first true interface!

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esaglik

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hello there, new to the forums so go easy on me ;)

Im torn between two interfaces right now to get started, at the moment id been recording on a behringer xenyx 802 mixer and an numark stereo IO, the quality (put simply) is trash. ive got about £260 to play with and im looking for a four channel in multi track recorder. id looked at the m audio fastrack c600 and the akai EIE Pro costing, 260 and 200 pounds respectively. is there a better unit for this price point? would i see much increase for the extra 60 pounds?
 
I went through a similar thing not that long ago, but wasn't that fussed about how many preamps the card's had as i have some external ones was was just looking at input found, but did have a serious look at the EIE and fast track ultra. i ended up with a presonus firestudio mobile (mainly because it has 8 in's; 2 pre's and 6 lines) but if i didn't already have the external pres the fast track ultra would've been my choice

The Akai EIE looks pretty awesome for what you get (4 in's, 4 out's, 4 inserts, and an extra 3 usb sockets for your computer) but i've not seen any real reviews for it as it's only been out 7 months.

I've never seen the maudio c600 (and even after googling it just then don't recognise it) but it's very similar in features to the fast track ultra just with the added controls and only 4 in's rather than 6 (the fast track ultra is 4 pre's, 6 lines of which 1 to 4 are swapped between the pre's and lines, and inserts on input 1 and 2)

in terms of sound quality, i don't thing they'll be a much of a difference, if any, but the maudio would be my choice as the two headphones and super useful, the DSP reverb for headphone mixes is genius imo (i sometimes do it through my DAW and it's just a pain, and when i do it with outboard reverbs at work it's a bit of a faff, so having it at your fingertips is great!) and the simple transport control buttons may really help your workflow. for the price vs quality + features + number of inputs the c600 seems the best bet imo
 
just read a couple of posts on the m audio forums which make the c600 come across like a very cheaply made product........ that worries me at £270...............
 
esaglik said:
just read a couple of posts on the m audio forums which make the c600 come across like a very cheaply made product........ that worries me at £270...............
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Then go for the Fast track Ultra :)
 
Im torn between the Presonus 44 VSL, The Akai EIE Pro and that fastrack ultra.
 
esaglik said:
Im torn between the Presonus 44 VSL, The Akai EIE Pro and that fastrack ultra.
Click to expand...

So was i until someone pointed out the firestudio mobile (which, as i said was great for me as i had external pres). i looked for about 6 months and was this close to picking up the fast track ultra.

the price off all three you've mentioned are soooo close and the quality difference is negligible so it comes down to what features you need/would use the most.

As i said, the EIE peaked my interest because of the 4 inserts and 4 outs (plus i'm a sucker for VU meters) and it looks super rugged which would be great if you're using it for portable recording. plus, the 3 USB hub built in is great if you use a lot of external midi/usb peripherals.

The maudio is what i was gonna go for because of the 6 in's and 6 outs and, to me, the two headphones would've been a god send as i do a of mobile track where i use headphones to monitor and the musician uses the headphones for play back so rather than having to use an external headphone amp i could've just used headphones straight out of the box. plus, as i said, the DSP reverb for headphone mixes is very useful imo.

I only saw the presonus audiobox 44vsl after getting the firestudio mobile and my friend got the Studiolive desk. in terms of in's and out's it's technically got the least out of the three and doesn't have any digital in's (like spdif or optical) which may or may not be a concern but the big selling point is the Studiolive dsp effects (not jet reverb, but also compression and EQ) and the way it's been setup to fully integrate with presonus' Studio One DAW.

What kind of stuff do you intended to record? what DAW do you/would you use? would you use it for mobile recording or just setup in one space?
 
i saw the US1800 and was tempted by the US-800 after someone suggested it to me. i didn't go for US-800 purely because it only had 2 outputs on RCA and the only thing that put me off the US1800 was the that it was full rack size and i wanted something i could sling in a rucksack if needed.

Saying that, i also thought the US1800 cost much more but after looking again it's £270 ish and the shear number of in's and out's makes it awesome on paper. How do you find it?
 
Justsomeguy said:
i saw the US1800 and was tempted by the US-800 after someone suggested it to me. i didn't go for US-800 purely because it only had 2 outputs on RCA and the only thing that put me off the US1800 was the that it was full rack size and i wanted something i could sling in a rucksack if needed.

