Budget Ibook Setup?

[vintagetobes]

Hey, im getting a 14inch ibook with over 700Mb ram in the summer and i was wondering what sort of setup i should go for. Bear in mind that i will have practically no money by then. I would like some sort of multi channel setup. Heres my idea:
Get a Behringer Ultragain Pro-8 Dogital ADA 8000
http://www.behringer.com/ADA8000/index.cfm?lang=ENG
and then some sort of cheap soundcard. The soundcard will not need to have many/any inputs, just a ADAT lightpipe input. Would this setup work?
Any ideas for a soundcard?
Any other approaches you would recommend.
(the ibook has 2 usb and 1 firewire however the firewire will be used to my ipod unless theres a way around only having one thing in there at once)
Thanks for any help

 

[antennafarm]

i have an ibook 12 inch.

i'd suggest a motu 828mk2 (it's what i use at the moment).

works dandy dandy.

firewire, with more firewire ports on the back so you can plug in your ipod.. HOWEVER, why not just use the usb cable that should've also come with your ipod?

or unplug the interface when you want to update your ipod?

 

[dgatwood]

I can't really recommend a brand, but some general advice: definitely buy a FireWire audio interface, though. I can think of several programs whose boards are littered with posts screaming about clicks and pops with USB audio interfaces.... It is much better to get a cheap FireWire hub if you don't want to unplug things than to suffer a problematic audio interface.

You'll also probably need software (though it might come with GarageBand, which might be sufficient---I've never really used it, so I can't say much there). I'd suggest MOTU Digital Performer 4.5. Stable, reliable, fairly intuitive UI... just a generally solid app. Other folks' opinions will invariably vary.