daveyboy909
New member
Hi guys,
Before I start I just want you to know that I have spent a fair amount of time researching this. I knew absolutely nothing about it a month ago. I have read through a lot of reviews and forums and I have gone through a lot of threads on here and on other sites too, but I thought I would make my own thread in the hope that someone can help with my specific needs!
What I already have
Yamaha MG166cx mixing desk (not the USB version)
Roland RD700sx digital piano
Roland DM 2100 speaker system
2 Yamaha MSR400 speakers
Sennheiser e835s microphone (I know dynamic mics aren't ideal for recording but I am prepared to go with it just now)
Adobe Audition
A dell xps M1330 laptop (2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024], Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB))
What I will be Doing
I am not a computer expert - not anywhere near it. I just play my digital piano and write songs for my small band. The band consists of me, a drummer who also plays guitar and a bass player.
I will usually be using the audio interface to record myself playing my digital piano and vocals, sometimes at the same time and sometimes separately overdubbing the vocals. Other band members may also play at the same time or overdub their part. This is where my requirement for a very low latency piece of hardware comes in.
I would also like to be able to edit each track e.g. volume etc separately even if I have recorded them at the same time. According to the Audio Interface Wizard, this means I would need several analogue outputs. (Although this is not completely necessary)
My mixer could be used for the preamps and for submixing frums etc but I would prefer to just use the audio interface for portability reasons. I may not bother with drums on some recordings anyway.
What I want
I just want an audio interface that is NOT complicated to use. As far as possible, I would like it to be plug and play. As this is just a hobby, I would be prepared to sacrifice a little bit of sound quality for a piece of hardware that I would not have to spend hours on trying to figure out!
I don't really have a preference whether it is USB 1, USB 2 or firewire, although I am aware that firewire would likely give the best quality but at a higher price.
I have been very close to buying the Yamaha Audiogram 6 but I have decided to be patient and wait for advice. I have read as many forum threads and review on it as I can find with the usual mix of positive and negative comments. I was attracted to it because it is Yamaha and it seems fairly simple but it is only USB 1.1 which is odd for such a new audio interface and I have read about other issues e.g. with the drivers etc.
I would really like the software to be simple to use. I'm not bothered about really advanced features.
Budget
If I am just buying an audio interface, my budget would be around £200 (british pounds - around £330 USD i think). The Audiogram fits well within this budget.
If you suggest that I would need extra equipment then I would increase the budget by another £100 or so. As I say, this is just a hobby and I don't want to spend thousands of pounds.
In a nutshell I would like to buy an audio interface that has a few inputs for microphone, stereo input for my digital piano, hopefully with decent preamps, hopefully but not necessarily with a few analogue outputs, and with a decent sound quality:ease of use ratio. Because I will be overdubbing different parts, I would like it to have audio playback via headphones and there would have to be no latency or at least very little latency
USB 2 seems the way to go for better quality recording and lower latency but I wouldn't rule out a USB 1.1 card like the audiogram if the sound quality and ease of use would be good.
I know this has been a long post but I wanted to give as much details as possible. I hope someone can help with some recommended audio interfaces and please be gentle
Thanks
Dave
Before I start I just want you to know that I have spent a fair amount of time researching this. I knew absolutely nothing about it a month ago. I have read through a lot of reviews and forums and I have gone through a lot of threads on here and on other sites too, but I thought I would make my own thread in the hope that someone can help with my specific needs!
What I already have
Yamaha MG166cx mixing desk (not the USB version)
Roland RD700sx digital piano
Roland DM 2100 speaker system
2 Yamaha MSR400 speakers
Sennheiser e835s microphone (I know dynamic mics aren't ideal for recording but I am prepared to go with it just now)
Adobe Audition
A dell xps M1330 laptop (2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024], Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB))
What I will be Doing
I am not a computer expert - not anywhere near it. I just play my digital piano and write songs for my small band. The band consists of me, a drummer who also plays guitar and a bass player.
I will usually be using the audio interface to record myself playing my digital piano and vocals, sometimes at the same time and sometimes separately overdubbing the vocals. Other band members may also play at the same time or overdub their part. This is where my requirement for a very low latency piece of hardware comes in.
I would also like to be able to edit each track e.g. volume etc separately even if I have recorded them at the same time. According to the Audio Interface Wizard, this means I would need several analogue outputs. (Although this is not completely necessary)
My mixer could be used for the preamps and for submixing frums etc but I would prefer to just use the audio interface for portability reasons. I may not bother with drums on some recordings anyway.
What I want
I just want an audio interface that is NOT complicated to use. As far as possible, I would like it to be plug and play. As this is just a hobby, I would be prepared to sacrifice a little bit of sound quality for a piece of hardware that I would not have to spend hours on trying to figure out!
I don't really have a preference whether it is USB 1, USB 2 or firewire, although I am aware that firewire would likely give the best quality but at a higher price.
I have been very close to buying the Yamaha Audiogram 6 but I have decided to be patient and wait for advice. I have read as many forum threads and review on it as I can find with the usual mix of positive and negative comments. I was attracted to it because it is Yamaha and it seems fairly simple but it is only USB 1.1 which is odd for such a new audio interface and I have read about other issues e.g. with the drivers etc.
I would really like the software to be simple to use. I'm not bothered about really advanced features.
Budget
If I am just buying an audio interface, my budget would be around £200 (british pounds - around £330 USD i think). The Audiogram fits well within this budget.
If you suggest that I would need extra equipment then I would increase the budget by another £100 or so. As I say, this is just a hobby and I don't want to spend thousands of pounds.
In a nutshell I would like to buy an audio interface that has a few inputs for microphone, stereo input for my digital piano, hopefully with decent preamps, hopefully but not necessarily with a few analogue outputs, and with a decent sound quality:ease of use ratio. Because I will be overdubbing different parts, I would like it to have audio playback via headphones and there would have to be no latency or at least very little latency
USB 2 seems the way to go for better quality recording and lower latency but I wouldn't rule out a USB 1.1 card like the audiogram if the sound quality and ease of use would be good.
I know this has been a long post but I wanted to give as much details as possible. I hope someone can help with some recommended audio interfaces and please be gentle
Thanks
Dave