Saying that, i also thought the US1800 cost much more but after looking again it's £270 ish and the shear number of in's and out's makes it awesome on paper. How do you find it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've got the 800 as well. As a sort of "mobile" solution.

I really like the 1800. It's a cool piece of gear, and certainly the best deal in the price range (though it can be overkill for some people).
The only issue I had run into in the past is that I can some times hear through my monitors even when the monitor knob is turned all the way off. I suspect that's because I bought the refurbished unit :(
No biggy though. I can only hear it with my ear on the speakers. If I turn the speakers off that takes care of it :D

The preamps are surprisingly good too. Much better than my ART Tube MP, close to my DMP3, but not as good as my Presonus Studio Channel. That said, I prefer to run everything I plan on post processing through them because they're really clear.
The line ins on the back are a big plus too. I can run direct from my external stuff.

I plan on upping to a UA Apollo Duo at some point, but the 1800 and 800 will both remain. Since it's so reliable, I'll probably sit the 1800 into a mobile rack with my other gear to record live with.
 
Cool, and for the price and features i'd rather the tascam over something like the Motu 8 pre (it still annoys me that the 8 pre only has 2 outs!)

is the DMP3 just an updated AudioBuddy or is it different pre's as well?

the presonus XMAX preamps on the audiobox/studio live/firestudio mobile are pretty awesome in the price range, but did a shootout a while back which also included the Maudio Aduiobuddy and was surprised at how well the audio buddy came out!
 
I believe the Audio Buddy and DMP3 are different units all together.

I actually read somewhere that the DMP3 has been discontinued :confused:
Not sure why. It seemed to always be the one cheap preamp that people would recommend.
Someone here told me it's "the only one not worthy of being thrown in a tire fire...that's saying a LOT."
 
Just had a look on the Maudio site and the DMP3 is still very much there with a price attached so don't panic yet!

lol, tbf i should've properly read the website before jumping to conclusions about the DMP3 and the Audiobuddy, but in my defence, i have seen audio companies do the whole "big brother" and "little brother" approach where the "better" one is just the cheap one with some extra features (such as pads/phase invert/proper meters etc)..... plus i'm also pretty heavily sedated so reading/thinking are becoming more than slightly difficult (but i'd choose that over screaming agony every day.... and I do!)

I fear I/We may have walked off the beaten path...........

to the OP;

if you need ultra portability, go for the fast track ultra. if you don't, go for the Tascam US1800

With both of those, it may also be worth looking at investing in some nice external preamps later down the line seeing as both have plenty of line in's so you wouldn't run the risk of double amping stuff, although there is certainly no rush to do so
 
Justsomeguy said:
So was i until someone pointed out the firestudio mobile (which, as i said was great for me as i had external pres). i looked for about 6 months and was this close to picking up the fast track ultra.

the price off all three you've mentioned are soooo close and the quality difference is negligible so it comes down to what features you need/would use the most.

As i said, the EIE peaked my interest because of the 4 inserts and 4 outs (plus i'm a sucker for VU meters) and it looks super rugged which would be great if you're using it for portable recording. plus, the 3 USB hub built in is great if you use a lot of external midi/usb peripherals.

The maudio is what i was gonna go for because of the 6 in's and 6 outs and, to me, the two headphones would've been a god send as i do a of mobile track where i use headphones to monitor and the musician uses the headphones for play back so rather than having to use an external headphone amp i could've just used headphones straight out of the box. plus, as i said, the DSP reverb for headphone mixes is very useful imo.

I only saw the presonus audiobox 44vsl after getting the firestudio mobile and my friend got the Studiolive desk. in terms of in's and out's it's technically got the least out of the three and doesn't have any digital in's (like spdif or optical) which may or may not be a concern but the big selling point is the Studiolive dsp effects (not jet reverb, but also compression and EQ) and the way it's been setup to fully integrate with presonus' Studio One DAW.

What kind of stuff do you intended to record? what DAW do you/would you use? would you use it for mobile recording or just setup in one space?
Click to expand...


Main use will be acoustic guitar and a vocal mic at the same time and occasionally that but with one friend playing electric and another on bass all at the same time, monitoring isn't an issue for that though. In terms of outs I don't even have a pair of monitor speakers. My daw would be studio one, looks so easy to use! Up till now I've used cubase, badly!

