Audio interface for professional studio?

Spikeh

New member
I've moved out of my garrage at last and got myself a studio at last. I'm currently using 3 x M-Audio Delta 1010's, that give me 24 channels of simultaneous recording.

Now, I've had nothing but issues with my Delta 1010's from day one. Pops, clicks, blown capacitors, dodgey 1/4" jack connectors, attenuation buttons coming off and loose power leads.

Started with one unit, upgraded to two, and the studio came with one when I bought it!

So, as you can imagine, I now want to upgrade...

I'm on PC:

* 3Ghz Dual Core
* 2GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM
* FireWire
* PCI-E
* Nuendo 3

I need:

* At LEAST 16 ins, 24+ channels preferred.
* At LEAST 6 outs, more if poss.
* All ins / outs need to be balanced TRS
* SPDIF IN/OUT
* MIDI IN/OUT
* Preamp NOT required, but I'd never say no to that if it was an option ;)

I want an interface that's reliable and I'm willing to pay lots of money for it - Budget up to £2,000.00. Any suggestions will be welcome.

I've no need for ADAT at the moment, or XLR inputs. I mix through a desk first, which then records on to my PC via the Delta 1010s in to Nuendo.

Heard bad things about the MOTU systems, and they seem to the only single unit systems that deal with as many channels as I need?

Was also looking at the Echo Audiofire 12 (possibly getting one now and another later). What do you think of those?

I have a high end PC system, which will be upgraded as required, plenty of high end mics and a few decent mixing desks - I don't want my interface to let me down like my Delta 1010s do at the moment!
 
The Echo Audiofire 12 is a superb sounding interface! It has excellent converters . There has been a few shootouts with the Audiofire12 RME Fireface 800 and Apogee converters. The Audiofire came out more favourably than the Fireface 800 and was on par with the Apogee unit.

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/FireWire/AudioFire12/index.php

I used to have a Delta 1010 aswell and I had some problems and eventually it died on me. I bought the Layla 3G which has exactly the same A/D D/A converters/audio quality. The Layla 3G sounds tighter and more focused and the drivers are rock solid. I've had no problems since I bought it over a year ago!
 
Well, I don't /need/ the S/PDIF - I have a Focusrite Twintrack Pro with the digial card you see... can use the analogue outs, but would rather use the digital if I can.

But the 24 analogue inputs are the most important part for me... and of course the MIDI (I've started to use Reason with a keyboard and intend to do more midi stuff with Nuendo too).

Put the PC together yesterday - just waiting for the RAM and the HDD and it's ready to go. Well... and the new sound cards, but haven't made my mind up on those yet!
 
I wouldn't discount MOTU straight away.
I'm using an UltraLite with no problems.

Just get yourself a decent TI or Lucent firewire card and a MOTU firewire interface should work fine. Also, don't use the firewire bus for anything else at the same time. I use USB for all my other I/O, so luckily, this isn't an issue for me.

The only problem I had was that I had to disable all running programs to get the drivers to install (Logitech Setpoint was the main offender). Since then I've had no problems at all and, for the money, the unit sounds incredible. I'm really unbelievably pleased with the pre's and converters. Compared to my old Delta66 + OmniStudio, this thing is clear as bell. I can actually record stuff and hear the 'highs' now!

Anyway - as always YMMV... but personally I'm very pleased with my MOTU purchase.
 
I recently did a couple of sessions at a decent studio (Sugarbabes, Appleton, Dani Minogue ok maybe not the last one) that work with a lot of chart bands and they were using 3 MOTU HD 192's. Saying that the rest of the studio was top notch (Acoustically treated rooms, Boutique mics and preamps etc.).

Any of the mentioned audio interfaces in this thread are capable of giving you very pro results and would not be the weak link in your chain. I would personally go for 2x Audiofire 12's and put the money I save towards other parts of your signal chain ( Acoustics, Mics, Preamps ) etc. What other gear do you already own and what's the room you're recording in like?
 
Just been looking at the products labelled "AD/DA Converters" too... wow are some of those expensive.... and I can't work out if they're appropriate for me anyway... basically I want a soundcard that will allow me to record in to my PC - nothing fancy...

Though I do like the look of that ESI Maxio XD - but I just don't the XLR inputs / outputs! All my wiring / mixing desks are set up for TRS! :P

If the Delta 1010 was a better card and more reliable, it'd be perfect for me (in terms of i/o).

