Sooooo Many Audio Interfaces! What Do You Use?

[Anderton]

There sure are a lot of interfaces out there. I have an E-Mu 1820m that provides the "dongle" for the Emulator X2, the Creamware SCOPE system which is my main all-around interface (love those soft synths), PreSonus FireBox for live performance, E-Mu 1616m for serious laptop recording, an M-Audio Black Box so I can run Pro Tools M-Powered, a Line 6 TonePort UX2 because it's the speediest USB interface for guitar, and as if that wasn't enough, there's the interface in my GNX4! The really scary thing is that I use all of them And now I'm starting a Pro Review on the Konnekt 24D from TC, and MOTU's sending an UltraLite for EQ's issue on portable studio recording.

 

Now granted, I'm in the biz and I use all that stuff for testing as well as music anyway. But that's a lot of interfaces! How many of you use multiple interfaces, and how many have a "main squeeze" interface? Ever consider upgrading to a new one? Do you covet any particular interface you don't have? Inquiring minds want to know...

[Billster]

I'm still using a first version MOTU 828. Always been reliable for me, no real need to update as far as I can tell. Of course I'm pretty conservative about these things, my guitar equipment all dates to the late 80's at the youngest.

 

I would consider getting a two channel tube pre and chaining that in front of the MOTU's line ins, instead of using the MOTU built-in pres, but I really don't have a complaint.

 

I'm interested in this new "StealthPlug" deal as a portable solution. Laptop, guitar, USB converter..."I'll be out on the back porch if you need me." Nice little software bundle fills some holes for me too.

[Lee Knight]

I use a Digi002R for my music work. I use an M-Audio something or other card for my Telephony work. That's it.

[bp]

For the studio - RME MADI / Apogee AD & DA 16X

 

For travel - RME Fireface

[Dylan Walters]

I've used well over a dozen audio interfaces over the years. There was a period about 5-6 years ago where I was trying frantically to find an interface with solid drivers. I finally settled on an Echo Mona PCI interface. No matter what program, operating system, motherboard, etc, that I threw at it the Mona, it always performed perfectly without a hitch! Kudos to the driver developers at Echo! I had to recently retire the Mona once I switched to systems without PCI slots. Currently I'm using a Line 6 Toneport (just for the amp sims) and a Mackie Onyx Satellite for everything else (see the Pro Review for more info). I'm *very* impressed with the audio quality and performance of the Onyx, FWIW. I'd also like to check out M-Audio's BlackBox just for the guitar features.

 

Needless to say, we live in very, very good times and have a huge selection of interfaces with great I/O, solid drivers, and insanely affordable prices. My first decent soundcard was a Creamware Master Port which sported a legacy ISA interface, RCA analog I/O (18-bit converters), MIDI, S/PDIF, and had a price tag of $899!

[Gus Lozada]

I guess all of you are aware of my "day gig" at M-Audio... so yeah, I also have all the toys.

 

 

* Desktop PC 1 (mainly for internet and office work):

 

- AudioPhile 2496 PCI card

 

 

* Desktop PC 2 (music machine - fixed at the studio):

 

- Delta 66 with omni i/o box

- ProjectMix

- BlackBox

 

 

* Laptop PC (portable music machine):

 

- For mobile recording: Fast Track Pro

- For fixed locations: second ProjectMix

- For live shows of my band (virtual synths machine): Ozonic

 

 

* MacBook Pro (portable music machine)

 

- For touring as a clinician: FireWire SOLO

- For SKYPE voice chat: Transit USB

- For my band's live show (live multi-track outputs): FireWire 410

[UstadKhanAli]

I am still using Digi001, but typically bypass the converters by using an Apogee Rosetta 800.

 

Technically, It would be possible to also use the converters of my old DAT player as well through Digi001 (S/PDIF), but I've never done this.

[alfonso]

Craig, I know you know but as the purpose should be informative for the community here it is:

 

I have a Creamware Scope system made of 2 Scope Pro and one old Pulsar1 plus a Sync Plate that provide all I need in terms of routing, hw and sw, synthesis, sound design, sampling, mixing and processing, with different ports.

 

On these cards I have a total of 48 ADAT I/O's (not used really, apart 8 channels receiving a Creamware Noah EX digital out), one AES/EBU I/O, the input hooked to an Apogee MiniMe, a balanced stereo pair of XLR I/O, the outputs going to through a Mackie Big Knob to a pair of ADAM S2a, one channel of the input receiving a balanced output from a Marshall JCM2000 TSL 100 head (but I prefer to mic the Celestions Vintage...), other 2 pairs of unbalanced I/Os partially used for an external chromatic tuner and for a great vintage Davoli-Krundaal Spring Reverb, that is controlled in the Scope software from a Modular patch I made with followers, filters, noise gates and sample delays to shape the size , the sound and the space of riverberation and to have noiseless tails.

