full band live recording-which interface?

steveyankou

New member
I'm considering buying protools M powered 7 for my home computer. My band rehearses in the basement and I want to be able to make live recordings down there, (we're talking at least 11 microphones). I understand that I need an M-Audio hardware interface. I'm trying to figure out which one I need but I can't seem to find one with 16 simultaneous analog inputs. There are some that claim to have like 32 inputs and there are 2 XLR jacks and then like 4 stupid midi inputs that each represent 8 midi channels or something. I don't want to put any mics through a mixer that isn't on the computer. I want to hit record, have the band play a song, and find a track for every microphone in the room. I'm just looking for an interface that can do this for as cheap as possible. I don't care about effects or virtual tracks or anything, just 16 xlr inputs and a connection to my computer. please help!
 
you aren't simply asking for 16 analog inputs...if you got something that claimed that, it more than likely would be line level inputs...

all of the microphones would need preamps, which is generally where a mixer would come in to the picture...

i dont know any interfaces that offer 16 mic inputs.
 
Another aspect to consider if you do get gear that is capable of that many live channels (I think 3 octane pre's through a pro fire lightbridge may achieve this) is the your computer's I/O capability. That's a lot of data being written and you will need a fairly big pipe.
 
Although I cant knock the perfomance of Protools itself (as it seems to be the big dawg of the industry), that whole proprietary hardware thing just turns me off. Based on the simplicity and economics of your needs I'd seriously consider a different multitrack program alltogether (one that will work with nearly any hardware), then I'd consider replacing your current mixer with one of these:

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--PHOH24FWMKII (or something similiar)

Thats right, $750 for 16 independant XLR tracks to both your PC and your PA at the same time without the need to patch a single thing. (and you can sell off your old mixer to boot!)

Pair that up with any freely dowloadable multitrack program like Audacity or Reaper and you would have saved substancially over any Protools set up.

Good luck


*
 
Last edited:
Back
Top