Audio Interface Buying Decision

  • Thread starter Thread starter WagTheDog
  • Start date Start date
W

WagTheDog

New member
I am looking at some of the Firewire audio interfaces.....I usually record solo so number of ins/outs is not a top priority. I am using 2 keyboards, acoustic and electric guitar, vocals. Voice is slightly thin, kind of a Paul Simon/Don Henley tone. Good pre's are important.....ease of use is important as well. I have a Mackie mixer to use in this also, but may sell it if I find it not necessary. I'm currently running Sonar 3 on a PC. Here are the ones I have been researching:

M-Audio Firewire 1814: decent S/W mixer, 2 headphones, LED's, 2 XLRs

PreSonus Firepod: no S/W mixer (don't know whether that's good or bad), 8 XLRs, good rep

Echo AudioFire8: LED's, 2 XLRs, nice S/W mixer

Tascam FW-1804: 4 MIDI out/2 MIDI in, 4 XLRs, LED's

MOTU 828 mkII: standalone LCD mixer, level meters, good S/W mixer


Any help would be appreciated, especially from those who have had 2 or more of these boxes.....thanks
 
I use the MOTU 828mkII..so i'm quite biased on this. but out of all those interfaces listed, i would go for the MOTU or firepod. my motu has awesome preamps; probably the best pre's on the list there. feature wise, motu dominates. cause you have the Cuemix DSP which is awesome if you're gonna take it to gigs and avoid a bulky mixer.
 
The Firepod is good if you want a lot of included preamps to record with your band, etc. If you're looking for QUALITY preamps, I would go with the MOTU 828 mkII.
 
The only thing scaring me about the MOTU is some of the sync issues I've read about......chip issues also.

What have you guys tried or heard firsthand (besides the MOTU studiomaster)?
 
WagTheDog said:
The only thing scaring me about the MOTU is some of the sync issues I've read about......chip issues also.

What have you guys tried or heard firsthand (besides the MOTU studiomaster)?
Click to expand...

Well, i did have some problems running my motu smoothly since i use a PC. but i went through certain diagnostics that helped me solve the problem. the problem was minor and was quite easy to solve.
 
The only issues I've had with my 828mkII was an error message in CueMix when trying to use the TalkBack feature. This was finally fixed when MOTU updated their drivers. Haven't had any problems since. I also use it with a Behringer ADA8000 (which I slave to the MOTU using Wordclock) My DAW is Sonar 4 PE(started with 3) I've been really happy with all MOTU products I have used (hardware and software)
 
Add the RME Fireface 800 to that list. Great interface.
 
Unfortunately the RME is going to be a little out of my price range....heard nothing but good things about them though.....


I just bought the MOTU 828mkII from another member here.....thanks for the replies
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top