While we're speaking about ESI... just looked at a few of their other interfaces. Anyone with experience of them?
 
And sorry, I forgot to answer your questions - I have two 24 channel mixing desks - one came with the studio (and I intend to replace it) - it's a Behringer MX8000. Does the job, but it's not great.

The other is a Soundtracks Midi PC 24. And I think it's awesome :) Needs some refurbishment before I use it properly, but that should come soon.

The decent mics I have are:

* A few SM57s
* A few SM58s
* Shure SM7B
* Neumann U87
* AKG D112
* Rode NT5
* AT4033
* Pair of AKG C1000S

And a load of crappy samson drum mics that I'm replacing slowly.

The room is ok - about 18ft x 14ft, with a control room + angled glass... double doors on the main enterance, various acoustic treatments (auralex acoustic foam in stategic positions), home made mid absorbers and bass traps (made from pine, rockwool & hessian) and various other little bits and bobs.

The only problems are that it's on the top floor of a pub, which makes it a nightmare for clients to get to, and bands practice down the hall + under the live room... and when that happens, no recording can be done. There are also lots of windows in the room, which I've stuck absorbers / quilts in front of... I'm making it sound worse than it is, and it could be better, but for a first studio it's awesome :)

I use Focusrite Penta Preamp & Twintrack pro as my main preamps / compressors (will upgrade when I get some funds behind me) and have a few rack mounted effects etc, but tend to use the PC for most things.
 
I haven't tried the lower end ones but I've been told they're similar to the M-Audio stuff. If you're looking for something better and more reliable than the Delta 1010 then the Echo Layla 3G would be ideal. The Echo Layla 3G has the same D/A A/D converters as the Audiofire 12 and sounds great! Two of these would be ideal!

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/PCI/Layla3G/index.php

Converters

http://www.echoaudio.com/Support/FAQ.php#8

Review

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan05/articles/layla.htm
 
From all my research the MOTU 24 i/o is the most appealing to me at the moment, though it doesn't have MIDI or SPDIF... is there any way I could install that and have additional devices installed for SPDIF & MIDI, that I can use at the same time?
 
perhaps a bit out of bdget but i would think about apogee... a rosetta 800 and an ad16 would give you 24 in's and 8 out's of way cool conversion... and not need to be replaced for awhile....
 
If you can do PCI or PCI-e and dont want to deal with messing around too much ( lots of stuff can be made to work depending on your personal pain tolerance) the RME HDSP 9652 or RME HDSP MADI cards would be very smart places to look. The lowest latency you are going to get. RME supports their cards long after others throw in the towel. I see many people getting excellent results with the MOTU's as well, and the new 8 pre is a screaming deal. I don't personally have as much luck with MOTU as RME, but its worth looking at.

If you are going to go firewire, though, I'd take a good look at the RME FF800

Soundscape Mixtreme is an excellent PCI unit, but is TDIF instead of ADAT and operates in modular 16 channel units.
 
I've been using an old motu 24i for 3 years and its been doing its job and running great. I've had slight problems with the signal dropping but that's just because its a really old unit and i bought it second hand. I want to replace it with anotehr motu 24i/o so i have the outs to go with ti...

just my two cents.
 
If you can do PCI or PCI-e and dont want to deal with messing around too much ( lots of stuff can be made to work depending on your personal pain tolerance) the RME HDSP 9652 or RME HDSP MADI cards would be very smart places to look. The lowest latency you are going to get. RME supports their cards long after others throw in the towel. I see many people getting excellent results with the MOTU's as well, and the new 8 pre is a screaming deal. I don't personally have as much luck with MOTU as RME, but its worth looking at.

This interests me... just looked them up:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/32835

How on earth would I get a 24 channel analogue desk with TRS Direct OUTs in to that though? Is it purely a digital card or am I just being stupid?
 
Do you mean I would need another desk, or could I get an interface between the desk and the sound card?

I'll do some more research...
 
OK, I really like the sound of that RME HDSP MADI... read up on MADI and took a look at some interfaces, but I'm a little confused... D-Sub? TDIF? There are more connectors in the music industry than the computer industry!

What kind of interfaces would give me at least 24 analogue TRS inputs to go with that card? Was looking at the iBox, but I must admit it's all a lot to take in seeing as though I've been using these M-Audio Delta 1010s for years!
 
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