Audio Interface, Monitors and Headphones

[Volk]

I need an advice from you, since I need to buy the tools for playing and recording guitars at home.

I live in an apartment and I have really annoying neighbours, so I can not be louder than a televisor...

I want to record guitars using the lineout of my tube amp. The amp was studied for this application and the line out is not the typical crappy lineout of the commercial amps. It is really good and it delivers a tone really close to the tone you can get recording the amp with a mic in front of the speaker.

There are two possible outputs: unbalanced 1/4" and balanced XLR.

All outputs on the back have the same low impedance and are controlled with the Line Out knob from zero to above line level (+4 dB). All these outputs can be connected to any impedance input (low, med, or high) and will always match - preamps or power amps alike.

I have a new iMac with Mavericks OSx and I'm planning to use Garage Band and Logic.

I would like to get an audio interface 100% stable with Mavericks, with excellent A/D conversion and for me it is crucial that the latency of the overall system is zero.

I will not use mics so I prefer to have open headphones (or semi-closed) not too much fatiguing since I'll have to wear them 3-4 hours every day.

I can get also a pair of monitors, but only if there is something that work well at really low volumes (normal conversation or not-loud televisor) otherwise I will use only headphones.

I have really good signal cables, boutique amp and great guitars, so I'd like to keep the quality of signal chain with high performances.

My budget is about 1000 € (1200 $).

Which are your suggestions?

 

[BroKen_H]

As to headphones, look into AT Quietpoint series. Smooth headphones. My Denon NC800's are sweet too. Give them a listen. Although closed can design, I have worn mine for 8-10 hour stretches and they remain comfortable.
Mac interface with low latency: Look at Focusrite Saffire Pro 24. 16 in/8 out midi in/out optical in, SPDIF in/out plus 2 line in and 2 XLR in and 6 line outs. Runs on Firewire, so should bolt right in at very low latency (I don't know if there is a zero latency anything) but if you can hit under 10ms, you won't probably notice.
The Zoom Tac 2, although actual Thunderbolt, is only 2 in 2 out and does NOT have focusrite preamps.
MOTU has a nice contender in your price range in the 828x, but that would probably be overkilll for what your're shooting for.

Bottom line is, TB is fairly new and there aren't a lot of units using that interface reasonably. Firewire will probably give you the best quality for the quid. USB will bottleneck on it's bus if you're running external drives and what not. Hit some high-end audio shops and bring a reference CD to help you make your choice. Interface is up to you. If you feel you're going to need 40 i/o in the future, look to the higher price units, but from what you're saying the 200 quid focusrite should meet your needs and specs.