Audio Interface rec's for recording my band - have been looking at RME's.

[bouldersoundguy]

Regarding clocking, I do a fair bit of live video, so it's handy when clocks match. My Zoom H5 Handy Recorder lines up well with my Sony Handycams for the typical hour set. By contrast, recordings made on my UI24R drift a couple of seconds over that time. It's not all that hard to fix, but it does add a step to the process. My GoPros get off from the Sonys by a few frames per hour, which takes substantially more effort to fix.

None of that matters if you're just recording audio.

 

[TalismanRich]

I've had 5 setups since I got back into recording over 20 years ago, an AW16G Yamaha that was actually underwater for almost an hour before I pulled it out, an AW1600 that replaced it, a Zoom H4n, a Zoom R-24 and a Tascam 16x08.

The Yamaha that was underwater actually recovered except for the CDROM drive. I had to suck water from under the LCD screen, rinsed out the faders with distilled water and let everything dry. A new CDROM (about $30) fixed that. The recorder still works to this day. I don't use it because it's only got 20GB storage and I have other units to use. I did dump all the tracks off to CDRWs as wav files so I could play with them. Someday I'll use it as a test bed for converting to SD card or SSD, just for fun..

Nothing else has had any issues that required customer service, except for updates to the Tascam drivers. The first V4 had several bugs, but V4.01 came out quickly and fixed it It's been running fine ever since. I think I got it about 10 years ago. I paid $300 for it back then, so that's $30 a year if you wanted to amortize it... about the cost of a dinner at a midrange restaurant.

Unless you abuse it, I think most gear will hold up unless it poorly designed.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Unless you abuse it, I think most gear will hold up unless it poorly designed.

Not sure if this is in reply to me, but the culprit appeared to have been a power failure, as it stopped connecting after one of those.

Of course, if we were all in this for the money, well... we wouldn't be in it.

 

[TalismanRich]

Regarding clocking, I do a fair bit of live video, so it's handy when clocks match. My Zoom H5 Handy Recorder lines up well with my Sony Handycams for the typical hour set. By contrast, recordings made on my UI24R drift a couple of seconds over that time. It's not all that hard to fix, but it does add a step to the process. My GoPros get off from the Sonys by a few frames per hour, which takes substantially more effort to fix.

None of that matters if you're just recording audio.

The Zoom R24 has a known issue with the clock being off. The audio will drift relative to a video camera. The H4n doesn't have the same issue. I've recorded 4 hours of video and audio (48kHz) and I have to nudge the audio after a couple of songs. If you don't you start to notice that snare hits don't match the stick hitting the drum.

I confirmed the error in timing one night when I set up my H4n, R-24 and 16x08 and let things run about an hour. I don't remember the exact amount of drift, but the H4n and Tascams were essentially identical. The R-24 was off.

 

[ecc83]

That's a bit o me recorded on a Zoom U-44 I bought because they were a good price from CPC. about £70 with shipping.
A very versatile little box. Two mic XLRs (but you can buy an optional plug in XLR adapter with two mics)
It is a conventional AI with a USB B port but can also run, stand alone on 2X AA cells or any 5V USB source e.g. a tablet. It is both an optical and co-ax S/PDIF A/D. D/A.

The mic used in the clip was a dirt cheap G158MB dynamic and needed all the 44's gain but it still returned a respectable -69dBFS noise floor. Use with almost any capacitor mic will improve than.

The interface seems to have been superseded in USA and the new one twice the price so if any of you have a mate visiting from Blighty?

Dave.

 

[Papanate]

One thing I would put out there in Apogee's favor, though... their customer service is exceptional, amongst the best customer support I've run into in any industry.

This has been my exprience too - they go above and beyond all the time.

 

[stevo58]

I would expect RME hardware to be better, but the difference might not rise to a level that you'll notice.

I went from an EMU card, to a PreSonus FirePod, to some Focusrite or another, to an RME FF 802.

You will hear a difference in the mic preamps. The RME preamps are very neutral (in a good way) and quiet. The Focusrite pres hurt my ears, they sounded so harsh. YMMV.

The RME hardware is rock-solid. Support is, as far as I can tell, the best in the business. Other than a couple questions on the forum (where the owner is a prominent participant), I’ve never needed any. It was a bit of a financial reach for me, but I’ve never regretted it. I’ve been using it for nine years now, and have nothing but praise.

If RME is within your budget, it would be my first choice. I’m a fanboy.

