Need to expand inputs; Buy new interface OR a new Preamp?

chops13

New member
Hi,

I currently have a Cakewalk (Roland) UA-101, with (2) mic pre's and (8) 1/4" inputs. My understanding is it is capable 10in 10out. It also has adat/lightpipe/fiber in/out.

Of course, now I want to be able to record more than 2mic's at the same time so my dilema is do I buy a new interface all together like a Presonus Firestudio or do I buy a 8 channel preamp only and connect it to the existing UA-101 via the 1/4" inputs.

I was thinking it makes more sense to put my $500 into a preamp only and go for higher quality preamps, but I am wondering if I am asking for trouble running it 1/4" into the UA-101?

The other tidbit would be I don't necessarily need 8 more preamps. I need to be able to run 4 preamps simultaneously so I could hypothetically just get another 2 inputs in a preamp. However we might be having the conversation about more inputs again in the future.

Thoughts?

-vf
 
More information:

If someone else has this questions utilizing the UA-101; I will now help myself and you after much research. The Fiber in on the Cakewalk UA-101 (channel9/10) cannot be used as a lightpipe/ADAT input. While toslink/fiber and lightpipe/adat use the same connector the protocol they run on is different and the UA-101 does not accept the lightpipe/adat protocol.

There is no possible way to expand the amount of available inputs on the UA-101. You can however utilize additional MIC preamps off of another preamp by utilizing the the 1/4" inputs on the back of the UA-101. Connect those inputs to the 1/4" outputs on the other preamp.

My original questions still remains though.

Should I buy an 8channel preamp or buy a whole new interface?
 
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