm getting to it. I have just bought a 933MHz G4 which will handle either interface, but I also have a 550MHz PowerBook with 768Mb ram, which falls below the minimum requirement for both units.

Could I use the Powerbook for editing the tracks after capturing the audio on the 933?

Also, would I be able to use the PowerBook as my 'backing band' to play back the recordings if I got to the gigging stage?

I make the assumption that the audio capture phase would be the most CPU intensive.

Also, am I correct to understand that the Firebox can only record 2 inputs at the same time? I've read that the FA-66 can record 6 if your settings aren't too high.

Sorry about the long post.

[arvidtp]

for just playing back audio and probably capturing it at CD quality, your 550MHz should still work. It is when you try to add realitme plugins and use softsynths that you will run into issues with 550 MHz. If you are just playing or recording (ie no realtime effects/interaction with the machine) then you can set your buffer size for the firebox as high as you want to avoid pops/clicks.

No, the firebox can record 6 channels at once (2 are digital only though, you need an external stereo AD converter). Two have are preamps and the remaining two are line level.

[mortalengines]

It may also behoove you to invest in an external hard drive (oxford chipset) if you plan on triggering multiple loops live via your laptop (which has a very slow drive) but otherwise you should be in pretty good shape that way.

[muzza]

Thanks for your input guys. I'll be pretty basic for the first few months (years??? ). I doubt that I'll be using too many plugins initially. Just acoustic guitar, bass, harmonica and some drum loops or drum midi.

I really want to use it as a jammin' partner, as I'm finding it difficult to find guitarists/musicians of a similar ability and similar musical taste to myself (southern rock - too good to play with beginners, not good enough to play with pro's. Well and truly stuck on the intermediate plateau!)

Sounds sad, eh?

Muz (aka; johnnynomates)