interface input question about light piping

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Nathan1984

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I am looking at a few different interfaces. I am under the impression that you can hook up more than one interface? Ex. if you had say tascam us-600 can I hook up another us-600? Or do you have to use a pre-amp? such as like a art tube opto. And how do I read the whole input/outputs to a interface? Like if it says 6 in/ 4 outs, does that mean that it will except 6 different sources, such as xlr, trs, s/pdif? I assume that the outs are for headphones, monitors, s/pdif? I think I am on the right track, just one of those little things that I would like some advice before I just into anything.
 
There is only one interface that I know of that you can daisy chain and I think that is presonus? Most interfaces have to be run one at a time. That doesn't really affect pre-amps which has nothing to do with it - the pre-amp plugs into the interface and many interfaces already have pre-amps.

The driver will give you all the inputs available in your DAW which you then assign to tracks.
 
I was under the impression that you could buy a pre-amp, say if you have a focusrite saffire pro 24, you can get the octopre or whatever it is called and light pipe it to your interface.
 
arcadeko said:
There is only one interface that I know of that you can daisy chain and I think that is presonus? Most interfaces have to be run one at a time. That doesn't really affect pre-amps which has nothing to do with it - the pre-amp plugs into the interface and many interfaces already have pre-amps.

The driver will give you all the inputs available in your DAW which you then assign to tracks.
Click to expand...

I think you mis-understood me, or I phrased it wrong. I am "broke" lol, I am looking at getting like a 4 channel interface, but would like to be able to expand my xlr count some day. I was just wanting to know if I could daisy chain interfaces, or if what I needed was a pre. I wanted to make sure that I was getting this correctly, that you CAN hook up say an eight channel pre-amp to a four channel interface to get 12 xlr pre's more or less.
 
Nathan1984 said:
I was under the impression that you could buy a pre-amp, say if you have a focusrite saffire pro 24, you can get the octopre or whatever it is called and light pipe it to your interface.
Click to expand...

IDK about that - all I am saying is that this:

I am under the impression that you can hook up more than one interface? Ex. if you had say tascam us-600 can I hook up another us-600? Or do you have to use a pre-amp? such as like a art tube opto.
Click to expand...

The tascam and the saffire pro are interfaces that convert analog signals to digital and route them into your computer - a preamp comes into the signal chain before the interface (sometimes on the actual hardware interface like with a mackie onyx board or alesis multimix) - so having to use a preamp has nothing to do with using one or more interfaces. It just doesn't come into play in the equation of interface use. They are two different animals.

As far as light pipe I have never used it so I can't answer anything about that. The ctopre could be used in the signal chain prior to the saffire pro

mic> octo > saffire > PC -
 
But if you have a saffire pro 24, i think it is only a 2 or 4 channel, what if I have a 8 channel pre? I mean if I hook that up to the pro 24, do I just lose the 6 or 4 xlr's on it? I guess I am confused on what a mic pre is for. I thought they were for adding more pre's to your interface.
 
Nathan1984 said:
But if you have a saffire pro 24, i think it is only a 2 or 4 channel, what if I have a 8 channel pre? I mean if I hook that up to the pro 24, do I just lose the 6 or 4 xlr's on it? I guess I am confused on what a mic pre is for. I thought they were for adding more pre's to your interface.
Click to expand...

A mic pre is only for amping the mic signal - it will not expand your interface. If you had a 8 channel preamp and a two channel interface you would only be able to record 2 sound sources. If you really need 8 preamps you need a larger interface. But most 8-16 channel interfaces come with preamps already so the octo amp is pointless.

People buy preamps to get better sound from the mic - like getting a tube amp to warm up vocals or whatever. Pre-amps are essential for most mics, so you have to have one to boost the mic signal - but as I said, most interfaces come with pre-amps built in - people buy additional ones if they don;t like the sound of the built in preamp.

If you haven't yet you should read this: https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...ltitrack-computer-interface-recording-323561/
 
Well shit, I guess I better get a 8 channel interface then. I was hoping that I could just start with a 2 channel and getting a pre, but it don't sound like that is gonna work.
 
Ok, I did some research. I was right, you can light pipe a mic pre to get more xlr connections. At least with focusrite saffire pro 24, maybe others. How this works, the pro 24 has an adat in, mic pre has adat out. They sync together giving you more channels. There is a video on youtube with a guy recording a full band with a saffire pro 24, light piped to a 8 channel pre.
 
what do you mean by "light pipe"? Just curious...don't think I've come across that term before.
 
