Alternative interface question

[Abiku75]

I have a pc laptop with vista. I have Audacity, and now Sonar. I'm used to recording on my old digital 8-track, and then bouncing down to two tracks and then exporting to my pc and burning a CD.

Now, I would like to find a way to record directly into my computer. I have one of those Light Snake cables. Is it worth connecting the Light Snake from the headphone output to my computer via USB, or should I invest in a separate audio to USB interface. Is the Light Snake that much worse than the majority of 100-150 dollar audio interfaces, in terms of latency and sound quality if I am using the decent preamps and such on my 8-track?

 

[Abiku75]

also

I should add that there are line out red and white rca cable outputs on my 8-track. would those be better quality than the guitar cable type output of the headphones? which would be a better source to transfer to usb and into a DAW?

 

[Jeff_D]

I had to google the light snake thing. I've never heard of that. I doubt its on par with even an inexpensive interface (speculating).

What digital 8 track to you have now? what are you recording? how many tracks at once are you shooting for?

 

[Abiku75]

I'm using a BOSS BR-864 (it's about 6 years old). I play guitar, keyboard, and sing. But it's not necessary for me to do them all at once. I suppose I should probably get like a Tascam US-144 or something like that, but I'm not sure. Yeah, the Light Snake was like 35 bucks or something, so I assume it's quality is pretty negligible.

 

[Jeff_D]

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll get a whole lot of mileage out of that Boss unit for a computer recording rig. The good news is, I think (once you get the hang of it) you'll find a computer recording setup a LOT easier to use.

You could probably get away with a 2 channel interface. Four channels would be even better. Eight channels would probably be overkill unless you plan to record drums. The popular thing now is usb or firewire interfaces with everything all in one- preamps, converters, etc. A pci soundcard with a separate preamp(s) or mixer is still a totally viable option (if you go the mixer route, look for direct outs on mic channels or enough sub groups to correspond to the number if inputs on your soundcard).

I still don't have Vista and I doubt I will (I'll probably get Win7 eventually), and I've heard compaints about driver compatibility (especially with the firewire and usb interfaces), so make sure you do your research when you shop.

If you come across something you like, post it up and I'm sure you'll get feedback and opinions.

 

[vijsolo]

Hi there,

If your computer has a "big" Firewire port, I would recommend buying

M-Audio ProFire 610 Firewire Audio Interface

This device has got very good preamps and overall quality. M-audio is usially very fast with driver issues and support. 8 analog output channels allow to do outboard mixing. It also gives 192 kHz recording (i believe it is a future for home recording) and it is quite affordable - 400$


If you don't have a firewire at all or have the "small" one you could look at this USB one

Emu 0404 USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface Main good feature of this one is converters. If you say you have decent preamps already may be the right choice.

One more thing from the usb world that worths a look is

Zoom R16 Multi-Track SD Recorder Interface and Controller

It works as a standalone recorder with SD card

It works as a 8 channel USB audio interface

It works as DAW controller

It ROCKS!

And it's only 400$!!



Cheerz!

 

[Razien]

Theres quite a few on the M-audio site having issues with the 610, i was thinking of buying one myself.

They said it was an issue with the driver some 10 months ago & havent done anything to fix it. Theyve actually stopped updating everyone as to what theyre doing about it a long while back, so not always the best support it doesnt look like ?

 

[arwenmark]

Zoom R16 Multi-Track SD Recorder Interface and Controller[/URL]

It works as a standalone recorder with SD card

It works as a 8 channel USB audio interface

It works as DAW controller

It ROCKS!

And it's only 400$!!

Cheerz!

It may be great but it doesn't work with Vista 64 and they say they don't intend to release such support, which may not matter to the OP but it is the reason I didn't get it. I was all set too until I saw that.