best 2-4 channel firewire interface for $300-500

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captions87

captions87

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My interface of choice has been a Firestudio Project, which I sort of bought out of necessity as my band needed to record live, and we're a 5-piece. But now that we're done with that, I'd like to scale down to a very high quality 2 or 4 channel firewire interface for my own personal recordings, or just to record a rough demo for songwriting. My Firestudio is in mint condition, so I figure I could get at least 400 for it on craigslist, so I'll use $500 as my limit. Suggest away!
 
Before we start suggesting, is there a reason you specify Firewire? For 2-4 channels, USB2 would be absolutely fine and tends to be a lot less picky. I use Firewire only when I need lots of tracks (up to 32) but would choose USB every time for lower numbers.

Bob
 
Bobbsy said:
Before we start suggesting, is there a reason you specify Firewire? For 2-4 channels, USB2 would be absolutely fine and tends to be a lot less picky. I use Firewire only when I need lots of tracks (up to 32) but would choose USB every time for lower numbers.

Bob
Click to expand...

honestly, i just assumed that firewire would be faster/smoother running than usb. also, i keep all my files/projects on my external hard drive, which takes up one usb port, and when i'm recording, on top of using the ins for mics and/or instruments, i also plan to have a midi controller plugged in too, which will take up my last usb port.
 
Okay...that makes sense. You'd likely be okay with the USB bus shared but I agree that it's better safe than sorry.

I'm not in the States so apologies if my guess at the prices you'd pay are wrong, but I agree that, in your budget, the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 will be hard to beat.

I've also had decent results with the M Audio Profire 610 in the past.

Finally, if you want to drool at what's NOT in your price range, have a look at the stuff from Metric Halo. Some of my mates who do big time theatre sound design use that and I covet them every time I see them.

Bob
 
Just so I understand - what is wrong with the Firestudio Project? your saying you want to scale down - but you are talking about paying more money for something with less inputs when you already have a great interface?
 
captions87 said:
honestly, i just assumed that firewire would be faster/smoother running than usb.
Click to expand...

Remember what they used to say about 'assume'?
(When you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME.)

Firewire and usb are just data pipes with different widths.
USB2 will do up to 16channels just fine.
FW400 over 100 and FW800 twice that.
Thats the only difference.

Nice thing about firewire is that it has so much bandwidth that you can daisy-chain hard drives and convolution processors on it and still pass tons of tracks. (I run a Glyph drive daisy-chained to my Motu828mkII)
 
Focusrite! Focusrite! Crystal clear, in your price range you could buy the one with onboard effects. Great company, unbeatable in that price range. Rock solid software.
 
alright, so far the two frontrunners for me are the saffire pro 24 dsp, and the apogee duet. should i maybe wait a bit and try and find a used duet 2 when they become more available? what are the major differences between the duet and the duet 2? is the 2 enough of an upgrade that i shouldn't consider the original? again, thanks for the suggestions.
 
The duet if your on mac is a good choice but know that the Duet 2 hasn't even shipped yet so it may be awhile til you can find one used.
 
I'd go with a Focusrite. I use a Pro 24 and I love it. That model fits right in your price range and it has the ADAT feature so you can add another 8 inputs down the line if you want to.
 
another thing with the 610 is the octane pre-amps which are awesome M-audio says that the audio is HD and I have the 2626 (8 mic pres) which I love. the 610 is it's "little brother" I guess and same pres that sound just awesome if u ask me
 
I'd keep the Presonus and use the money to upgrade a different part of the studio. The firestudio is not bad quality. Upgrading to something that costs $100 dollars more isn't going to make a big difference if you are using the same low quality microphones and instruments.
 
try getting an mbox 2 pro used...or else maudio firewire if you dont care about ptLE
 
I'll second or third or whatever the Focusrite. I use the pro 40 and it's awesome.
 
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