budget interface purchase...

M

mick8569

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I am a hobbiest on a low budget, I just upgraded my computer and my SB audigy doesnt work with it (might have been what killed my old comp and forced me to UG?).

I was strongly considering buying cubase studio 4 as the student price is kind of affordable for me and it sounds like its close to the quality of cubase 4 and it would make me feel warm and fuzzy inside having a quality up to date recording program, but atm i just have on board sound and so im pretty sure that upgrading my software would just be a total waste of money. Buying it with my audigy may have been a waste as well....

so i guess im looking for a new interface, i mostly record guitar and currently only have 2 mics (shurepg58 and SP B1), i also record midi via usb. i have a crappy alto mixer with two crappy preamps.

So as a minimum i need something with two ins, but something with better pre's would be nice, more ins and midi would also be nice if it is only a small increase in price. I dont really want a pack where it feels like im paying a lot for out of date software.

so do i just want an emu/m audio sound card? or an external usb/firewire box? can i get something fairly cheap with minimal software and buy cubase studio 4? presonus inspire looks interesting, any thoughts?

sorry that was really long winded, i prolly shouldnt of posted till i had a bit of a better idea what im after, any advise is much appreciated,
Thanks,
Mick.
 
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Yep either the Inspire or an M-audio 2496 would be a good start. The inspire comes with Cubase LE which will let you check out the cubase workflow and see if it suits you. Also download Reaper for free before you shell out for full blown cubase
 
Thanks bull. what presonus product/s do you have? you seem to be a big fan judging from your posts around the place.

I'm a bit confused with the terminology used to describe the inputs. From what i have read the inspire has 4 inputs , but u cant use them all at once? I would really like something that has 4 simultaneous inputs, 2 having a pre so i can record 4 mics at once using 2 external preamps and preferably cubase based.

some m-audio pci cards look tempting, im assuming the preamps would be pretty crap, do they run well with cubase or are you stuck with protools?
Firebox is a bit out of my price range, but is kinda what im leaning towards at the moment.

Thanks for any advice :)
Mick.
 
I use a firepod at the moment. I've also used m-audio product. They both have rock solid drivers.
The inspire has 2 preamps for mic input and also 2 line inputs for signals that are already preamped to line level, so you can record 4 tracks simultaneously. To me it seems like an ideal way to get started becaue you get preamps, multiple inputs, firewire connectivity and sequncing s/w all in the one box
 
Thanks again for the reply. If i can record 4 inputs at once then i will almost definitely get the inspire, but i still am unsure.....

some guy off musiciansfriend:
"you can not record all 4 inputs at once. If you want to record XLR1, you must unplug Instrument1. Same applies for XLR2/Instrument2. (Note: you can record the instrument lines even if the XLR's are plugged in. The XLR's will be bypassed)."

Presonus "Four simultaneous input channels"

can anyone clear this up for me please? if its not 4 channels simultaneous recording then i consider this HUGE false advertising...

if its only 2 channels i will probably save for firebox or get 1010lt.



EDIT: from presonus faq

Q: The Inspire 1394 specifications say that I can record 4 inputs at the same time. I have 2 microphones and 2 guitars connected to the Inspire 1394. Why can't I record from my microphones?
A: The microphone input and the instrument input on the LEFT side share input channel 1. The microphone input and the instrument input of the RIGHT side share input channel 2. The instrument inputs will take priority over the microphone inputs. You can simultaneously record from channels 1, 2, and the RCA line level input channels 3 and 4 on the back of the Inspire 1394.

So with two preamps i can record 4 mics simultaneously onto 4 separate tracks using the two build in preamps and my two external preamps into the rca line level inputs?
 
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That's right. You've got 2 unbalanced rca inputs for use with your external pres, and then either 2 DI inputs for guitar/bass or 2 balanced xlr inputs for mics, or one of each. You definitely get 4 all up
 
I would strongly recommend not limiting yourself if you think there is any chance that this will be a sustained hobby. I went budget at first. It was frustrating while recording and frustrating buying the card I should have bought to begin with.

But if you're broke, you're broke.
 
Bulls Hit said:
Yep either the Inspire or an M-audio 2496 would be a good start. The inspire comes with Cubase LE which will let you check out the cubase workflow and see if it suits you. Also download Reaper for free before you shell out for full blown cubase
Click to expand...

