Yeah, I have never personally used N Tracks but been on this board for years now, even though I have been away for a while and I heard good stuff about it years ago from this board and people still are talking good about it. So if it works for you go with it.
What software are you using, as this seems it is either a latency issue in the software itself which could "potentially" be fixed with a few clicks of the mouse, or it could just be the soundcard and I have heard nothing but bad things about using a soundblaster for recording.
Firewire is "suppossed" to be faster than usb. And for you to be getting a usb error you might want to try tweaking your settings in protools as far as your cpu usage and your samples. Or you could be trying to run to many things at once. What is the specs on your computer and are you running...
I think now they make them easier to but in most cases it's best to get a external drive that way if you want to just grab and go you can, but really it's just whatever is best for you. I just prefer external drives
True, but also look how long the 001 has been in service, and not only that as of right now I still have a mbox 1 that I use at home and I'm upgrading still and I'm at 7.4, I think they might keep those around for a while but you never know.
That was gonna be my next question, what are you comparing your mixes to? Because if it's commercial cd's or products that have been mastered it is going to be lower.
I replied to one of your other posts but if you want to add an outboard compressor which normally has eq built into it as well, you can run your xlr cable from your mic to the compressor, then use the out on the compressor whether it be xlr or 1/4" and go into your xlr or 1/4" in on your...
Run your mic into an outboard compressor, then you can run xlr out of the compressor to the xlr in, if your compressor doesn't have xlr out you might have to use a 1/4" out to 1/4" in. I have to do that when I use one of my compressors, but I much prefer the xlr out to xlr in just makes me feel...
Hard to make it sound original but you might want to try adding eq's to the vocal. Even if the beat hasn't been mastered sometimes in the situations I've been in an artist will get a beat which doesn't "fit" their vocal tone so you have to eq their vocal to "fit in" with the instramental.