Interface upgrade

S

studiobri

New member
Hey guys, fairly new to the forum so nice to meet you!

I have been using the Tascam-US2000 interface for several years now. It's not a bad unit, 8 pres, 6 line in's, 4 outs, yadda yadda yadda...

Product: US-2000 | TASCAM

It's time to update this interface as I find myself running out of lines when recording live sessions. I am looking for an interface (usb or firewire) that has 12-16 preamps, preferably a few line in's (I have a couple rack preamps), direct monitoring (which I think is pretty standard), and a couple headphone outs would be helpful as well.

I've been looking at the focusrite saffire pro40 and linking an OctaPre or possibly finding a console. My goal is to keep it under $1,500

Any thoughts?

Brad.
 
You could swap the ADA8200 for an octopre for a bit better sound, but an 8 channel interface and an ADAT preamp is almost certainly going to be what you need and can get for <$1500

For that price a console is probably out of the question unless can do a refurb on a busted one.
 
Yeah it's a bit more than your price point but I'd recommend saving a little more (buy better - buy once) and look at something like the Antelope Audio Zen. Has Orion level converters with mic pres (mic/line).
 
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I just went through the whole update process. I was looking for at least 16 outs - I did not need 16 ins but if I could get them for the right price I was OK). I wanted to stay under $1,000

I finally ended up with 2 Focusite Scarlett 18i20 (the Scarlett series is basically the same as the Saffire series - except Scarlett uses USB2 vs. Firewire). I had a lot of people tell me to avoid Firewire because of the inconsistent manufacture quality in the Firewire manufacturers.

I had considered 1 Scarlett and an Octapre but tech support at Focusrite suggested 2 Scarlett's would be less costly than a Scarlett and an Octapre - the 2nd Scarlett connects via an "ADAT" cable the same as an Octapre.

So I ended up with 16 inputs (all with built-in mic pres) and the 16 outs I needed for just uder $1000 (the store I deal with sold me the Scarlett's at $450 each - which is about $50 less than street price)
 
Xdrummer said:
I just went through the whole update process. I was looking for at least 16 outs - I did not need 16 ins but if I could get them for the right price I was OK). I wanted to stay under $1,000

I finally ended up with 2 Focusite Scarlett 18i20 (the Scarlett series is basically the same as the Saffire series - except Scarlett uses USB2 vs. Firewire). I had a lot of people tell me to avoid Firewire because of the inconsistent manufacture quality in the Firewire manufacturers.

I had considered 1 Scarlett and an Octapre but tech support at Focusrite suggested 2 Scarlett's would be less costly than a Scarlett and an Octapre - the 2nd Scarlett connects via an "ADAT" cable the same as an Octapre.

So I ended up with 16 inputs (all with built-in mic pres) and the 16 outs I needed for just uder $1000 (the store I deal with sold me the Scarlett's at $450 each - which is about $50 less than street price)
Click to expand...

Basically the same initial setup that I went for with the Steinbergs. One is an ADAT Slave. Always less issues using the same manufacturer as a slave unit. Plus all input channels have DSP input effects. Though I haven't yet needed them.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses.

Unfortunately at this point the studio doesn't bring in the $$$ to justify a $2k A/D converter (hopefully soon though!). Getting a good mid-range interface with a ADAT 8 channel preamp is probably the best way to go at the moment.

Thanks again guys!
 
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