Audio interface for Live + Recording Environment

[mrghostie]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks in advance if you reply.

Ok basically what I was thinking of doing is buying an audio interface which I could put all my std. 7 XLR drum mics into (sn, 3 x tom, KD, 2 x condenser O/hd), feed the separate channels down a firewire cable to my laptop then use Sonar/Cubase or something similar to add limiter/gates/FX etc. individually to each channel, then send it all back to the audio interface and from there out of a L/R main balanced XLR output to the main desk. Also since it's live on stage it really does need to be zero latency. Finally I'm on a budget of around £300ish and of course I would plan on using it for recording purposes as well so midi and Hi-z guitar inputs would be an extra bonus but not important.

Here are some interfaces I've been looking at and the problems I can see with them :


Focusrite Saffire Pro 10/PreSonus FP10/Alesis iO|26 - These types of interface seems almost perfect apart from they don't seem to have a L/R XLR out mix down but just phones or L/R jacks which means it might cause hum or interference problems for me on stage since they're not balanced?
Alesis Multimix 16/Phonic Helix 18 MKII - I liked the idea of a mixer/interface because it means it has the XLR outs and if for some reason the laptop packs up or something the analog side of things is still set up and almost ready to go. The only thing with these are that I've heard mixed reviews about the pre-amps and also I'm also worried about the latency, because like I said I need zero latency especially since it's for drums and live.
TC Electronic Konnekt Live - As with many other interfaces I've come across this seems like it'll do the job with the real time monitoring, has midi, no XLR outs, but most importantly only has 2 analog inputs where I could do with at least 8.

Right that's about it , I know I'm asking a lot from any audio interface so I'll just summarise the most important points below
Summary

• Mixed down balanced XLR L/R out
• Zero Latency
• Minimum 7 analog XLR inputs
• Pre-Amps ok
• Around £300

If you could recommend any audio interface that might suit my needs that would be a great help.

Thanks ,

Tris.

 

[mrghostie]

Phonic Helix 18

Also does anyone know the difference between the Phonic Helix 18 Mk1 & MKII. The only differences I can see are MK1 has a graphic EQ and is 24 bit and MKII has more in built effects and is 32 bit. If you know I'm more interested in how the latency differs. Thx Again,

Tris