Alright, I have been driving myself bat-shiite crazy looking at different Audio interfaces and I am still indecisive. My gut tells me to just go with the inexpensive 1641 and be done with it. The justification I came up with is:
I am brand new to all of this. Until figure things out and gain experience, I won't know how deep I want to go, or whether I'll want a control surface, mixer or an audio interface. Or any combination thereof.
But then I start looking at features, and it starts to get muddy. The 3 interfaces I have been looking at are:
8Pre
US2000 US1641
MIC Pre-amps 8 8 8
Front 0 2 8
Rear 8 6 0
Other inputs Optical 6 1/4" 6 1/4"
Metering Display yes yes no
MIDI I/O no I/O
Computer Firewire USB 2.0 USB 2.0
Connection
Digital Connection no yes yes
Optical Connection yes no no
Phantom power 8 for 8 4 for 8 2 for 8
1/4" Outs Main L/R Monitor L/R Monitor L/R
Line (4) Line (4)
$550.00 $450.00 $270.00
(it looks a lot better in true spreadsheet form, and is by no means comprehensive)
**After posting I saw how lousy this came out; I'll fix it later.**
The first thing I consider is the number of available inputs. They all have 8 XLR inputs, but 8pre has combi jacks. However the 2000 and 1641 both have additional 1/4" jacks, which give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but I don't know how I would end up using them.
Next is the metering display. Should it matter that I have a physical meter? Wouldn't one be displayed on my laptop screen?
The firewire connection is clearly superior.
Then I look at the phantom power controls and I like the flexibility that the 8pre offers. Even the 2000 seems like the number of inputs the switch controls is acceptable. Should I be placing so much value in the number of inputs a phantom power switch controls?
The last main item is the number of 1/4" outputs. The 8pre only has L/R Main Outs while the 2000 and 1641 have L/R Monitors and (4) Line Outs. Again this is one of those warm and fuzzy feelings for me.
So for the governmental report, but the more I read the more I confuse myself. I'm trying not start off on the wrong foot, but I don't even know if that would be the case with the interfaces I am looking at. Any advice, input, etc would be appreciated. Thanks.