Need an audio interface reccomendation.

[raito]

So I turn to the hive mind that is TDPRI.

I've recorded back in the analog era (and only incidentally in digital), so I'm not really just starting out with recording per se. I also write software as my day job -- computer literacy isn't a problem. But it seems like for every interface that I read reviews for, the following xkcd applies:



Here's what I do, and what I need...

I'm in no bands. I don't gig. I mostly play for my own enjoyment. But I have material I'd like to record. And I've been ruined by my exposure to professionals, so I'd like to get good sound. And I don't want to be plagued by driver issues. I've written drivers, and been forced to use bad drivers. I get paid to do that, and I don't want to do it on my own time.

I don't need a zillion inputs or outputs, as it's just me playing one instrument at a time. I can record guitar or other mono sources very well with the equipment I have. But I do need to be able to record stereo (a lot of my keyboard sounds really do require more than a simple pan will give me. You can think Leslie speaker if you wish). I also need MIDI (seems odd, but I haven't hooked up any of my MIDI gear to a computer since Windows 3.1 -- just never got around to it.) I could do without the MIDI on the interface if there's another solution that can be recommended.

I do need 24 bit/96kHz, as that gives better results for some homebrew operations that I do (told you I write software, right?).

So what I need is:

2 simultaneous inputs (so I can record in stereo)
2 simultaneous outputs (so I can monitor in stereo)
MIDI 1 in, 1 out is fine
24 bit/96kHz
USB 2.0 (yes, I have Firewire now, but the next machine probably won't).
Won't break the bank.

The won't break the bank part means that I don't particularly have a budget -- I'd rather deal with my requirements. It's entirely possible that the only way to get what I want is to also get a bunch of stuff I don't need. For example, maybe the only 24/96 interfaces with decent drivers come with a minimum of 8 inputs. (I really don't know).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Toriginal]

I use reaper and find it easy to use and quite powerful while beiong cost effective.\
http://www.reaper.fm/

You'll need a way to plug the guitar into the computer USB?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/searc...ion=USB+guitar

audacity free DAW software:
I have used this which is not too bad but it's no Reaper.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Reaper has a 30 day (fully functional) free trial and some good manuals and guides. Not to mention the forum. Discounted license is 60 bucks which I bought. It Works perfectly. I am not sure it will get you what you want. Perhaps more experienced recorders will help you out. Reasearch twice, buy once.

[Jipes]

I have a Fastrack M Audio interface which is very straight forward and easy to use, it's a USB interface and is immediately recognized by my Mac and performs perfectly with teh Garage Band Software of Mac's. However it's sold with a light version of teh well known Pro Tools software: Pro Tools-M it's relatively easy to use and understand and there's zillion of video on the web to help you

The fastrack has 4 input a MIDI connection and decent preamps to record acoustic instruments

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...TrackC400.html

2 high-quality mic/line combo preamps on rear panel
2 front-panel 1/4" instrument inputs
20 dB pad on each preamp for capturing hotter signals without distortion
Phantom power for condenser microphones
4 balanced analog outputs with monitor management system
1 headphone output with independent volume control
S/PDIF digital I/O
1x1 MIDI I/O

[MrTwang]

You can pick up a few audio interfaces that will meet your requirement for a reasonable price. I use an EMU 0204 on my laptop but it doesn't have a MIDI interface (I use a separate one). Highly recommend Reaper as the software which has one of the most helpful user forums around and also lets you try out the full version for 30 days to decide if it's right for you.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to make sure whichever box you choose has "Hardware zero-latency direct monitoring". This is very important for overdubbing because it allows you to hear what you are recording in real time, along with what has already been recorded. If it doesn't have this feature or has "near zero latency monitoring" it means that when overdubbing you will hear yourself in your headphones very slightly delayed. Maybe only a few milliseconds but for a lot of people (including me) this is very off-putting. I know people that aren't bothered about this but if you aren't one of those it will bug the hell out of you. You can get round it by using external mixers and stuff like that but with hardware zero-latency, the input is effectively wired straight to the headphone out (with a mix control) without going through any processing that will introduce a delay.

[raito]

Toriginal,

Your answer wasn't very helpful to me. Reaper is fine, but doesn't help me get a stereo signal into the computer. And as I stated, I already have a way to get 'guitar or other mono sources' in. I do appreciate that you took the time to comment, but ultimately your advice wasn't the sort I was looking for.

Jipes,

Thanks for the advice. For some reason, I hadn't seen that one before. I think it just wasn't showing up on my searches. It looks like MF has 2 packages with this. One with ProTools SE, the other with ProTools MP. ANyone know if that difference is worth $50.

[raito]

Mr Twang,

I agree on the zero-latency. Both my current mono solutions have it.

Then again, there's 'near' and there's 'near' zero.

[Martin R]

M-Audio FastTrack Pro.

Two channels, XLR or instrument inputs. USB out plus outs for speakers. Phantom power, etc...Everything you need but not too much. It's simple and it works.

Of course if you have money burning your pocket look at Apogee.

[MrTwang]

Originally Posted by raito

Mr Twang,

I agree on the zero-latency. Both my current mono solutions have it.

Then again, there's 'near' and there's 'near' zero.

Well, I wouldn't buy a sandwich that was advertised as "near zero rat poo content" and feel pretty much the same about "near zero" latency monitoring

Unless the monitoring is hard wired it's not close enough to zero for me which would count out a lot of the possibles and was one of the reasons i went for the EMU.