OK - I guess the Octopre is built specifically to be an input expander for the saffire pro. Most interfaces do not work like that. It's good if you want to start with two channels and be able to add more later by adding the octo. Most multi-channel interfaces come with inputs built in for all the channels they handle. Focusrite decided to sell it as two parts, interesting.
 
arcadeko said:
OK - I guess the Octopre is built specifically to be an input expander for the saffire pro. Most interfaces do not work like that. It's good if you want to start with two channels and be able to add more later by adding the octo. Most multi-channel interfaces come with inputs built in for all the channels they handle. Focusrite decided to sell it as two parts, interesting.
Click to expand...


Ahhh that's strange...but interesting. Kinda neat, I guess.
 
That Saffire is a 16in/8out interface. So yes, you can do that regarding lightpipe. But you were asking about running an 8 channel preamp into a 4 input interface. So no, that you cannot do and have all the channels of the preamp.

When a manufacturer lists the number of in/out on their interface they are referring to the total number of audio channels available. The configuration of actual physical I/O varies between the units. Which is why you certainly need to make sure the actual physical connectors are what you need to do your work and interface with the rest of your hardware.
 
The Octopre will work with *any* interface that has lightpipe I/O. It will not expand the number of audio channels available on the interface, just the number of available hardware analog mic inputs. Make sense?

So if the interface is advertised as a 24 channel interface, it will still be a 24 channel interface after adding the Octopre. But now it will have 8 preamps that it didn't have before.

arcadeko said:
OK - I guess the Octopre is built specifically to be an input expander for the saffire pro. Most interfaces do not work like that. It's good if you want to start with two channels and be able to add more later by adding the octo. Most multi-channel interfaces come with inputs built in for all the channels they handle. Focusrite decided to sell it as two parts, interesting.
Click to expand...
 
This stuff definitely gets confusing for us noobs lol. Let me get this right, no name brands this time, so an interface with 2 xlrs, but has say 16 in/8 outs or something, if it has an adat in, and I have an 8 xlr pre with adat out, I can light pipe the two to get 8 additional xlr's via analog ins? I seen that art makes a pre that is an i/o expander as well, just wanted to see.
 
SonicAlbert said:
That Saffire is a 16in/8out interface. So yes, you can do that regarding lightpipe. But you were asking about running an 8 channel preamp into a 4 input interface. So no, that you cannot do and have all the channels of the preamp.

When a manufacturer lists the number of in/out on their interface they are referring to the total number of audio channels available. The configuration of actual physical I/O varies between the units. Which is why you certainly need to make sure the actual physical connectors are what you need to do your work and interface with the rest of your hardware.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I actually wasn't explaining myself properly, when I said 4 ins, I really meant pre's/xlr's. Noob man, I'm still a noob lol. Let me make sure I understand this, so if a interface is labeled as 16 ins, but it only has 4 xlr's, does that mean I can add 12 xlr's via a seperate pre. Or are they talking digitally, like routing in your daw?
 
If they say 16 channels, that means there are 16 distinct audio channels. These would be accessible via whatever configuration the hardware has on it. But often interfaces will have a different number of input and output channels. So it might be a 16/8 interface, meaning it has 16 input channels and 8 output channels. Then you have to read the specs carefully to understand on what kind of connectors those I/O are on.

For example, my Audiofire2 has 4 ins and 6 outs. That breaks down to 2 1/4" TRS inputs and a SPDIF digital input. The outputs are 2 1/4" TRS, SPDIF, and the stereo 1/8" headphone plug. Yes, most manufacturers count the headphone output as a a pair of analog outputs.

So you do need to make sure you think through exactly what the configuration is. If the unit has lightpipe I/O, that means it will accept those units like the Octopre that have eight preamps. I own a couple MOTU 2408 mkII interfaces which each have three banks of lightpipe I/O. I've connected several external converter boxes to that optical I/O. It's actually pretty handy and allows you to buy an interface now and expand the analog I/O later if you want to.
 
Right on, that is what I was hoping. I want to start small, till the situation arises that I need more i/o. That away if I wanna just lay down some guitar, I don't have to pull out a rack. I can just bust out a small interface, then if I need to record a full band, that's when I light pipe the pre to the interface. Very informative, thanks man.
 
The Saffire Pro 24 does look like a good unit for how you want to work. And I do agree with the idea of having a small interface to grab and go with. I use my Echo AudioFire2 for that, and then take my MOTU Traveler when I need something bigger. But really I end up using the AudioFire2 more.
 
Exactly, I don't wanna have to drag out more than I need. Especially if I only want to throw down a guitar riff or something.
 
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