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That's a little scary. A piece of consumer gear should be able to take much more serious abuse than that—particularly inside a case. Hopefully it's just something simple like a cable inside that wasn't plugged in completely and got knocked loose in the fall.

It's usually a combination of factors—a noisy preamp circuit in the interface coupled with a microphone whose output level is too low, coupled with having it too far from the instrument it is pointed at. What kind of mic are you using, and what are you recording with it?

The headphone jack on the box and/or the line outputs on the box, as opposed to the headphone jack on the laptop.

You shouldn't hear anything through the laptop's speakers. They aren't wired up to the audio interface. You should only get output through the outputs on the interface itself. Be aware that many audio interfaces have multiple outputs, e.g. one for headphones and one for line outputs. Be sure...

The case shouldn't matter unless you use the power supply with the case. As a general rule, companies that build cases are trying to build them based on cost, which means they're not going to be the quietest PSUs. Thus, you will probably be better off buying a bare bones case without a PSU and...

Definitely not all. There are some active ribbon mics that require phantom power. That said, for passive ribbons, you generally should avoid phantom power. It usually won't cause damage, but I wouldn't chance it.

You might also consider an 8Pre. Beyond that, yeah, that seems like a good plan.

You might also think about going with something radically different like a ribbon. Often, people who don't like an LDC find that a ribbon gives them what they are looking for, and they take EQ pretty well by comparison, so they're easier to shape if they aren't exactly right to begin with...

Mac laptops (well, all laptops, really) have a tight power budget, and thus are more strict than most desktops when it comes to requiring devices to follow the spec. You're only allowed to draw 100mA (10μF maximum capacitance) when the device first plugs in, and it is not allowed to draw more...

Maybe you're using the wrong desktops. My experience has been exactly the opposite. When laptop fans are running at full speed, you can hear them easily from across the room, and you're pretty much stuck with the fans that come with them. By contrast, desktop machines can be made whisper...

It's not proprietary. It's a mini-Displayport connector, which is a published industry standard for computer monitors.... It would have been a big mistake. By using a standard video connector, it is able to provide data service while simultaneously delivering audio and video. Compared to...

That's kind of hilarious, given that vendors are already designing Thunderbolt audio interfaces, and I'm not aware of any vendors working on USB 3.0 interfaces.... The main reason for TB is that it simplifies the electronics significantly. You basically have a TB to PCIe bridge chip and...

Why does this read like a spamvertisement? HP, I know Apple is cleaning your clock, but are you really getting that desperate to move a few units? :D

The audio hardware built into computers is pretty universally crap. Triply so for an ultra-high impedance source like a guitar pickup. Get yourself a decent audio interface with at least one instrument pre built-in and things will work a lot better. BTW, what's with digging up all the...

If I understand correctly, you can get a IF/FW-DM card for the Tascam (if it doesn't have it already). If you do this, it should to up to 16-in, 16-out (or various other combinations like 24-in, 8-out) via FireWire. The MOTU, however, cannot connect via FireWire. AudioWire and FireWire are...

I'd probably go with the Apogee. From what I've heard, they're pretty good about testing their hardware on the Mac, whereas Presonus continued to sell the FireBox for *years* after Apple tightened up their hardware standards in a way that broke non-compliant interfaces like the FireBox when...

As of a couple of weeks ago, Samsung and WD both have terabyte-sized 9.5mm-high (internal) laptop drives for about a hundred bucks a pop, and desktop hard drives are only about $75 for two terabytes. Why are you wasting your time messing around with a tiny 100 gigabyte external drive? At under...

There's a certain amount of noise inherent in any electronic circuit. This is referred to as the circuit's noise floor. When you add gain to a signal, you're bringing up not just the signal, but also the noise. The less you have to boost the signal to get it to a reasonable level, the quieter...

I would definitely consider a ribbon. I haven't done much vocal work lately, but when I did, I used to really like a Nady RSM-2 ribbon mic (long ribbon motor) modded with a Lundahl transformer for thickening up male vocals. YMMV, of course. Be sure to factor in the cost of clean...

Be careful when buying new 1TB drives. Only two models will fit in most laptops: the Samsung HN-M101MBB (the newest revision of the Spinpoint M8) and the Western Digital WD10JPVT (the newest version of the Scorpio Blue line). Previous models in both of those lines with remarkably similar names...