Reliable 4 Channel Interface

R

rkearns10

New member
Hi Guys,

Apologies if this has been belabored... but I'm just looking to settle on a reliable but high quality audio 4 channel interface for home recording on a PC with Reaper or ProTools:

Thoughts on:

PreSonus 44VSL
Akai Pro EiE
Tascam US 4X4

Any help would be greatly appreciated. -- Thanks!
 
When you say 4-channel, do you mean that you need it to have 4 mic preamps integrated? Or 4 total inputs, be they line, mic, instrument, digital?
 
Pardon my newbness... but what would the difference be between these?

I'm just looking to (at some point) be able to use 4 microphones to record a drum kit simultaneously..
 
No problem. It'll be worth doing a little reading about mic, line, and instrument level signals just to know the difference. That knowledge will come in handy time and time again.

A microphone or an electric guitar/bass puts a very small electrical signal. It needs to be amplified a bit (to line level) so it can be worked with and routed around. A preamp handles that job. Most audio interfaces come with at least 2 mic preamps built in, and these can accept a microphone or instrument.

Another input type on most interfaces is line-level inputs, which need a preamplified signal fed to them (either by an external preamp, or maybe the output from a keyboard, for example).

The Presonus AudioBox 44VSL has 4 mic preamps built in, so you could plug 4 microphones straight into it. Same for the Akai EiE Pro, and the Tascam US 4x4.

There are tons of options, but it sounds like for your purposes, you'll need at least 4 mic preamps built in. Looks like you're on the right track with the options that you listed. It might be worth checking out similar offerings from Roland, focusrite, Native Instruments, and M-Audio, just to further your research.
 
I actually just purchased a 4 channel interface! Here's what I found in my weeks of research. If you've good a decent budget, go for Presonus, Focusrite, or TASCAM. They're all super reliable, and have their pros and cons. I don't recommend the Akai EiE Pro because of a lot of talk about driver problems.

I personally went with the Behringer U-PHORIA UMC404HD. It fit in my budget, had decent preamps, and all the features I need, including MIDI. If you're looking for the lowest price possible, go for the U-PHORIA line. They're not out yet, but there's an 8 channel interface from this line for the same price as the Akai. There was recently a price drop for them so they're all sold out on sweetwater and musiciansfriend, but I grabbed mine on amazon.

Hope this helps!
 
No response for 4 days but if you're still looking, I use a Lexicon 4 channel interface which is solid with Windows 8.
 
I have the Presonus 44VSL and I think its great! The preamps are pretty clean and the interface comes with Studio One, which is my favorite DAW.

I think I'll change it for the 1818VSL which has 8 inputs maybe next year.
 
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