C
corban
New member
hey, just looking for some input on the purchasing decisions I have to make. I've been recording for several years with other people's equipment, and I'm now putting together my own portable studio. I'll be recording local bands and musicians, and wouldn't mind having the capability to record entire bands live, but it's also not exactly an immediate requirement of mine. 8 ins is minimal to start with, I'd probably want to go to 16 in the future.
As such, I was originally looking at just getting a used firepod for under $400. But people told me that this unit isn't great for expanding onto later, so it might be kind of limiting.
On the other hand, my school is selling their MOTU 24i soundcard, which is an older version of the 24i/o, for $200. It's just 24 ins with a stereo output and a headphone jack. Its options are pretty limited, it's only 24/48, and doesn't have a lot of routing options, but I mix in the box, and up until now have never seen the need to record higher than 48. I don't think the firepod offers anything more in terms of being able to create different headphone mixes or anything, and heck, this is 24 channels of quality AD convertors for $200.
So I'm looking at a used M-audio Octane for starters to go with this. Problem is that as I'm looking at the extra cost of cables to go from the pres to the card I'm realizing that going this route has essentially doubled the cost for my initial 8 inputs (well ten with my dmp3), which is stretching my budget a little thin for mics and stands and stuff. I don't know how much better the pres are, but i'm thinking not much. I've got my eye on the long term investment quality though, and thinking that 24 ins will never have to be upgraded unless 48khz becomes obsolete.
Any thoughts? I'm new to the rack thing, what kind of cabling would be best/affordable to go from the pres to the card? It's all quarter inch.
As such, I was originally looking at just getting a used firepod for under $400. But people told me that this unit isn't great for expanding onto later, so it might be kind of limiting.
On the other hand, my school is selling their MOTU 24i soundcard, which is an older version of the 24i/o, for $200. It's just 24 ins with a stereo output and a headphone jack. Its options are pretty limited, it's only 24/48, and doesn't have a lot of routing options, but I mix in the box, and up until now have never seen the need to record higher than 48. I don't think the firepod offers anything more in terms of being able to create different headphone mixes or anything, and heck, this is 24 channels of quality AD convertors for $200.
So I'm looking at a used M-audio Octane for starters to go with this. Problem is that as I'm looking at the extra cost of cables to go from the pres to the card I'm realizing that going this route has essentially doubled the cost for my initial 8 inputs (well ten with my dmp3), which is stretching my budget a little thin for mics and stands and stuff. I don't know how much better the pres are, but i'm thinking not much. I've got my eye on the long term investment quality though, and thinking that 24 ins will never have to be upgraded unless 48khz becomes obsolete.
Any thoughts? I'm new to the rack thing, what kind of cabling would be best/affordable to go from the pres to the card? It's all quarter inch.
