Best PT Interface

[letsgoduke]

Hey guys, just found this forum the other day and it's been infinitely helpful in getting my home studio set up. I'm looking to record my brother and I playing drums, guitar, bass, and vocals (almost definitely not at the same time). I've done some recording in Pro Tools at school, so I think that's what I'm going to go with. I have a MacBook Pro too, just FYI. Obviously that limits my choice of interface, but I don't think that'll be a problem for me.

Here's what I'm planning on buying:
-M-Audio ProFire 2626
-1 or 2 SM57s
-Studio Projects B1
-a pair of MXL 993s for overheads

I'm trying to get the most versatile mic setup I can for the money... seems like this is a decent assortment. My questions about this are:

-Is FireWire definitely the right choice? Seems like USB is less reliable, especially when recording multiple tracks (i.e. drums).
-I'm getting the B1 to use for kick and vocals... Is there a better mic for the price for doing these two tasks? Should I just use an SM57 for the kick, and get a different vocal condenser mic?
-Is there a better pair of overheads for a similar price?
-Should I reconsider the whole PT/M-Audio paradigm?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer... I've learned a lot in the last couple days, but there's so many specific details it's tough to assemble all the info I've read into an actual purchase list. Thanks!

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

Sounds like a great starter setup! I will say, speaking as a guy who owns and uses a Pro Tools rig, that going with Pro Tools as your DAW will seriously limit your options as far as upgrading hardware when the time comes. Every DAW on earth other than Pro Tools will allow you to use pretty much any interface you could ever possibly want. Pro Tools lets you use some m-audio units, and DigiDesign units: that's it. Pro Tools is a good option if you really need to be able to quickly go between Pro Tools-using studios with minimal effort, but honestly that's about it.

 

[letsgoduke]

If you don't mind me asking, if PT is so limiting, what made you go with it? And does it just limit the interfaces you can use, or the pre-amps as well?

 

[philbagg]

It doesn't limit your pre-amps. You can get any pre-amp with an s/pdif output and connect it to your mbox or 003 etc. Or (correct me if I'm wrong), take a line out of the pre and into the line in on the interface.

As far as the best interface for LE, it's the 003+ factory (worksurface or the rack). Pretty costly though. Has 8 analog inputs as far as I know. And if you want, you could buy an M-Audio octane (8 mic ins), take an optical output from that and into the optical in on the 003, giving you 16 inputs.

The 003 (regular) has 4 analog ins but I think you can still use the octane with it. I'm not entirely sure, I'm running an MBox 2 so I couldn't tell ya. Take a look into it.

 

[letsgoduke]

yeah we have an 003 at the studio at my school. i love it but i cant afford one (that's my motivation behind going with pro tools), but i wanna stick with the pro tools atmosphere. do you like the mbox?

 

[philbagg]

yeah we have an 003 at the studio at my school. i love it but i cant afford one (that's my motivation behind going with pro tools), but i wanna stick with the pro tools atmosphere. do you like the mbox?

Can't complain, it does what I need it to for the moment. I do very little recording these days and more MIDI compositions and mixing so there's no problems there.

You could also have a look into getting a 002 online (ebay or something). They're still really good interfaces and they go for fairly cheap.

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

Not your pre-amps, your interface. Like Phil said, pretty much any pre-amp can connect either through analog or through the SPDIF/ADAT inputs on a 002/003. But there are hundreds of interfaces out there that you'll never be able to use if you go through Pro Tools, as well as thousands of plug-ins that aren't made to work with Pro Tools. (VST's particularly).

None of this will stop you from making records, of course! I just with I'd stuck with Reaper or Sonar or something similar that lets you be in full control of your system. It's somewhat like the Mac/PC debate: there is no right or wrong answer, and both can kick ass. The mac just limits your options as far as computer hardware & upgrades.

 

[philbagg]

...as well as thousands of plug-ins that aren't made to work with Pro Tools. (VST's particularly)...

Not necessarily.

FXpansion made a VST to RTAS wrapper. It'll work on most plug-ins.


The way I see it is, if you've used Pro Tools before, read up on it, or are planning on going into studio work or transferring work over to other Pro Tools setups, go with Pro Tools.

If you're just doing your own stuff, I'd say go with Logic. Haven't used it much but I've heard numerous opinions on it (almost as good/just as good/better). It's more open to choices on interfaces, although it's mac only. It's cheaper I think. You can use the Pro Tools RTAS plugins in Logic (AFAIK), and it has a much wider range of plug-ins (especially the freebies). Oh, and the software instruments in it blow Pro Tools' soft insts out of the water!