whats the ideal soundcard or interface for solo artist to buy?

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Hi, Im pretty new to computer recording but have a couple of months experience with a crappy laptop writing some tracks but dont know the in and outs.
Im buying a new pc and want a quality AI or soundcard for less than £200(pounds UK),I dont do midi but use multiple instruments and a drum machine and a dynamic mic,and I only intend to record one track or two at a time.

Anyone got suggestions on what would be the ideal (budget/quality) AI/soundcard to buy?
 
Presonus Inspire is a reasonable budget interface. Comes with a couple of preamps, firewire, s/w bundle. It will record up to 4 tracks at once. Everything you need to get going in one package
 
I'm not sure what they go for in the UK, but the Presonus FireBox would be another to consider. Small, compact, sounds good, and is easy to use.
 
The scuttlebutt on the satellite is they are on their way out. Ive heard of some problems with bleed on some of the channels, i think it has something to do with the connector for the remote unit being crap. Personally Im suspicious anytime something drops way down in price suddenly, i think they went from 400 to 200....I think id rather invest 200 into a presonus piece.
 
yeah, thats where i saw the satellite, it does look like a grest piece but the problems ive heard that come with it have put me off,how bout the presonus inspire? or is the firebox good enough to justify another extra 80 pounds?
 
The Firebox has 4 inputs and 6 outputs analog and 2 i/o spdif and it has something that the Inspire doesn't have --- midi.

That to me is worth 80 pounds.


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A lot of modern midi devices, controllers & the like, carry the midi data across a usb connection, so the old 5-pin midi connection isn't as necessary on a soundcard as it used to be
 
Bulls Hit said:
A lot of modern midi devices, controllers & the like, carry the midi data across a usb connection, so the old 5-pin midi connection isn't as necessary on a soundcard as it used to be
Click to expand...

Right.

The Inspire has no midi at all, not to mention unbalanced RCA jacks for stereo outputs. My beloved Firebox is built strong and tough with balanced lines in and six balanced outputs.


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Satellite is horrible design. I used mine for two days before I gave up. latency issues and data clipping are infuriating. Want to buy mine? lol. But yes the ONYX pre's are def grea if you get the real mixing consoles.
 
I'd also recommend the Firebox, i'm also a solo recorder and it produces a high quality sound and has been 100% reliable for me for nearly two years now, and I believe can be found easily for under £200 these days:cool:
 
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