Picking an interface

[Pepineros]

Hello all,

A few days ago I started looking for a nice audio interface/mixer to use both when recording and playing live. I'm pretty certain of what features I like but there's one thing that I would like to ask some questions about: most interfaces don't have a compressor, limiter and equalizer. I only play 'real' instruments on stage (no synths, computers or MIDI involved) and since I'm basically my own sound guy, I do need a way to compress and EQ my sound. I found a couple of interfaces with on-board compressor and EQ options, but I was wondering if it would be possible to achieve the same effect through software. (The machines that offer comp and EQ are quite expensive, like the MOTU UltraLite-mk3 hybrid.) I thought maybe the latency would be a problem if I'm to run four signals (my usual amount) from the interface to the laptop and back to the interface before they go out to the PA and my monitor. It would not be a problem for me to have to bring my laptop to every gig; I'd want to do that anyway in order to adjust the mix during soundcheck.

Thanks very much for any help! If you have any questions, shoot

 

[Armistice]

Personally I wouldn't be looking for one tool to do two jobs.

For recording, get a decent interface and forget about compression and EQ as you can apply them ITB. For live, buy a small mixer with effects / dynamics and forget about latency.

And anyway, if you're playing live, aren't you relying on the PA of wherever you're playing? Which will have a mixer...

 

[Pepineros]

The places I play usually don't have a PA system. Sometimes they have speakers and/or amplifiers I can use (no mixer or sound people), sometimes I bring my own amplifier; hence the need for some dynamics.
You're right, I would be better off getting a good interface for recording and a small mixer for playing live... I'll be looking into that, it'll probably cost about the same as an interface/mixer combo anyway. Thanks!