Help me decied..

[Orak]

Hii
i'm new here and first i want to apologize for my english,..

I musician for several years and by the last 10 month i started my own homestudio..

my gear so far is :

1. pc with Cubas 5
2. Audio interface : line 6 ux2
3. Samson resolve a6 monitors
4. Rode nt2a condencer for voals
5. shure sm57 for instruments

the general uses is recording my acoustic guitar, electric piano , cajon drum and vocals ( not at once).

i just got from friend of mine his old sound card : ( RME HDSP 9632) and i heard its better than my ux 2 so i wnat to replace my ux2 ..
i did a little reading and found out that i need to buy a mixer or preamp in order to use this soundcard with my gear
so i need help deciding wich one of them (mixer\preamp) is better for my uses and my budget wich is something around the 200$ more or less.

thank u all ..

 

[Bobbsy]

It's a difficult one.

Yes, the RME is a very good card but, as you already know, only accepts line level meaning you'd need a mixer or pre-amp to use your mics.

The trouble is that, in the sub-$200 range, you'd be buying a relatively cheap pre-amp and a VERY cheap mixer so you might not hear the benefit you're hoping for.

However, if you go this route, you'd likely be better off getting a pre-amp--you'll get better quality buying a couple channels of specialist pre for your money than a mixer which will mean the pres have to be "built to a budget" in order to coexist with all the other mixer gubbins.

One other option might be to watch fleabay and see if you can find a good second hand mixer in your budget. Something like an Allen & Heath Mix wiz or an older Soundcraft have very nice pre-amps and give the flexibility of a mixer. However, before doing this and have a think about what you'd use the mixer for. They're good for setting up monitoring and a fader is more pleasant to set levels on than a tiny knob--but you don't actually NEED one for home recording.

 

[kcearl]

have you found the UX2 is letting you down anywhere?

Id imagine a sub $200 mixer will damage your signal more than just going straight into the UX2...I have a couple of line 6 audio interfaces and I think theyre great in that price range


dont change unless theres a problem with quality that you notice, not because youve "heard" something else sounds better