help me choose an interface

thefunktopus · Post by **thefunktopus** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:14 pm

I am not an expert on hardware but am slowly building a small home studio that so far consists of a macbook, Live, Reason, mackie micro series 1202 mixer, korg padkontrol, and of course the LP. I dont want to lose the sound that makes the phatty what it is, but am not looking to spend 500+ on a interface. I was looking at the presonus firebox which seems like a practical solution, but I would like some advice from other LP users. thanks

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:06 am

thefunktopus wrote:I am not an expert on hardware but am slowly building a small home studio that so far consists of a macbook, Live, Reason, mackie micro series 1202 mixer, korg padkontrol, and of course the LP. I dont want to lose the sound that makes the phatty what it is, but am not looking to spend 500+ on a interface. I was looking at the presonus firebox which seems like a practical solution, but I would like some advice from other LP users. thanks

I would go with an Apogee Duet if it is compatible with your computer.

thefunktopus · Post by **thefunktopus** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:16 am

the duet is a consideration... but a bit expensive and a few more channels wouldn't hurt

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:31 am

thefunktopus wrote:the duet is a consideration... but a bit expensive and a few more channels wouldn't hurt

Apogee's A/D conversion is great. The preamps have a tone of gain, too, if you need that.

r05c03 · Post by **r05c03** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:06 am

Presonus Firestudio

kumasynthtones · Post by **kumasynthtones** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:12 am

The Mackie Onyx Satellite is awesome, and is probably the best buy this year for me! I like the fact that it is portable, and it can be docked into the included base station that stays in the studio so you can keep everything hooked up. You cant go wrong with this one. Check it out here:

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-MAC-ONYXSAT-LIST

Anton · Post by **Anton** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:14 am

thefunktopus wrote:the duet is a consideration... but a bit expensive and a few more channels wouldn't hurt

I am using the Duet for several months now and I am more than happy with its sound quality and integration with my MacBook Pro. The question is whether you are really planning to record more than two tracks simultaneously in your home studio. If not, the Duet together with a small mixer is a good choice.

CTRLSHFT · Post by **CTRLSHFT** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:05 am

Duet is the best sounding audio interface for under $1000. Their converters and preamps are incredible, if not the industry standard. It's really not a good card to use if you need flexibility and quantity with the ins and outs, but that's not what they made it for. Apogee's Ensemble unit is the flagship model w/ all those goodies, and it's really, really expensive.

The Presonus Firebox on the other hand, sounds great, provides a ton of flexibility, and is incredibly undercosted for what it offers.

I've been using one since 2005 w/ great success. Having so many extra ins and outs means I didn't really need a mixer anymore, I just have a neutrik patchbay with mogami cables running to all the ins and outs of the firebox, creating the ability to have my routing handled in Cubase.

You will not find a better unit for how much these cost. Preamps are good, not excellent, but honestly, I have a analog channel strip for vocals, so I don't use the preamps on the firebox for really anything. I highly suggest going w/ Presonus.

thefunktopus · Post by **thefunktopus** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:24 am

Anton wrote:
I am using the Duet for several months now and I am more than happy with its sound quality and integration with my MacBook Pro. The question is whether you are really planning to record more than two tracks simultaneously in your home studio. If not, the Duet together with a small mixer is a good choice.[/quote wrote:
OK all these duet recommendations are getting hard to ignore. If I do go with the duet, would it be necesary to run it through a preamp? and if I use my mackie micro series 1202 or this (kind of an older model), will I be losing sound quality?

CTRLSHFT · Post by **CTRLSHFT** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:58 pm

thefunktopus wrote:
Anton wrote:
I am using the Duet for several months now and I am more than happy with its sound quality and integration with my MacBook Pro. The question is whether you are really planning to record more than two tracks simultaneously in your home studio. If not, the Duet together with a small mixer is a good choice.[/quote wrote:
OK all these duet recommendations are getting hard to ignore. If I do go with the duet, would it be necesary to run it through a preamp? and if I use my mackie micro series 1202 or this (kind of an older model), will I be losing sound quality?
The duet has preamps, so no, you wouldn't run 2 stages of preamps. Using a mixer should be ok, but make sure your preamps are set so that they aren't adding any gain and amplifying the signal twice.

thefunktopus · Post by **thefunktopus** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:34 pm

Anton wrote:
[quote=The duet has preamps, so no, you wouldn't run 2 stages of preamps. Using a mixer should be ok, but make sure your preamps are set so that they aren't adding any gain and amplifying the signal twice.[/quote]

gotcha, how do you think it would sound if I used the preamps on my mackie into the firebox? again it is an older series mixer

HB3 · Post by **HB3** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:10 pm

Funktopus...I bet whichever you'd buy would sound great.

A question about the apogee stuff...I was just looking at the ensemble...is this Apple only?

CTRLSHFT · Post by **CTRLSHFT** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:18 pm

HB3 wrote:Funktopus...I bet whichever you'd buy would sound great.

A question about the apogee stuff...I was just looking at the ensemble...is this Apple only?

yep, mac only.

(sad face because i can't afford the mac that i want for a while and am stuck w/ a dell from 2005)

@Funktopus:

My guess would be that the Presonus preamps would sound better than the mixer's but you should test both to ascertain that.

thefunktopus · Post by **thefunktopus** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:30 pm

Although tempted by the the duet, I think the firebox will suit my needs for now. Maybe after a monitor upgrade, I could then spend a few more dollars in this area... damn that duet would look sexy with my macbook though

thanks to all!

HB3 · Post by **HB3** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:36 pm

What are the good, high end units for Windows people would recommend? Besides Presonus?

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help me choose an interface

help me choose an interface

Re: help me choose an interface

High Rating for the Mackie Onyx Satellite Firewire $179

come to a decision