Audio Interface Question

[evadbowl]

so....would a internal sound card be better and more stable than external interface? Too many opinions around. Makes decision making difficult! And sell the mixer, no, will not get much for it and I like the pre-amps. Good to have around.

 

[TeyshaBlue]

so....would a internal sound card be better and more stable than external interface? Too many opinions around. Makes decision making difficult! And sell the mixer, no, will not get much for it and I like the pre-amps. Good to have around.

No, it wouldn't be better. Don't let the stories of stability issues scare you.....the internal sound card might be more stable, but I've been using USB interfaces for the last 4 years and have yet to have a single issue with any of them. None whatsoever.

You will not have the routing flexiblity you need with an internal sound card, unless you've got one expressedly designed for recording.

 

[vijsolo]

BTW, I picked up the ZOOM R16....a 16x8 (16/44.1) or 16x2 (24/96) interface with 8 XLR + 1/4" combo inputs + a control surface for my DAW (Sonar 8.31). At $399, it seemed a bargain.

This price is extreemly attractive I must admit!

 

[vijsolo]

Why do you even want to multi-track a vocal group? The most common thing to do is just have them gather around a single microphone. The soloist steps closer to be heard louder, etc.

And what if they will want to pan the voices differently? Or if they would need different dynamic processing/EQ?

 

[Chibi Nappa]

And what if they will want to pan the voices differently?

Two mics in a stereo configuration. They stand where they want to be panned.

Or if they would need different dynamic processing/EQ?

If they know how to sing together, they don't. If they don't know how to sing the question becomes "why are they being recorded". I'll assume they know how to sing.


I guess the real question is: Is your goal to record a vocal performance or to insert yourself into the equation and make an impact on the final sound?

Both are valid.

If you want to make the best recording of what they sound like when they sing, have them stand around two mics in a stereo pair. No hardware upgrade needed.

If you want to become part of the sound and alter them, you need to multi-track. Hardware upgrade needed.

 

[vijsolo]

If you want to make the best recording of what they sound like when they sing, have them stand around two mics in a stereo pair. No hardware upgrade needed.

If you want to become part of the sound and alter them, you need to multi-track. Hardware upgrade needed.

Good summary!

 

[connelly73]

I would suggest the M-Audio Range of Interface cards if you are looking for something cheap but good. I have a Delta 44 which has 4 inputs. You would need four pre amps for each mic but you did say you had a mixer. If it has built in preamp on each channel the M-Audio range would work for less than a $100.

 

[suprstar]

My choice would be a USB interface. FireWire may be unstable and may not work with your PC due to the not reliable FireWire interface of computer. Lot's of cases may be found over the net.

No. USB taxes your CPU a LOT more. Add 12 tracks, a plugin or 2 on each track, maybe a VSTi or 2, etc. Then go try tracking a few whatevers, you're gonna run out of cpu MUCH faster with a USB interface. Even USB2.0's supposed 800Mbps vs. firewire's 400 (neither of which you'd max out anyway), firewire ALWAYS performs better than USB, in any application, any day of the week.

That's why there's 40x more firewire interfaces than USB. You get a USB interface if you have no firewire and can't add it to your PC for whatever reason..

The ONLY firewire problems I ever heard of were related to specific interfaces requiring a TI chipset or something, I don't remember the details. But I've never had a problem with any interface on any PC, and I've gone thru quite a few combinations.

 

[vijsolo]

The problem as I said is not with the FireWire interface of the Audio interface. Some computers don't work properly with their firewire interfaces, and this occures more often on PC than it happens with USB. Macs are quite ok with firewire.

I agree that FireWire is faster than USB (30% in general).

Any way the fellow was asking for recomendations. I tried to adwise a value for the money solution.