[raito]

Off-topic, but...

The USDA does specify maximum levels of rat-poo for food products. So even though it's not advertised, it's in there. My wife is a chemical engineer who worked at food plants, and I'm a former cook. From our experience, there's no way to keep out everything.

[Jipes]

Originally Posted by raito

Jipes,

Thanks for the advice. For some reason, I hadn't seen that one before. I think it just wasn't showing up on my searches. It looks like MF has 2 packages with this. One with ProTools SE, the other with ProTools MP. ANyone know if that difference is worth $50.

I guess the main differences are the number of tracks you can record and mix

PT MP9 can record simultaneously 16 tracks and PT SE only 2

As for the total number of tracks possible it's 48 for PT MP9 and 16 for PT SE

Here is a comparative list of all PT software with specs

http://www.avid.com/US/products/Pro-...ftware#Compare

[64Strat]

I have up to 192kHz sample rate but have never needed to go beyond 48kHz at 24 bit. The higher sample rates eat up buttloads of hard disk space for little or no discernable benefit.

Buy the best interface you can afford from one of the top shelf guys and be done with it. I happen to like RME stuff.

Firewre works great if it has the TI chipset (other chipsets don't work well), I'm using that TI chipset with a FW800 connection to my RME FireFace 800.

If you want to go USB now, here is the entry level, super high quality RME solution called the BabyFace....
BabyFace Link

[raito]

Finally getting back to thsi thread...

MrTwang, I agree in general. But maybe not in specifics. It probably depends on the interface, and I highly doubt that latency is one of the specs anyone publishes. If it's just into the ADC on one side and out the DAC on the other, I doubt that it's a problem, even if it's really not a wire from input to output. I also doubt thaty's what's going on in most 'near-zero' interfaces. In my particular case, for example, I'm likely to run keyboards from a mix of some sort anyway. I want to monitor with effects but not record with them. That allows me to get closer to the correct feel when playing, but leaves open post-processing. Still, there may be latency not at the monitoring of the track being recorded, but in the playback of the pre-recorded tracks vs. the recording track. That's correctable (but painful) unless that latency is not constant.

Martin R:

Thanks for the reccomendation. I'm not sure it'll work with my specs:

4 x 4: 16 bit, 44.1 sample rate / 48 kHz
2 x 4: 24 bit 44.1 sample rate / 48 kHz
2-in OR 2-out: 24 bit, 88.2 Sample rate / 96 kHz
Class compliant: 2 x 4: 16 bit, 44.1 sample rate / 48 kHz

That OR looks bothersome. Headphone outs are not line outs, but I'm not sure I want to monitor using the headphone out.

Jipes:
Thanks for the link. It pretty well explains everything.

64Strat:
Your advice is right on, and what I would give others. However, the problem here is what is 'best'? Who is 'top shelf'? Those are partly the questions I'm asking. At least I do know what I can afford... The RME unit looks nice, but may be a bit more than I need (yeah, I know I should know better -- always buy more capacity than you think you need).

[MrTwang]

Originally Posted by raito

MrTwang, I agree in general. But maybe not in specifics. It probably depends on the interface, and I highly doubt that latency is one of the specs anyone publishes. If it's just into the ADC on one side and out the DAC on the other, I doubt that it's a problem, even if it's really not a wire from input to output.

I'd still suggest trying before you buy on this point - I know for sure that the Line6 units for example which are described as "near zero latency monitoring" still has enough to bother me and my very budget EMU which has direct hardware monitoring is absolutely fine in this respect.

[raito]

I agree on trying first, unfortunately the local places aren't exactly flush with interfaces, it seems. So I bought Jipes's recommendation, the Fast Track C400. Amazon has it for a hundred dollars less than MF for the version with ProTools SE. So for the price, I figured it was worth getting to see how well it works. If it works well enough, fine. If it doesn't, I'll give things another go.

Might even have time to test it out this weekend. Still have to go through the usual rigamarole of installation/update/etc.

[Jipes]

LEt me know if it works fine for you I'm really satisfy with it not too much latency and ease of installation (at least on a Apple computer)

[raito]

Well, I got all the stuff installed and updated this weekend, and played around a bit. Once I figured out that the default settings did not play anything through the headphone out I was fine. Bumped the rate to 96K and did some Audacity with it. I only went up to 4-5 stereo tracks, but didn't seem to have any latency problems that I could detect. Just played something, made another track, and played over what I already had, rinse and repeat. Didn't use any of the built-in effects.

[t-ray]

Here's what I use. Love it! It has all the specs you listed. Solid construction, clean sounding. Comes with some nice free software, too.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KompAudio6

[Jipes]

Happy for you Raito now that it's set up it's time to start your projects

[Mork]

Well I can highly recommend The Eleven Rack by Avid. I bought it a couple of years back and it comes with a copy of ProTool 10.
As a guitar too PC interface for recording I really don't think there's anything better.
The re-amping is so easy my Gran could do it and the tones you get from it are very very warm a tube like.

I'm looking into buying a second one just for live work and leave one in the studio.


http://www.avid.com/US/products/eleven-rack_2

[raito]

Originally Posted by Jipes

Happy for you Raito now that it's set up it's time to start your projects

Yep. Got the first one. Daughter singing the ABC's.