Which audio interface should I invest in?

They are alright from my experience with my old 1002fx and my new qx2442USB. I wouldn't say they sound "alive". You know - liking the 2020 MIC because it sounds so crisp : ) My MIC use is usually dynamics on guitar and I don't need the xenyx for that. I use them for my synths. The little 1002fx gets me phantom on any recording device. The 2-month old 2442 hasn't seen a MIC yet, but I really need to test that. One line on sweetwater said it's 8 +48v and another line said its 10 . I really hope its 8 so I can not have power to a couple XLR.

I didn't, particularly, want to spend $400-ish on a Behringer, but it gave me the buss outs and direct out that I use on my old Tascam

For the poster, you don't need something out of the catalog, you can buy some old 96k 8x8 card for under $100
 
Rachel Philipp said:
Since I can't shell out $600 right now, I found a monthly financing option on Sweetwater that I could work with. Does anyone have experience with the Sweetwater credit card? Not sure if it's the best option
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Ya, I got on board last year. mixer, two synths, and a guitar amp. Beggars can't be choosy. The bite is that there has to be some sort of credit line from the MFG, so our selection of products is limited. I was doing the bargain hunt, as usual, and noticed some stuff that had extended financing, has it no more. I got two things on 36-mo, and had I waited a week on the mixer, I might of had another look at what I could do with 48-mo.. I hadn't been a sweetwater customer

EDIT;
M got his Twins on 48-mo. That's how I found out about it
 
Now! You ALL know I am going to say it?!! Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6.
This excellent interface has been around long enough now for many to available second hand (saw one for £100 in Cash Gen 3 months ago) .
The mic pres are very clean and the latency lower than almost anything else sub $300+ The other big advantage is it has two more balanced line inputs* and so a pre amp(s) can be plugged in at a later date. In fact the 802 can be used NOW! That gives 4 mic channels. There is S/PDIF an just a few pres have digital out (6 channels Wheee!) MIDI of course.

I have had a few Behringer products and their preamps are not at all bad IMHO but the 802 USB is 16 bits and not really an 'interface' The digital side is also pretty noisy.

*I expect you know ALL about those Rach'?

Dave.
 
lol. shill. ;)

It does sound good but for those of us on a budget, $225 might be a bit much, and from what I gather there are quality AIs out there for half the price if not less.
 
joey2000 said:
lol. shill. ;)

It does sound good but for those of us on a budget, $225 might be a bit much, and from what I gather there are quality AIs out there for half the price if not less.
Click to expand...

Quality is relative to the users needs....Actually more to a user that actually has an opinion of quality. But yeah, the $100 range will get you decent quality. Every step above will be small increments of improvement. That should be the end of conversati0n for this topic. Or at least where I will stop giving advice here.
 
jimmys69 said:
Quality is relative to the users needs....Actually more to a user that actually has an opinion of quality. But yeah, the $100 range will get you decent quality. Every step above will be small increments of improvement.
Click to expand...
My impression is that $100ish can get you more than simply "decent" quality, but can't say for sure.
 
ecc83 said:
Now! You ALL know I am going to say it?!! Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6.
This excellent interface has been around long enough now for many to available second hand (saw one for £100 in Cash Gen 3 months ago) .
The mic pres are very clean and the latency lower than almost anything else sub $300+ The other big advantage is it has two more balanced line inputs* and so a pre amp(s) can be plugged in at a later date. In fact the 802 can be used NOW! That gives 4 mic channels. There is S/PDIF an just a few pres have digital out (6 channels Wheee!) MIDI of course.

I have had a few Behringer products and their preamps are not at all bad IMHO but the 802 USB is 16 bits and not really an 'interface' The digital side is also pretty noisy.

*I expect you know ALL about those Rach'?

Dave.
Click to expand...


I'm about to give my alesis io2 express to a freind and pick up something with a little better usable gain. The io2 gets pretty touchy by the time the mic is hot. Can anyone recommend this one over the Steinberg UR22 MKII? Can either one drive an sm7b without external preamps?
 
gecko zzed said:
You might have to elaborate further on this, because I have no idea what it means.
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What I mean is that the gain needs to be most of the way up (all the way up if I have a dynamic on acoustic guitar) and that in the last little bit of the potentiometer, it jumps and is hard to dial in the gain. I want a more usable sweep, with more gain overall across the range of the control.
 
oildrops said:
I'm about to give my alesis io2 express to a freind and pick up something with a little better usable gain. The io2 gets pretty touchy by the time the mic is hot. Can anyone recommend this one over the Steinberg UR22 MKII? Can either one drive an sm7b without external preamps?
Click to expand...

Why would you think a lower px box is gonna' drive a sm7b ? You should be thinking along the lines of a used ISA One, or something (Rane)
 
Not sure the UR22 is going to help there as far as gain.

Why are you using a dynamic on acoustic guitar? Would not be my first choice ever. Yeah, SM7b for loud vocals with a interface preamp alone may be fine. Also good for soft vocals with a good external preamp, but never for an acoustic guitar with or without a preamp with 60+ gain.

I can't even imagine why I would ever use A SM7b for acoustic guitar. Just not the right mic at all from my personal experience. Maybe for a vocalist who must play guitar and sing at same time, but that would only be used for the vocal mic.

A decent LDC on the bridge and a SDC around the 12th fret. SM7b as close to the singers mouth as possible. Eat that thing!
 
My iO2 (Actually an M-track but they're the same interface with a different label) is fine with low output dynamics. Yes I have to turn it all the way up, but there's still no noticeable noise. Note that I'm aiming for record levels in the recommended -18dB(FS) average and peaks between -12 and -6.

I'm a bit with Jimmy on the purchase of new mics rather than a new interface. A small diaphragm condenser is my mic of choice for acoustic guitar--or, even better, a pair of them. This is probably where i'd put my money rather than into new interface.
 
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