Sub £700 mixer/interface suggestions please?!

[Martallika666]

Hi guys! So I haven't posted here for a long time! Good to be back! I've ditched my career as an actor to focus on music full time! Hopefully going to uni this year to do a pg in Sound Engineering!

Anyway, I am spending the next few months upgrading my modest studio space. I'm currently using an Apogee Duet, and as great as it is for what I'm doing I want to prepare for the course by investing in a decent interface or mixer...

I like the look of the Mackie Onyx 1220i, or something similar.... Can anyone suggest something in a similar price range? Top of my range is £700...

Stupid question, my Duet acts as a sound card as well as an audio input, would this be the same case with a mixer like the onyx? Or am I better off investing in a interface like a Focusrite Liquid Saffire?

Any comments are welcome. I have much to learn!

M.

 

[Bobbsy]

The Onyx 1220i is a good unit if you need the facilities of a mixer. It'll feed all the individual channels plus some auxes, L/R masters etc. into your computer at the same time. There's not much else out there (at least in the mixer world) that gives you this much flexibility.

And, yes, to answer your last question, the 1220i replaces the need for a separate sound card. You can run your headphone monitors and monitor speakers off it.

Now the "but". The 1220i is a Firewire device so make sure your computer either has a firewire port or can be upgraded to include one. For the future, firewire is getting more and more difficult to find and this could become a pretty major issue at your next upgrade.

Firewire aside, the 1220i is a good'un.

 

[Martallika666]

Thanks Bobbsy! All te info I needed. I don't plan on changing my Mac for a while, it's a couple of years old and has a lot of life left in it! When the time comes to replace it I'll probably replace the mixer as well!

Thanks again!

 

[jonny deep]

Stupid question, my Duet acts as a sound card as well as an audio input, would this be the same case with a mixer like the onyx? Or am I better off investing in a interface like a Focusrite Liquid Saffire?

In order to better advise, it would be useful to know what you plan to do with your equipment. What will you plug in to record? How many instruments will you record at once? Do you really need a mixer - you could use a multiple input interface and mix completely in the box?