Best bare bones Audio Interface when you dont need midi?

T

tsphillips

New member
I do not use midi and will never be linked to synth anything. Basically live recording of acoustic guitars, some bass and vocals, but often with several tracks.

But I want to be able to record four lines at once. Like two mikes to the preamps on the box, and two coming through the preamps on my mackie board. And 24 bit.

What is the most affordable thing I can get that will work with Windows XP Home?
 
hmmm until you said most affordable i was all about suggesting the M-aduio omni studio. Basically it's a delta 66 card with a breakout box that has preamps on it and such (no midi though). it may be a bit more pricy than what you want. just remember that you always get what you pay for. cheap stuff = cheap stuff
 
If you can live with out dedicated preamps for awhile, I highly recomend the Delta44 or Delta66 (A Delta44 with S/PDIF I/O). You can always upgrade to the OmniStudio later (The Omni breakout box is available seperately), when funds allow. This would be ideal for now if you have a 4 Bus (or higher) Mackie. But if you need the Preamps, then It will definitely be worth spending the extra bucks for the Omni (which has additional I/O for use with your external gear.
 
I have Windows XP and I just bought the Powerwave USB Audio Interface & Desktop Amplifier (Griffin Technology) for $100.oo (+$13.oo shipping).
It should be here in 2 days!

See it here: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerwave

From its desription, it sounds like it's exactly what I've been looking for...maybe not a pro-studio quality but close enough for my purposes...I record mostly just voice and guitar (acoustic w/ pickup), so I wanted something simple and great but cheap with which to connect to the computer...and I have Cool Edit Pro software to mix with.

When I first looked at the site I saw that it said 'Macworld' so I thought it was for Mac only and got really disappointed cuz it was so perfect, but luckily it is for PC also!

If you really browse the site, supprt for PC/faq, it tells you what 'advanced recording techniques' can be used and supplementary equipment that can be purchased if you want higher quality recordings. You probably already have other equipment (you mentioned the Mackie board) that you can use to increase your quality...I don't have anything else as of yet but I'm trying to build one piece at a time as I can afford it...this is the best price I have found anywhere for all that this offers.

Enci
 
I second the Delta 44 suggestion. 4 balanced/unbalanced ins, another 4 outs,selectable input db settings, phase flips on each in, ASIO drivers, 24/96 recording, all for $200. You can't go wrong
 
Enci said:
I have Windows XP and I just bought the Powerwave USB Audio Interface & Desktop Amplifier (Griffin Technology) for $100.oo (+$13.oo shipping).
It should be here in 2 days!

See it here: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerwave


Enci
Click to expand...

tsphillips said he wanted a 24bit interface.

Looking at the specs for that thing, it looks like a waste of money for DAW purposes. There is no mention of ASIO or WDM driver support.

The SNR is 85dB. If the specs are true, thats very noisy.
 
thanks for the input

as the man said, it may not be pro studio but it will work for him.

Well as for me, I have the new 24 bit Soundblaster that comes with a new Dell computer. I did not realize it would only have one 1/8" input. But I am told that IS stereo and should be read as two tracks in a recording program. Does anyone know if that is true?

It also has a firewire port, will that do me any good if I am looking to record 2 to 4 tracks at the same time? I have never had firewire so not sure how it works.

But now I have other questions. I got the 24 bit card so I could use Pro Tools Free, because I want the option of taking a multi track song into a pro as one file and have it come up as multi track studio (everyone uses Pro Tools here in NYC). If I use something other than Pro Tools I have to export each track as a wav and then put it back together on site.

So ok, lets assume I do not use Pro Tools. Will the 24 Bit technology work with the other recording software out there like Sonar and Cubase for PC etc?

And as for this Delta 44, I go through the two preamps on the mackie board to it. Does this have its own sound card?

What do people think about me gutting my old P3 600 with Win98, installing the 24 bit interface in it to use with Pro Tools Free and just using my XP PC for everything else? Any major issues with recording on a P3 600 using 24-bit technology?


Thanks a LOT!
 
Do some research, Audigy2's are not true 24bit cards.

ProTools only really likes its own hardware. If you want to use ProTools, use their hardware (002, MBox)
 
Hi TS...by the way, I'm a girl. :)

mr bzilian said...

'Looking at the specs for that thing, it looks like a waste of money for DAW purposes. There is no mention of ASIO or WDM driver support.'

hmmm, well, I don't really know as much about it as you do sir... do I really NEED those things? ...if I am just trying to get a demo quality recording?

What exactly do those things do? I'm just recording in my spare bedroom on my computer, it's not like I have a real studio. I just wanted something to connect my mic and my guitar to the computer. That's it, I'll have like 4 tracks at the most. The Powerwave will serve that purpose won't it? Once I have a fair quality recording on the computer, all I want is to be able to play with the effects on it a little in Cool Edit Pro and then burn it to a CD which I can sell for a few bucks at my coffeeshop gigs.

Thanks.

Enci
www.encismusic.com
 
Either ASIO or WDM drivers are a must to obtain low latencies. A low latency basically means that the time between the note being played and the note being captured on hard disk is low enough to not be noticed (roughly <10 milliseconds).
When you're multitracking, a low latency is crucial.
 
Enci
that Powerwave box will be enough to get you started. Some people have problems with usb recording, so those units are not that popular. But for $100
you can't complain.

Later on you might want to improve the quality of you demos, or record more than 1 track at a time. When that time comes you should consider getting a pci or firewire sound card instead of usb.

Until then, have fun
 
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