So yeah what do you think? The audiobox seems to be in the lead?
 
esaglik said:
Main use will be acoustic guitar and a vocal mic at the same time and occasionally that but with one friend playing electric and another on bass all at the same time, monitoring isn't an issue for that though. In terms of outs I don't even have a pair of monitor speakers. My daw would be studio one, looks so easy to use! Up till now I've used cubase, badly!

So yeah what do you think? The audiobox seems to be in the lead?
Click to expand...

I say this then; say you record your parts and then want to get your friend to record some bass/guitar over it. you give them a set of headphones so they can play along to the track, but without monitor speakers or your own pair of headphones how are you going to listen to what they're recording to check it sounds ok? THIS is the main reason i wanted either two headphone outs of at least 1 headphone and main outs with a headphone amp.

I will also say this; i love my presonus interface, i really like my friends Studiolive, and Kidkage seems very happy with his presonus studio channel. Does this make it my first choice in general? probably not. Is it a very good choice for what you need? very much so :) it's a very simple, very quick to learn/use layout, and the "universal control" software that comes with it to route stuff to headphones/outputs etc is very easy to use, and if you're using Studio One you can do most of, it not all of, this straight from the DAW without having to use the universal control software

I hate being one of those guys who says "whatever gear i own is the best for everyone else, i must tell everyone as they may be missing out" and in my life have played with/researched a lot of stuff when i've been buying gear so try to be as objective as i can be when making suggestions but i don't think you'll regret buying the Audiobox :)

I've not used studio one properly yet as i use Logic 9, but seeing as it came with the card it seemed rude not to try it and even for a quick play it seems pretty comprehensive, and with VSL on the audiobox the integration is awesome!
 
Justsomeguy said:
I say this then; say you record your parts and then want to get your friend to record some bass/guitar over it. you give them a set of headphones so they can play along to the track, but without monitor speakers or your own pair of headphones how are you going to listen to what they're recording to check it sounds ok? THIS is the main reason i wanted either two headphone outs of at least 1 headphone and main outs with a headphone amp.

I will also say this; i love my presonus interface, i really like my friends Studiolive, and Kidkage seems very happy with his presonus studio channel. Does this make it my first choice in general? probably not. Is it a very good choice for what you need? very much so :) it's a very simple, very quick to learn/use layout, and the "universal control" software that comes with it to route stuff to headphones/outputs etc is very easy to use, and if you're using Studio One you can do most of, it not all of, this straight from the DAW without having to use the universal control software

I hate being one of those guys who says "whatever gear i own is the best for everyone else, i must tell everyone as they may be missing out" and in my life have played with/researched a lot of stuff when i've been buying gear so try to be as objective as i can be when making suggestions but i don't think you'll regret buying the Audiobox :)

I've not used studio one properly yet as i use Logic 9, but seeing as it came with the card it seemed rude not to try it and even for a quick play it seems pretty comprehensive, and with VSL on the audiobox the integration is awesome!
Click to expand...


Cheers for all your help mate, think I'm going to go with the 44 then. As for double jack I'm not so sure, couldn't I just get a hq duplicator and run the headphone with a jack cable, then have two outs?
 
esaglik said:
Cheers for all your help mate, think I'm going to go with the 44 then. As for double jack I'm not so sure, couldn't I just get a hq duplicator and run the headphone with a jack cable, then have two outs?
Click to expand...

You're welcome man, that's what we're here for.

you can but it means you both have to listen to exactly the same mix. that may not be a problem but it's always nice to have two separate mixes so that the guy playing can hear what they want and you as the engineer can hear what you want.

As i said, i went down the Firestudio mobile route which, like the 44vsl, only has one headphone and pair of main outs. and, like yourself, a lot of what i record at home is with one other person. so that we can have different mixes in headphones, i do this:

the musician gets the mix from the headphone feed set to output 3-4 in the universal control software and then in my DAW i set an aux bus for output 3-4 so that i can adjust the levels of all the separate tracks to their headphones without having to adjust the faders in my daw (so if i've already got a basic mix i don't need to mess it)

i then bought a cheap little headphone amp (Fiio e5, about £12 and a Y cable; 2 mono jacks to 1 stereo mini jack, costs about £15 but there are cheaper ones/bodges to make it work) and plug that in to the main outputs of the sound card and leave this routed as output 1-2. that way, i can hear my unaltered mix from my DAW and using universal control i can adjust how much i hear of the other musician without effecting their levels
 
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