Preamp & Interface: Stand-alone or combo?

Eleanor Fudd

Eleanor Fudd

Member
I read somewhere that "an entry level interface and an entry level preamp are both going to be better than an entry level interface which includes preamps."
:confused:
Is that true, even if the price is the same?

For example, I am looking at the
M-AUDIO - Audiophile 192 - High-Definition 4-In/4-Out Audio Card with Digital I/O and MIDI
combined with the
M-Audio DMP3 preamp and out box

Both are very popular in their price range.

However, I also like the specs and reviews of the
Saffire PRO 14 Audio Interfaces 8 IN / 6 OUT FIREWIRE AUDIO INTERFACE FEATURING TWO FOCUSRITE MIC PREAMPS

which would require a Firewire card, which would make the price roughly equal to the above combo.

My main question is: are the Saffire's preamps likely to be equal to or close to the quality of the DMP3's preamps?

If you wish to remark on any other aspects of the above units, please do. [I will be recording by myself for the time being, so the number of inputs is not a major consideration now.]

Thank you.
 
I am interested in this answer as well. I had a stand alone min-pre that did a good job, but when I purchased a used mbox 1, I noticed the focusrite preamp was better than the stand-alone.

I want to add question.


Does anyone know if using both a stand-alone pre-amp and the built-in pre-amp at the same time....would it make any sense???
 
idroplyrics said:
I am interested in this answer as well. I had a stand alone min-pre that did a good job, but when I purchased a used mbox 1, I noticed the focusrite preamp was better than the stand-alone.

I want to add question.


Does anyone know if using both a stand-alone pre-amp and the built-in pre-amp at the same time....would it make any sense???
Click to expand...

Well! That's interesting, but two questions come to mind:
1) What was the standalone preamp?
2) Do you mean that the Mbox had a Focusrite preamp?
 
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