Willard Potter
New member
Hi. I'm sure this is going to be one of those oft asked questions, but I have to be the one to ask. I've done a lot of searching all over the place and have found plenty to inform me of what I should be looking out for as far as interfaces go, but i'm really having trouble finding something that suits my needs within my budget and I don't want to get the wrong thing and be stuck with it. Plus, anything I found is 3+ years old. The products mentioned are either discontinued or I just felt there may be something better in this amount of time.
I'm trying to work in a $200~ price range. I don't mind going higher if it's worth it, but that's where i'm trying to keep close to.
Up till now, it's been about 3 years, I've been using a Line 6 UX1 and Pod Farm 2.5 into Reaper with some VST drum kits that work well enough. I was originally just using it for guitar input since I had no mics at the time. I got myself an SM57 before I understood the whole dynamic and condenser mic scenario. I'm fairly certain it's not 100% the UX1, but this certainly seems to not be a mic for vocals. It just sounded flat and hollow. On top of that, I found out that the XLR input on my UX1 wasn't working properly. I'm not sure if it is just a common condition and attributed to the cheapness of the interface or if it was just my unit, but there was already an audible hissing without a cable even being connected to it. I had already had it for over a year before I tried to use the XLR input, so I was SOL on warranty.
So... that's what I've been using. I'm sure many here could easily see why i'm looking to move forward. First, i'll explain what I plan, or at least hope, to be able to do. I'm trying to upgrade with a bit of dual purpose. First, I just hope to be able to produce better quality recordings(mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals, I use software instruments for most other things). Second, I'm trying to get somewhat of a podcast together to help promote local artists and whatnot.. I'm thinking that this can pretty much work hand in hand.
I would think that I would only really need 2 XLR inputs for most of my personal recording situations, but for the podcast, I would think i'd need more. I'm leaning toward 4 minimum. I almost bought an Alesis MultiMix 8 USB... after some digging, I found that it mixes everything down to a single mono channel, and that seems pretty useless. Then there was the USB 2.0 version of it, but some places say it's discontinued and others are still selling it, and i've known Musicians Friend and Guitar Center to sell products way past being discontinued and not sell new stuff for almost a year after it's on the market, so my experience in finding newer stuff on their sites isn't exactly trusting.
On the music side, I currently have a Roland GR-55 that should really just be able to plug into a 1/4" jack on almost anything, I would think if I wanted to run through something else, but it has it's own USB out for audio, which I use to record electric guitar/bass these days. I just ordered an MXL 990 with hopes that it'll be better for vocals and be good for the podcast.
Now that i'd rambled on and bored you all to death.. if you're still reading this, are there any recommendations of something I can use as an interface for this? The $200~ budget was more just for the interface, but for the entire setup. I plan to buy more mics as I can. As I said before, I'd be willing to spend more if it seems worth the extra money.
Edit: After some more digging(and, funny enough, one of the ads on this site), I'm liking the look of the PreSonus AudioBox 44VSL. Has anyone had any experience with this product? I saw a comment mentioning that they've had a better experience with the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, but I kinda like what I hear/see with PreSonus. Should I go with the 44VSL, knowing that it's kind of what I think to be a minimum or save for the 1818VSL so I can expand later?
I'm trying to work in a $200~ price range. I don't mind going higher if it's worth it, but that's where i'm trying to keep close to.
Up till now, it's been about 3 years, I've been using a Line 6 UX1 and Pod Farm 2.5 into Reaper with some VST drum kits that work well enough. I was originally just using it for guitar input since I had no mics at the time. I got myself an SM57 before I understood the whole dynamic and condenser mic scenario. I'm fairly certain it's not 100% the UX1, but this certainly seems to not be a mic for vocals. It just sounded flat and hollow. On top of that, I found out that the XLR input on my UX1 wasn't working properly. I'm not sure if it is just a common condition and attributed to the cheapness of the interface or if it was just my unit, but there was already an audible hissing without a cable even being connected to it. I had already had it for over a year before I tried to use the XLR input, so I was SOL on warranty.
So... that's what I've been using. I'm sure many here could easily see why i'm looking to move forward. First, i'll explain what I plan, or at least hope, to be able to do. I'm trying to upgrade with a bit of dual purpose. First, I just hope to be able to produce better quality recordings(mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals, I use software instruments for most other things). Second, I'm trying to get somewhat of a podcast together to help promote local artists and whatnot.. I'm thinking that this can pretty much work hand in hand.
I would think that I would only really need 2 XLR inputs for most of my personal recording situations, but for the podcast, I would think i'd need more. I'm leaning toward 4 minimum. I almost bought an Alesis MultiMix 8 USB... after some digging, I found that it mixes everything down to a single mono channel, and that seems pretty useless. Then there was the USB 2.0 version of it, but some places say it's discontinued and others are still selling it, and i've known Musicians Friend and Guitar Center to sell products way past being discontinued and not sell new stuff for almost a year after it's on the market, so my experience in finding newer stuff on their sites isn't exactly trusting.
On the music side, I currently have a Roland GR-55 that should really just be able to plug into a 1/4" jack on almost anything, I would think if I wanted to run through something else, but it has it's own USB out for audio, which I use to record electric guitar/bass these days. I just ordered an MXL 990 with hopes that it'll be better for vocals and be good for the podcast.
Now that i'd rambled on and bored you all to death.. if you're still reading this, are there any recommendations of something I can use as an interface for this? The $200~ budget was more just for the interface, but for the entire setup. I plan to buy more mics as I can. As I said before, I'd be willing to spend more if it seems worth the extra money.
Edit: After some more digging(and, funny enough, one of the ads on this site), I'm liking the look of the PreSonus AudioBox 44VSL. Has anyone had any experience with this product? I saw a comment mentioning that they've had a better experience with the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, but I kinda like what I hear/see with PreSonus. Should I go with the 44VSL, knowing that it's kind of what I think to be a minimum or save for the 1818VSL so I can expand later?
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