Recording Interface Suggestions

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MisterBone

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My Background:

Hi, I've been recording on my PC for quite a few years, but initially bought a Terratec MMT8 Soundcard with an EWS88MT interface so that I could dump my 8-track (Tascam 38 1/2 tape) recordings onto my PC. The card and interface are both good, but the DRIVERS have become a nightmare and there's no hope for improvement. :mad: Also one of the Tascam motors died and I never made the dump. :mad: :mad:

Sooooo... I want to go a new route. I just finished building state-of-the-art PC (I know you Macies are thinking this is an oxymoron) and will upgrade from XP to Windows 7 in the near future.

My Questions:

For stereo recording on a PC, what your favorite interface option? Is there an interface that is generally accepted as the best value out there?

I like the idea of using something USB, but is there a performance hit with that option?

Thanks in advance,

Chris
 
It all depends on how much you want to spend but I would definitely be looking PCI, PCI-E, or Firewire if you want to record more than 2 channels at once..
 
Thanks for the feedback altitude and WoundedKnee. If I couldn't go firewire (when building this PC, the Mobo had extremely vague instructions for hooking up the firewire port on my front panel and I'm not 100% I've got it right), would you recommend PCI and, if so, are there any cards out there you know of that are particularly good value/performance.

BTW: I'll probably never record more than 2 channels at a time.
 
Thanks again, altitude... I'll have a look at that one.
 
Hello there,

I have been recording at home since 2001 with a soundblaster audigy platinum soundcard, with very good results. Recently, it seems to have been cousing me trouble (ain't going to start talking about computers) so that I am starting to consider changing it for and USB interface. I only record 1 channel at a time. I would like to ask:

1) Does it work along with an online soundcard? (I mean, for watching a movie or listening to mp3...)
2) And USB is really a good quality + easy to use + easy to install option?
3) Wich one would you recommend?
4) I have a good microphone and a mixer already. I record 1 channel at a time.

Sorry for those silly questions...and forgive my poor english.
 
Fabio, you might want to post your own thread asking. I know I have very little advice in this arena and I'm not sure if anyone will see your post. This thread seems to have died.

Very good English though... no worries there!
 
MisterBone said:
Fabio, you might want to post your own thread asking. I know I have very little advice in this arena and I'm not sure if anyone will see your post. This thread seems to have died.

Very good English though... no worries there!
Click to expand...

USB is perfectly fine for 2 tracks of audio. No worries there. As is was recently explained to me, depending upon your CPU, you can run considerably more tracks via USB if you wish...but USB activity does hit your CPU wherease Firewire interfaces have the processing capability to handle this themselves.

Something basic like the Tascam 144 is pretty inexpensive, supports 24bit and works quite well.
http://www.amazon.com/Tascam-US144-Interface-digital-Connection/dp/B000JWX4P2
 
For a USB interface,

Look at the Presonus Audiobox. It's about $150 and has ghost power and the whole 9 yards. Just mind you, I sent Presonus an email and they told me there are "no plans for 64bit drivers" :(
 
depends what you're looking for. usb is fine, lexicon is offering a few nice iF's. i'd recommend to stay away from windows 7, it'll only give ya a headache. there's some nice workarounds using 2 PC's and 2 interfaces (1x 2CH M +1x ST and 1x 8 or 16CH iF) and sync the 2 machines via tc track
 
"Ghost Power" LOL. I think he meant phantom power which supplies +48 volts to power your condenser mics.

I'm currently using Windows 7 with an Mbox 2 and it has been sweet. I know of several others who are using Windows 7 Without issue. In fact I would say it is a large step up from XP in many ways. The draw back is that it does use up some additional processing, though not nearly as bad as Vista.

Regardless of OS 64bit is not generally supported with the exception of a very few interfaces and DAWs.

The Presonus products are very good. Tascam has the US-122 which does have 64 bit drivers. Flaky as they may be. Tapco has a usb interface and comes with Tracktion. M-Audio has the 2496 ($99) and the Delta 44(around $150-200) but does not come with any decent recording software. EMU has several options in the USB and PCI department.

Whatever interface you choose, try and pick one with a good software package. Presonus Comes with Cubase AI-4. The Tascam used to come with Cubase LE as well but I'm not sure they still do.

Shop around and pick one you like. At the lower price points, there really isn't much "better" about any of them.
 
I use a Presonus Firestudio project and it works like a dream. Its run through firewire and can connect to multiple firestudios depending on how many inputs you require. I run Vista 64 with a i7 processor and 12 gigs of RAM. Just today my friend and I recorded an hour long session with one click of a button without even straining the computer one bit. Before that I used to record on a XP laptop with only 1 gig of RAM and a Athlon 64 processor and it still recorded without a problem. For the quality of sound, performance, and price I'd recommend it to anyone. Some online stores offer some good mail in rebates to save some cash on it too.


http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=43
 
I would look at E-MU Tracker Pre USB 2.0 Interface.

It has two inputs with a good quality preamps
24 bit up to 192 kHz AD/DA converters
Phantom power
Direct 0 latency monitoring
extencieve Software bundle

$139.95 on ZZounds

E-MU Tracker Pre USB 2.0 audio interface

Here you can read a review on this.
 
I have a Lexicon U42S on XP. It is not the best with Sonar - few issues with dropouts and stuttering so I won't recpmmend it except it has nice preamps.
I have just bought a Alesis Multimix 16 USB and it runs 16 individual tracks tracks through USB. Tried it today with 8 tracks to Sonar and had no issues.
It's a decent mixer and one of only a few that do 16 USB tracks at once. Could use some inserts and a mid sweep though....
 
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