USB interface under $300

  • Thread starter Thread starter -=solewheelin
  • Start date Start date
S

-=solewheelin

New member
Pardon my newbness,
Im looking for a good interface for under 300.
So in that range:
Im staying away from M-audio because its cheaply made and crashes (so ive been told).
Tascam 428 or 224 might be my ticket but i would like to have RCA ins if possible (though they seem to look like the "digital" ins and "spdif" ins, im not sure)
MOTU stuff is too expensive and the 828 and the ultra lite has more ins/outs than what i need.
Any opinions on the Lexicon Omega with the pantheon reverb? Its 200$.

Ill need to hook up my Yamaha DX7 to the midi, my Numark USB/RCA turntable
(TTUSB) that i would rather run with RCA jacks included than by USB.
But i also have a drum kit, many guitars and basses and lots of acoustic instruments.
I also have a Tascam 488 MkII that, if i can hook that up as a mixer i would.
Let me know what you think.
Ill also be hooking up M-audio BX-5A monitors.

I just need this interface. On the cheap.
thanks for any input. ill be doing research.

a newb
 
A bit all over the map there with your post but I'm not trying to bust your chops. Why the USB interface? For 300 clams you can get a very workable interface that will run circles around anything USB.
 
For the most part anything usb will be a stereo mix of all input channels so you wont get a seperate track in your daw for every input....there are a few exceptions to this but 4 more money .......

Firewire is the way to go or even pci is good if yer pc has pci slots.....



Cheers
 
thanks for your input.
but 1 i dont know what daw is, 2 what could my other most reasonable options possibly be besides usb 2.0? I thought it was faster than firewire.
3, does anyone have experience with the Lexicon Omega? It looks like a good deal.
People were telling me to look into creamware a couple years ago..

And im not sure how im all over the map when im just listing the gear options i already have so i can be helped by you guys.
Just trying to put it all together.
I need this puzzle to be complete.
Then i can start recording.
thanks again

steve
 
$300 will get you a presonus firebox. It's got a couple of built in preamps, 6 ins, 10 outs, and comes with a bunch of software. Firewire is better than usb for audio imo
 
Yes, you are right about M-audio, I had the Mobile-pre USB interface and it sucked bigtime. I am currently using a firewire F-control FCA202 from Behringer, which was half the price and works twice as well as the M-audio unit.
 
-=solewheelin said:
1 i dont know what daw is, 2 what could my other most reasonable options possibly be besides usb 2.0? I thought it was faster than firewire.
Click to expand...

totally wrong. Firewire audio interfaces have way more bandwidth, performance and stability than usb. I never ever recommend any usb interface to my clients. You want Firewire, period.
 
And a DAW is a "Digital Audio Workstation" which in laymens terms means the Computer you are useing to record with........:D
 
-=solewheelin said:
2 what could my other most reasonable options possibly be besides usb 2.0? I thought it was faster than firewire.
Click to expand...

You mean FW400 or FW800? If you mean FW800, that's almost twice as fast as USB. If you're only considering FireWire 400 vs. USB, it comes down to the difference between theory and practice.

In theory, USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps, while in theory, FireWire 400 is 400 Mbps.

In practice, USB 2.0 tends to have trouble getting much above about 300 Mbps because it depends so heavily on the CPU to do all the work. FireWire, in practice, can achieve a saturated 400 Mbps link without breaking a sweat. :D

Thus, in practice, FireWire 400 tends to be about a third faster than USB 2.0 than USB 2.0.

Of course, FireWire 800 can push data more than twice as fast as USB 2.0 (in practice), but most interfaces don't bother using it because audio generally doesn't need that much bandwidth; FW800 is mostly used for hard drives.
 
-=solewheelin said:
Im staying away from M-audio because its cheaply made and crashes (so ive been told).
Click to expand...

I have an M-Audio 24/96, 88 key USB keyboard, the DMP3, and had an Audio Buddy. Very solid gear and quality (especially for the price) and have never had any problems.

I would guess whoever told you that is blaming M-Audio for their inability to put together a compatible system. Or maybe they just got really unlucky.

But from what I can tell, the QC on M-Audio gear is not bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top