Steven

 

[Old Music Guy]

Hi guys,

I've been playing guitar for decades but have never recorded music - so I'm a complete newbie is this regard. I'd appreciate any thoughts and insights you have for what Audio Interface I should consider buying for my needs in approximately the usd$800-$2000 range. Basically, I'm looking to record 2 guitars, drums, vocals, keyboard. I've done a little research and found that some of my favourite bands record each instrument at the same time (basically live) so the recording of each instrument "bleeds" into the other recordings create a more full and organic sound. This is ideal, but not 100% necessary. So, it would be appreciated if you could suggest some Audio Interfaces that are capable for recording all instruments being played at the same time like a just mentioned, and also some Audio Interfaces that would work if each instrument was recorded separately.

I've been doing some quick digging, and RME seems to always get solid reviews. I looked into the Babyface Pro Fs and the Fireface UCX ii as options. From what I glean, recording the drums alone would need 4 microphones set up. I imagine Audio Interfaces don't have the ability to take on so many directly. If this is true, would I need to buy something like a RME Quadmic in order to record 4 mics at once?

Thanks very much!!

Are you planning on playing each instrument yourself and layer tracks, or is this a band situation?

 

[scottmartin]

Hi guys,

I've been playing guitar for decades but have never recorded music - so I'm a complete newbie is this regard. I'd appreciate any thoughts and insights you have for what Audio Interface I should consider buying for my needs in approximately the usd$800-$2000 range. Basically, I'm looking to record 2 guitars, drums, vocals, keyboard. I've done a little research and found that some of my favourite bands record each instrument at the same time (basically live) so the recording of each instrument "bleeds" into the other recordings create a more full and organic sound. This is ideal, but not 100% necessary. So, it would be appreciated if you could suggest some Audio Interfaces that are capable for recording all instruments being played at the same time like a just mentioned, and also some Audio Interfaces that would work if each instrument was recorded separately.

I've been doing some quick digging, and RME seems to always get solid reviews. I looked into the Babyface Pro FS and the Fireface UCX II as options. From what I glean, recording the drums alone would need 4 microphones set up. I imagine Audio Interfaces don't have the ability to take on so many directly, much like how when you buy sell property in Tampa you need the right team and resources to handle everything properly. If this is true, would I need to buy something like an RME Quadmic in order to record 4 mics at once?

Thanks very much!!

For what you’re describing, you need an interface with enough quality mic preamps and low‑latency performance. The RME Babyface Pro FS is excellent but only has 2 preamps, so to record 4 drum mics at once you’d need a mic‑input expander like an RME Octamic/Quadmic. The RME Fireface UCX II has more inputs built‑in and handles simultaneous tracking better without expansion. If you plan to track separately, both Babyface Pro FS and Fireface UCX II can do that well on their own, just do multiple passes for drums, guitars, vocals, etc.

 

[rob aylestone]

The guy who started the topic only hung around for three days in Jan, then poof - gone! I wonder if he was a bot which just posted a link to Tampa property? So much screams AI and not very good AI. In one comment it's ultra quality he wants then he states spill is good? Maybe I am a cynic, but I think we're answering a phantom.

 

[Old Music Guy]

The guy who started the topic only hung around for three days in Jan, then poof - gone! I wonder if he was a bot which just posted a link to Tampa property? So much screams AI and not very good AI. In one comment it's ultra quality he wants then he states spill is good? Maybe I am a cynic, but I think we're answering a phantom.

I thought that days ago.

 

[TalismanRich]

What link to Tampa property? I'm guessing you deleted some posts?

I don't know that there are that many bots out there spamming forums. I've seen the same person post on 2 or 3 forums. They seemed to respond to posts that they like, or that confirm their position, and ignore the other forums where people start asking questions to try give better information. On the other hand, some people just don't like participating on forums where you might have to think or express opinions with some thought. It's much easier to post 10 word Twitter posts and get a bunch of "likes" to boost their egos.

Now, I need to go watch some reels on Facebook! There are some videos of people hugging the lions, tigers and bears that they raised from babies! We don't need no AI!
Here Kitty Kitty Kitty.....

 

[rob aylestone]

This is really a detective hunt now. The tampa link was in the very first post - but it looks like either one of us spotted the clickable link and removed it because if you look in new member scott martin's post a few above this one, he quotes the very first post - which has the link present when he copied it? Either way, I like a good mystery!