Which Firewire Interface Device would suit my needs?

[Kim Turley]

Here's what I have

- Dell 2.6Ghz 768MB RAM Windows XP
- Studio Projects VTB-1 (Tube Blend) Mic Preamp (pic)
- Red 5 Audio RV10 Condenser Mic (pic)

They work brilliantly and have had no problems whatsoever with recording guitars, saxophones, singers, rappers etc. Now I am looking to go the next step and record drums and possibly be able to record an entire band at once (drums, guitar, bass and vocals).

I am planning to get these drums mics:

As they are in my price range, they have had very good reviews, and I have had perfect results from my previous mic from the same company.

All I am asking is, which Firewire interface device should I get to suit my needs. These are the ones I've looked at:

£249 - M-Audio 410 (only two preamps)(link)
£299 - Edirol FA-101 (cheaper but again only two preamps, and no ASIO? and no volume controls for each channel)(link)
£489 - Pre sonus Firepod (lots of preamps, expensive)(link)
£589 - Motu 828mkII (expensive and only two preamps)(link)

I was planning to spend £300 on this firewire device but I'm prepared to spend up to £500 if I am really gaining features and extra quality.

Also I'm presuming just the overhead mics on a drum kit will need phantom power and the others are just dynamic mics?

Thanks

 

[Phyl]

Even with the Presonus Firepod you will soon run out of pre-amps if you are going to record a whole band simultaneously. This suggests to me that you also start looking at a mixer of some sort.

I'd look for a Firewire interface that also has a significant number of line inputs and/or ADAT I/O in order to bring in sound modules, drum sub mixes (from a mixer or another multu pre unit), and any number of other things. One of the MOTU units comes to mind, as does the RME Fireface 800.

The RME is more money than you have budgeted but won't be leapfrogged by other units in terms of flexibility or quality for quite a long time.

 

[manning1]

if were me i would look at RME closely , with standalone mic pre's feeding the RME. if you research this bbs in the back posts - many good reasons have been given for seperating the mic pre's from the convertors.
and this is what i'm doing. you have a good system - but one point to bear in mind for firewire to work well is compatibility between the firewire solution you decide on and whatever firewire support is in your dell.
the first thing i would do is - in control panel , or ask dell what your firewire chip/support is in the dell. then with this knowledge ask the vendor of the firewire solution if there are any possible hiccups/problems.
also - make sure you can return any fw sound device to the vendor if you encounter problems. in summary - research and select carefully. peace.

 

[Phyl]

if were me i would look at RME closely , with standalone mic pre's feeding the RME. if you research this bbs in the back posts - many good reasons have been given for seperating the mic pre's from the convertors.
and this is what i'm doing. you have a good system - but one point to bear in mind for firewire to work well is compatibility between the firewire solution you decide on and whatever firewire support is in your dell.
the first thing i would do is - in control panel , or ask dell what your firewire chip/support is in the dell. then with this knowledge ask the vendor of the firewire solution if there are any possible hiccups/problems.
also - make sure you can return any fw sound device to the vendor if you encounter problems. in summary - research and select carefully. peace.

Great comment.

Manning's idea to check compatibility is a good idea, especially if you go with something other than the RME. Any firewire interface could run into compatibility issues but RME has a reputation for working with a wide variety of platforms and chipsets.

 

[Kim Turley]

Well it's a tad late however as I ordered the equipment, I went with the firepod as it had great reviews and I only need 3 preamps so it will do plenty. I will post a full review with pictures once I recieve all my cables and mics to use it. That will be later this week