US-428 or similar devices?

[bambazoon]

Hmm...
I thought I understood what a long and winding road choosing a low cost interface for home recording would be... How wrong... I find myself bouncing back and forth between decisions so often it's getting really confusing!

ANYWAY.. I think it's time to narrow things down and make some firm decisions. I think I want to stick with Cubase. So no Pro Tools (i.e. time to stop thinking about the MBox).

Also, I want at least 4 analogue ins so I can track drums and MIDI in/out so I can use a keyboard as a trigger

Nice to haves will be:
-SPDIF or AES/EBU or optical connectors (for use with my Pod Pro).
-At least 2 preamp channels

So the options I have now are
-Emagic A62m (not that keen anymore since no one around here has a good price on these, and it uses RCA connectors)
-M-Audio Quattro (cheaper than A62m AND has preamps! but i've read a lot of posts on different forums about driver compatibility issues.. is this a USB issue or M-Audio issue?)
-Tascam US-428
(now this I really like.. And don't mind paying a bit more for it, but haven't really read enough)

So... does anyone have any experience with the US-428 and Cubase? or is there anything out there that is similar and I'm missing out?

Thanks in advance! I feel myself getting closer to a purchase already
yinsern

 

[brzilian]

Are you recording on a laptop? If not, you should really stay away from USB devices, especially if they are not USB 2.0. USB does not have the bandwidth to handle 4 simultaneous tracks of 24 bit audio. Firewire or PCI cards would be a better choice as their bandwidths are significantly higher than USB.

 

[bambazoon]

Yes I am using a laptop... without Firewire ports

And more and more, I'm thinking of getting a Cardbus Firewire adapter so that I can also consider Firewire products. And that just adds more options to the already complicated soup.. Oh well..

If I didn't have to record drums, I think I would have already decided ont he MBox (since it also works with Cubase.. and I can try Pro Tools for free)... Then again...

I will probably be doing most of the recording at home, but I would also like to be mobile so that I can bring my laptop along to the practice room and record whatever ideas the band may have.

yinsern