audio interface

[hughyg]

Im looking at getting an interface for my mac to get my little phatty/guitar into Live 8. I have no idea which one to get. Ideally i would also like one with a mic input as well so i could record percussion or vocals. And maybe several outputs. What is a good one for someone on a budget (AU$500 ish)? USB or Firewire?? Can I use one with a guitar and process audio live? For instance, guitar ---> audio interface input ---> Amplitude fx ---> Audio interface output ---> Amp..... or would latency cause an issue?
Cheers in advance,
Hugh

[th0mas]

I'd suggest USB only because firewire is seemingly phased out of the lower end macs and is non-existent should you ever buy a PC laptop. It'll continue this trend too as USB 3.0 takes off.

Any modern (Ie still sold new in stores) USB audio interface should be USB 2.0, which I've found personally fast enough that I can midi sequence my synths, bring the audio back into ableton live, then back out to the audio card, as long as I don't load the audio chain with tons of FX, but the latency, no matter how low, might be more noticeable if you're playing something live and waiting for the delay compared to me mostly tweaking the sequences.

[Mr Knesh]

I'd suggest USB only because firewire is seemingly phased out of the lower end macs and is non-existent should you ever buy a PC laptop. It'll continue this trend too as USB 3.0 takes off.

Any modern (Ie still sold new in stores) USB audio interface should be USB 2.0, which I've found personally fast enough that I can midi sequence my synths, bring the audio back into ableton live, then back out to the audio card, as long as I don't load the audio chain with tons of FX, but the latency, no matter how low, might be more noticeable if you're playing something live and waiting for the delay compared to me mostly tweaking the sequences.

As long as computers still have a Card Bus slot they will be able to use firewire. I much prefer firewire to usb (although usb has been improving quite a bit in the last two years) because it has been my experience that firewire tends to be less buggy. The drivers are usually more solid and I have never had any weird problems with any firewire device.

[Ashe37]

Technically, no shipping laptop has "cardbus" (apple's name for their implementation of PCMCIA) everything switched to expresscard some time ago.

And lots of PC laptops have firewire (usually the 4-pin firewire 400 connector), long as you don't buy the cheap ones. Firewire is actually dying out because DV is dying out- consumers are replacing it with little HD cameras that shoot onto SD cards.

[druzz]

very good options at the moment are :presonus fire studio mobile , focusrite saffire pro 24

[hughyg]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Well I have looked into all of these and they all look great. I have macbook pros and and an Imac that have firewire 800 ports so I think I will go the firewire route. What are the apogee duets like. I have read a lot of good reviews for them and I love the look of them. However, I mostly use Live (but I also have logic) and it looks like these have been geared for logic/garageband users. Do they work well with Live?
Cheers
Hugh

[hughyg]

I've been looking around and have found the motu pre8. Is this a good interface? What's it like compared with the motu ultralite mk2? It seem far superior with it's 8 mic inputs. I play drums So it looks very appealing for recording them. Would it record to 8 individual tracks in logic/live?

[organsymphony]

Would it record to 8 individual tracks in logic/live?

Yes

[sequentialsoftshock]

If you haven't yet made a decision, look for an older Audiofire 8. The ADC's are the same as in Apogee equipment at a fraction of the cost. This will also record eight tracks and midi simultaneously to Logic, Live, GB, or any other mainstream DAW. I use it for all three mentioned.

[krzeppa]

very good options at the moment are :presonus fire studio mobile , focusrite saffire pro 24

My vote goes to the Saffire Pro 24

[sequentialsoftshock]

very good options at the moment are :presonus fire studio mobile , focusrite saffire pro 24

My vote goes to the Saffire Pro 24

How many ins/outs?

[krzeppa]

@ sequential...It has 16 inputs and 8 outputs. It also have firewire, if you need/like it.

[sequentialsoftshock]

@ sequential...It has 16 inputs and 8 outputs. It also have firewire, if you need/like it.

Wow! You wouldn't guess by the front looks.

[krzeppa]

@ sequential...It has 16 inputs and 8 outputs. It also have firewire, if you need/like it.

Wow! You wouldn't guess by the front looks.

I know...I thought the same thing the first time I saw it.

[krushing]

@ sequential...It has 16 inputs and 8 outputs. It also have firewire, if you need/like it.

Wow! You wouldn't guess by the front looks.

I know...I thought the same thing the first time I saw it.

Should probably be mentioned that it "only" has 4 analog ins & 6 outs - the rest is made up of the S/PDIF, ADAT & MIDI ports. Still, powerful little package.