Finding A New Audio Interface

[DeadlySurfer]

Hey guys,

So I've been recording for a few years now, nothing serious at all, just me with guitars. I've been using the old series of the UX2 from Line 6, and I'm a little fed up of the simulations, and I know upgrading will provide better recordings overall. At one time I was looking to buy an eight input interface, but I'm no longer in a band, so I can save some money.

What I'm basically looking for is a 2-4 mic inputs. Quality ones with low noise, obviously. I need phantom power for sure. I haven't got Firewire at the moment, but I could easily buy a PCI/E card.

I'm not too fussed on the other inputs, maybe a couple line incase I want to try some external mic pre's. I'm using an Akai MPK25, so I'll be doing the one man band sort of thing, sampled drums, recorded acoustic and electric, and vocals. Bass will be handeled either by a real bass or by a NI VST.

Oh, running Windows 7 64 bit. My budget is £300, to £400. I have more availible, but I can't see that I'll need it for a small interface for personal usage.

Any help would be great, thanks guys!

 

[mjbphotos]

M Audio Fast Track Pro will probably fit your need and save you some of money for other gear.

 

[MG Eddie]

I honestly found the fast track pro a pain in the ass to set up but once it was up and running it worked great. My personal favorite is the tascam us-800 which I paid 150$ for and it has 6 mic/line inputs(all of which have phantom power) and it has worked great right out of the box. Allot more user friendly than the ft pro.

 

[JimmyS1969]

I honestly found the fast track pro a pain in the ass to set up but once it was up and running it worked great. My personal favorite is the tascam us-800 which I paid 150$ for and it has 6 mic/line inputs(all of which have phantom power) and it has worked great right out of the box. Allot more user friendly than the ft pro.

I'm just interjecting here, as there is a possibility the US800 may not work so well with W7. Jury is still out. Though, there is a used Tascam US1641 here for $190 shipped on the forum that I would recommend.

 

[TeenChristian]

I just recently received the tascam US800 interface and with what I've done with it so far I would have to second Eddie and suggest it. It's pretty solid. I use it with a SM57 microphone and it does well with both electric and acoustic guitar, keyboard, and drums (simulated by keyboard). Overall I'm very happy with it. If you have a little extra money in your budget I'm sure the US1641 Jimmy suggested will work great as well. After having tried the US800 interface I'm open to other tascam products. Great product, easy setup, only downside about US800 is that theirs no off button

 

[grimtraveller]

only downside about US800 is that there's no 'off' button

The road goes on forever. There is no rest in this game !

 

[Hakea]

My budget is £300, to £400. I have more availible, but I can't see that I'll need it for a small interface for personal usage.

The catch there is that what you actually need now and what you might want in 12 months time may not be the same.

It's always a toss up between what you 'want' (gear lust), what you 'need' (from a purely practical and budget conscious perspective) and what might be a good bet to last for a while before the next upgrade becomes either desirable or flat out necessary. My usual strategy is to give myself an imaginary open ended budget and check things out across a wide price range. I'll quickly rule out all the real low end stuff, but I'll also usually fail to find any good reason to spend the mega-bucks, although it always seems good to have at least considered it. If I never check it out then I may not realise what I’m missing. Nothing worse than finding out a couple of months later that I could have got some really good feature if I'd just been prepared to go a bit higher.

If I do go a bit higher I rarely seem to regret it. While you may not notice any difference in performance initially (indeed you may never notice it) there’s always a certain pleasure in using good quality gear, whether it’s an instrument or an interface, and also in knowing that you have that extra something in reserve.

Like you I usually don’t need to record a whole band. Most days it’s just me. But I like to be able to have a setup where all the things that I use can stay connected up, tested and known to work. All that plugging and unplugging, swapping and retesting can get old quickly.

I recently upgraded my interface and considered all sorts of options, including (for me) reasonably expensive systems like the Digidesign 003 Factory that combined a good range of quality ins and outs with a control surface/mixer board. But in the end I went for an MBox Pro 3rd Gen. It has everything I need, with a bit to spare. The MBox line has recently been upgraded and improved, so it should stay current for a reasonable time, and it also came bundled with Pro Tools 9 (with a free downloadable upgrade to 10) and some useful plug-ins. It will work with DAWs other than Pro Tools, but that happens to be the one that I like, currently know the most about, and want to keep expanding my knowledge on. So I got two things that I wanted in the same package, which was good. In the end the choice wasn’t too hard even though I started by looking at a different unit altogether. And I’m still at the stage where it’s more than just another box in the chain, it’s enjoyable to use in its own right and even a pleasure just to see it sitting on the desk.

MBox Pro Pics and review

Not sure if it’s what you’re after, or what it costs in the UK, but it might be worth a look.

Good luck finding one that hits the spot for you..

Chris