I Need an External Interface without the Bells & Whistles!

J

Johnny Don't!

New member
Gents, I need some input/advice here. I need a solid external interface for my PC-based (Win7) home studio, but I don't need all the extras that 99% of them are loaded with these days. Here's some details:

I'm just about finished refurbishing/recapping a 27-year-old Tascam 320B, which I plan to use as a preamp section (more on this below) as well as a summing board for mixes. So I need an external interface that doesn't have preamps. I also do not require any XLR ins or outs. Basically, I just want a rack-mount unit (1 or 2 spaces) that has a shit-ton of TRS ins & outs on the back.

I want it to be external because I'm currently using an M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCIe card for my ins & outs, and unfortunately, because it's in-the-box, it picks up electronic noise from the other components in the computer. It's not horrible but it's definitely undesirable.

In regards to the Tascam console, I'm wondering if any of you know of anyone who makes preamp upgrades for old boards like this. It has 20 channels, and I'd like to put higher-quality preamps in at least 8 channels, if not 10. They don't have to be anything crazy like Neves or even Neve copies, but just better (and different) from the stock preamps in the board, such that I'll have tonal options in that part of my signal chains. (Maybe I should post this question in another area of the forum?)

Any help any of you studio wizards can offer would be deeply appreciated. Thanks in advance, gents!
 
The sad fact is that there are no inexpensive units that do this. Trust me, I would love something like this if it were affordable.

I only assume you are looking for a budget interface that does this because of your 'bells and whistles' comment. Sadly, that is what sells. To get what you are looking for, you will be looking into higher end gear. If you find something under $1000, let me know. :)
 
Ummmm....I'm not necessarily looking for a "budget" buy. I mean, I don't want to spend $1K or $2K but if that's all there is, I guess I don't have a choice.

I'm sorta anal retentive and having an interface in my rack with two big XLR ins on the front that will just go unused will drive me effin' crazy. They'll be an eyesore and they'd just be taking up space on the front of a unit where a function I'd actually use could be placed. Ya know?

So have you any suggestions with this new info? And thanks much for the reply.
 
Johnny Don't! said:
Ummmm....I'm not necessarily looking for a "budget" buy. I mean, I don't want to spend $1K or $2K but if that's all there is, I guess I don't have a choice.

I'm sorta anal retentive and having an interface in my rack with two big XLR ins on the front that will just go unused will drive me effin' crazy. They'll be an eyesore and they'd just be taking up space on the front of a unit where a function I'd actually use could be placed. Ya know?

So have you any suggestions with this new info? And thanks much for the reply.
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Unfortunately, under $1000 is kind of a "budget buy." I'd also suggest trying to get over your hatred of superfluous functionality - that hatred could wind up being expensive, because it's typically the higher end mfg's who don't feel compelled to cram a billion features into their products.

But to answer your question, MOTU and RME both make products that'll do what you want. I and a lot of other people I've known have had trouble with MOTU's drivers, but other people love them, so make of that what you will. You could also keep an eye on ebay for a used Lynx Aurora 8 w/ a USB card. A 2nd hand unit will probably be in the $1000-1500 range. An Aurora uses db-25 multipin connectors for its analog i/o instead of 1/4", so you'd need the appropriate snakes, but those are easy to get and the ones Lynx sells are actually relatively inexpensive.
 
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