Just to reiterate the "download Reaper" advice (from http://reaper.fm).

I think you will get everything you need re software and save money for gear in the process.

It's uncrippled and will take 30 seconds. Just do it :)
 
I think something like the Delta 1010 would be a better option because you will eventually grow out of useing just 4 inputs and with the Delta 1010 you get 10 inputs (2 with preamps) so you can connect a number of external preamps to use the non preamped channels..... You can also use a number of delta cards at the same time so it is easy to expand.....



:)
 
Thanks heaps for the replies guys.

Willis (or anyone) are u meaning the inspire is limiting because its only got 4 ins? or the sound quality? or overall? i think the only way i would be able to afford more inputs is with pci card like 1010lt like minion suggested.

1010lt would be in my budget. Is the sound quality of it and inspire similar? is there much advantage of firewire over pci other then portability? (latency? noise?) Im recording on my pc, so portability isnt really a huge issue.

The inspire is also designed to be daisychained btw, not as flexible as delta's though id assume.

downloading reaper now :)

thanks again :)
mick.
 
Bulls Hit got it right about the Inspire. Maximum 4 simultaneous inputs. Two in the front and two in the back, at the same time. But *not* all four in the front, at the same time, plus two in the back. The inputs on the front are either/or. Either an XLR or 1/4 balanced/unbalanced instrument left, and same right. Not both an XLR and an instrument, in each channel, at the same time. So, 2 XLR, or two instrument, or one of each, for the front. The front jacks have a preamp. The gain and boost are independent for those two channels, and they have phantom power.

The jacks in the back are unbalanced RCA, have no preamps, no phantom power, and the input level adjustment is shared by both inputs. That is, the input level for those two channels can be adjusted up and down, but both channels are always adjusted the same. They can be used as individual mono channels, or as a stereo pair, which is what they were designed for.

I've been using one for a year now. It's working just fine. I have recorded two guitars, with the front inputs, and recorded stereo audio from an electronic keyboard, all at the same time. I've also recorded two vocals through two mics, into the two XLR inputs, at the same time, but separately from the instruments. Single mic, or single instrument in many different ways. And I've done a bunch of vinyl-album-to-digital conversion using those RCA jacks.
 
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mick8569 said:
Thanks heaps for the replies guys.

Willis (or anyone) are u meaning the inspire is limiting because its only got 4 ins? or the sound quality? or overall? i think the only way i would be able to afford more inputs is with pci card like 1010lt like minion suggested.

1010lt would be in my budget. Is the sound quality of it and inspire similar? is there much advantage of firewire over pci other then portability? (latency? noise?) Im recording on my pc, so portability isnt really a huge issue.

The inspire is also designed to be daisychained btw, not as flexible as delta's though id assume.

downloading reaper now :)

thanks again :)
mick.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen your budget, but I'm just saying if you're going to spend $150 on something, and there's a chance you may need more inputs, or any other feature that a card that costs $300 has, AND you can afford it, even if barely, get the upgrade.

When I started all of this, I just wanted a room in the garage where I can play my acoustic and sing some songs. So I built a fairly small room that was perfect. Then I decided it'd be nice to have a drum machine to keep a beat. Then I decided it'd be nice to be able to record the songs that I was writing, so I bought an adat. Then I decided the drum machine sucked for what I was doing so I bought a drum set, which made the room too small. Then I decided that an adat/edit card would be nice to be able to get the tracks into the computer for editing. Then I realized the adat/edit card would allow me to bypass the adat completely and record straight to the computer, so then the adat is obsolete. Then I realized the adat/edit card wasn't enough inputs/outputs so I bought an RME HDSP 9652 for about $400. If I would have just bought it from the beginning and built a bigger room, I'd be golden! :D
 
Also, factor in who is manufacturing any prospects. Tech support and driver updates are easy to overlook. It'd suck to buy something that won't run on an updated os 3 months from now.
 
ez_willis said:
If I would have just bought it from the beginning and built a bigger room, I'd be golden! :D
Click to expand...
haha yeah.....

I dont have a defined budget but basically 400ish australian, which is what the 1010lt and inspire cost, and the second hand market doesnt seem to be as good here.

ill have a think bout how many inputs i really want, if im happy with 4 ill get the inspire, if i want more ill go for 1010lt. Any comments on sound quality comparison would be appreciated though.

Thanks for all the advice/input,
Mick.
 
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