I have three MIDI I/T/O's that receive an MC2000 keyb controller, a Roland Octapad and a guitar midi converter.

 

I only use Cubase for tracking. My CD (dig the sig) has been totally done with Scope synths (90% of modular patches), fx, mixers and Cubase was used only through separate busses to track audio and MIDI, no vst's of any kind.

 

I've also done the CD mastering in Scope, I have a dedicated project for finalization, it seems crazy, but some people really want me to do the mastering for their stuff, it's something I just learnt in my own project, months of trial and error....it payed!

 

That's my audio interface....I could say my studio!

 

[nat whilk II]

Emu 1820m.

 

Handy little box, really.

 

nat whilk ii

[the stranger]

 

Serious. I'm still using my soundblaster. I use a preamp and the line in and get servicable results for my demo needs.

 

And honestly, I still think the market for interfaces hasn't quite leveled out.

 

What's funny is a decent interface is on the list, but I still haven't seen one that was any better than the others. This isn't an easy decision for the consumer to make. And it's hard for people to try things in the real world in this era of iinternet/catalog retailing.

 

I do like the look of the emu stuff.

 

I also think the presonus stackable firewire deal looks cool.

 

I really like analog mixer/interface. Mackie, mainly.

 

I wouldn't mind having a few different interfaces to work with.

[kurfu]

MOTU 828 mkII

 

 

I've also got an M-Audio 2496 PCI card that I recommend to anyone wishing to "step-up" into their first "pro" soundcard.

[spokenward]

E-MU 1212M, Yamaha i88x.

 

I'd like something smaller to carry out. The i88x is in a 4U rack so it's transportable, but not casually.

 

E-MU 0404 on the utility batch processing machine.

[ViLo]

 

Originally posted by spokenward E-MU 1212M, Yamaha i88x. I'd like something smaller to carry out. The i88x is in a 4U rack so it's transportable, but not casually. E-MU 0404 on the utility batch processing machine.

 

 

Alesis MultiMix 16 Firewire, not completly mine it's the church's soundboard, but I'm in charge of the sound system.

[Alndln2]

Originally posted by Anderton And now I'm starting a Pro Review on the Konnekt 24D from TC

I'll be looking foward to that because my brother just got a laptop which I'm setting up for him. Like you, he has the EMU 1820m on his desktop, and I've already set up a laptop for a friend based on the Presonus FireBox, so I'm curious as to how the TC unit compares preamp/converterwise to the EMU/PreSonus, and how the onboard DSP of the TC works/sounds. Personally, I'm just using an M-Audio Audiophile these days as I don't do too much external recording these days(I sold my 1010) and I appreciate the low latencey figures and absolute non problems with anything.

[monstermaker]

Roland GI-20. Very fast.

M-Audio Delta 4. Great for guitarists.

[EnemyofSilence]

Between my MacBook Pro, MDD G4, and PC I use various combinations of...

 

Motu 828MkII

Motu 828 (original)

Layla24

Presonus Firebox

OasysPCI

 

...depending on what I'm doing. The Oasys is in the PC, the Layla's in the MDD. The others switch around. I have a number of Aggregate Device setups ready for anything. Presonus Digimax LT and a Behringer ADA8000 (which I'll prolly soon replace with a Digimax FS) for additional I/O via lightpipe

[Videodrone]

I've had a Motu 828 since sometime back in the 90s. According to the people on the Gearslutz forums Im listening with foggy glasses. Now being that I make much better music than 90% of the people on that board I know most of the them are full of baloney. Its been totally rock solid... never a hic-up.

 

Im not a fool though and I do know it's time for an upgrade but what? The main thing I would like is lower latency but even there I think Im doing pretty well... I work at 256 samples but when I record vocals I can shoot down to 96 samples which gets me to 2.76ms (Dual 2.5 G5, Ableton Live5).

 

I thought RME for a while because everyone raves about the sound and latency but when I check with other users there latency seems the same as what I am getting. Maybe the computer has more to do with it than anything!

 

I thought Onyx for a bit too because of the mic pres (supposed to be great) but then I went out and bought a Great River ME-1NV (awesome pre-amp).

