What is your favorite USB/Firewire Interface?

What's your favorite budget portable audio interface?

  • PreSonus Firebox

    Votes: 123 30.3%

  • M-Audio 410

    Votes: 44 10.8%

  • Digidesign MBox

    Votes: 34 8.4%

  • Focusrite Saffire

    Votes: 25 6.2%

  • Edirol UA25

    Votes: 20 4.9%

  • Mackie Spike

    Votes: 7 1.7%

  • Other (Please Specify)

    Votes: 153 37.7%
  • Total voters
    406
im very fond of my tascam fw1082. it's eveyrhting i need and want. the pre's are fine for what i need, channels are enough for me for the moment at least, and i have another 16 line mixer if needed, and it just works perfect with my midi products, and all my other pre's, mics and software.

my recordings have never been so good
 
I have a UA-5 which I bought on a whim since they can be modded into a standalone configuration. Then the UA25 I had crapped out so I began to use it as the primary interface instead.
The UA25 suddenly started to emit USB bus noise in the middle of a project, which meant re-dubbing large chunks of dialog for the radio play, setting it back by about two weeks. I'm currently using it as an SPDIF converter (it isn't quite standalone) for preview purposes - for the final versions I'm using the UA-5, since the UA25 still does the bus noise thing most of the time (except when it's 'happy'). I've heard this is a fairly common problem with the '25, but I don't know of a solution. Some day I might try recapping it, or adding filter caps to the USB power line.

Aside from those, I have just acquired a Terratec Phase 88FW, which I'm going to try tonight. Should be fun. Doesn't exactly count as 'Portable' though.
 
Do any of the USB/Firewire portable units allow simultaneous playback of a wave file on the computer allong with recording? What I'm thinging of of course is the ability to record a track over an existing mix or accompaniment. If you have to play back through the computers standard sound system wouldn't there be serious timing issues to contend with (amongst other things).

Is there a successor to the E-MU 1616?? This unit has a wealth of useful (to me) features and the audio quality is reputed to be pretty good. I have a problem with it being tied to either a PCI card or a Cardbus module. One it makes it difficult to use in both a desktop and a lap top. Two, both PCI and Cardbus are rapidly becoming legacy device interfaces. For that matter Firewire is quickly disappearing. For portibility and "future proofing" I'd much rather find a USB solution if possible.

-Bernie
 
i personally enjoy the delta cards, and am getting accustomed to my new alesis. i like it a lot so far but i haven't experimented much with the routing on it.
 
Alden_Sloe said:
Do any of the USB/Firewire portable units allow simultaneous playback of a wave file on the computer allong with recording? What I'm thinging of of course is the ability to record a track over an existing mix or accompaniment.
Click to expand...

Any audio interface will allow you to do that, assuming you are using software designed for multitrack recording.
 
dgatwood said:
Any audio interface will allow you to do that, assuming you are using software designed for multitrack recording.
Click to expand...

Yes, but does it play back the sound through the computers audio out or can you send it back over the USB to the outputs of the audio interface? I'd think there might be sync issues doing it through the computers sound system; maybe not?
 
Alden_Sloe said:
Yes, but does it play back the sound through the computers audio out or can you send it back over the USB to the outputs of the audio interface? I'd think there might be sync issues doing it through the computers sound system; maybe not?
Click to expand...

It's usually your choicem whether you want to use Direct Monitoring (straight from the interface) or whether you want to monitor via the DAW. You can't treat direct monitoring signals with effects from the computer, but this usually isn't a problem.

In rare circumstances where you need to monitor via the DAW, then the latency usually isn't that bad - but it is definitly worse than direct monitoring, which has no delay.
 
I use an M-Audio, and am happy with it.

Most are pretty good, but definitely get something with phantom power/pre-mics.
 
Alden_Sloe said:
Yes, but does it play back the sound through the computers audio out or can you send it back over the USB to the outputs of the audio interface? I'd think there might be sync issues doing it through the computers sound system; maybe not?
Click to expand...

Yeah. You pretty much have to route the playback through the same audio interface as your inputs are coming from.
 
i have the fast track pro by m-audio.....being used on some p4 machine because of xp only drivers...instead of my quadcore xp64.

well now the lights on the front have started to not function ...and since m-audio obvioulsy have no intention of releasing xp64 drivers i am starting to look around.

and the firebox looks like a very strong contender.

so i think its gonna be tracktion3 on xp64 with the firebox....

if anyone in the room knows of any lawfull impediment why this marriage wont work please state your case now!!:D
 
SlartyBartfast said:
I'm looking to buy a portable audio interface and was wondering what everyone would suggest.
Click to expand...
What kind of computer do you have?

I'm fairly noob-ish to this stuff. But I did a lot of research and decided on a Firebox. I read that they play nicely with Macs and I have an iMac.

The Firebox has proven plenty sufficient, and actually exceeds my needs. I found one brand new on amazon for $219.99 with free shipping.

If I were looking to spend more I might've considered one of the Presonus 10x10 units, or something like the Focusrite Saffire, or even a MOTU jaunt.
 
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