 

So now my thinking is sit tight until next year when I get a MacPro and then look at the new PCI Symphony Card from Apogee because again I "hear" they are getting lower latencies than anywhere else ever before.

 

For my live show I use an M-Audio Firewire 410 which I bought the day it came out. It actually does sound just a bit better than my Motu... enough that I was able to notice the difference. A small screw fell out of the front of the case and I contacted M-Audio... 2 days later they sent me the screw and a shirt and hat... nice! I do have to say the 1st drivers were not great. I had kernal panics from time to time but thats been fixed for some time now.

 

Id like to see an article on the converters... like a chart showing which model is using which brand converter. I hear there are only a few types anyway.

[Anderton]

>

 

You are doing pretty well, don't worry about it!

[MrKnobs]

At my day job, I have the good toys!

 

Main interface is a Larson Davis 3000+ which does everything but eat - at a steep price tag of $19,000 (see attached).

 

Other interfaces include B&K 2250 handhelds which record raw audio to flash media, in addition to the usual noise meter functions, and a laptop running Adobe Audition 2.0 from an Echo Indigo DAC card.

 

At home, I use a TASCAM DM-24 which serves as my collection point for all analog sources. Beyond that point, I keep it digital all the way to the CD.

 

I have an M-Audio 2496 card in my computer, but it doesn't get a lot of use since every computer in my home and the MX2424 hard disk recorder in my control room are all linked together on ethernet. I just drag and drop files from the studio onto my computer desktop over the ethernet network.

 

 

Terry D.

[Ernest Buckley]

MOTU 2408 MKII

 

Looking to get the 24IO soon.

 

EB

[Hush]

Still using the first version Layla. Still happy with the results.

[jonmatifa]

I've got a firepod and an old M-Audio Duo USB that I got for cheap, damn useful.

 

I now want something with higher quality AD/DA than the firepod, and that has some DSP monitor mixing capabities. I've been looking at the Echo Audiofire, RME Fireface, Focusrite Saffire Pro and the Presonus Firestudio.

[blue2blue]

I haven't gone through too many interfaces.

 

My first serious rig came together in '96, built around Frontier Design's original WaveCenter ADAT i/o card, using a pair of -- what else? -- ADATs for converters. Before that I was actually doing radio production work on a Soundblaster AWE 32 using CoolEdit (a several year sporadic series that ended up on German public radio).

 

When the ADATs finally died (one after the other a few months apart) around 2000 or so, I fell back on a $40 Soundblaster Live for a while (which I already had for its SoundFont capabilities) Now THAT was an significant jump, moneywise... the first ADAT set me back a cool 4Gs, and the second and my BRC was almost that much. A while later, switched to an Echo Mia (2/2+2/2).

 

When I made my laptop my primary computer, I popped for a MOTU 828mkII, which is still my main interface.

 

But my laptop is now strictly mobile and the MOTU is hooked up to my (pleasantly quiet) cheapo Dell refurb tower. (Not all Dells are quiet. Caveat emptor, baby.)

 

I also have a Samson USB condenser mic (C01U) for laptop use... but it's been on loan to a pal who I finally convinced to try recording on his computer (a MacBook running GarageBand... baby steps).

 

 

Unlike some, I've had generally good luck with the MOTU, it's been very reliable as long as I reboot it every once in a while. The Echo was always a delight and I keep telling myself I'm going to sit down and do a serious sound comparison between the MOTU and it. And the only significant issue with the Samson USB mic is that the (uncorrected) overdub misalignment varies from session to session, making it impossible to set up a 'standard' nudge amount for it. (So I use it with Mackie Tracktion which has a ping-loopback track alignment calibration utility that makes calibrating its automatic alignment adjustment... automatic.)

[Hard Truth]

I have a fairly obscure one for my PC laptop, the Yamaha i88x. I recently purchased it because it had a good price, used firewire, had the I/Os that I wanted, and the mic pre-amps got favorable reviews. My choices were limited because I wanted to be sure my interface could do ADAT input since I have piles of unmixed ADAT tapes. Its setup interface is a bit clunky, but overall I'm happy with my choice.

 

I also still use my old reliable MOTU 2408 with my old G4 Mac.

[beatfreq]

I currently have an M-Audio FW410, and an original Digi M-Box. Although they have served me well, I'm soon to be upgrading to an RME Fireface 800 and an M-Box 2 Pro. I want to do live tracking, so I need more inputs, and I've heard nothing but raves about RME stuff. And I hate USB, so the old M-Box has to go. One has to have Pro Tools of some kind in the work I do, but Logic is my main app.