Which Recording Interface? |
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Feb 12 2016, 02:12 PM
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Hello folks,
Following on from THIS thread which is basically becoming a thread about setting up a whole home studio  I'd like to ask your opinion on which audio interface to buy. I want to be able to record two mics and a direct guitar at the same time, a reamping option would be nice but not vital. I am currently using a Presonus mic preamp, if the new interface can do as good job then I can sell the Presonus unless you advise otherwise. Cost under or around £300 Thanks for your help folks Phil -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE  “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Feb 12 2016, 04:07 PM
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I use the Focusrite Scarlett 6i6. It has lots of input and routing options, I expect it'll meet my needs for a very long time.
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Feb 12 2016, 04:40 PM
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QUOTE (yoncopin @ Feb 12 2016, 03:07 PM)  I use the Focusrite Scarlett 6i6. It has lots of input and routing options, I expect it'll meet my needs for a very long time. Thanks I'm looking for something to last Shops that I use because of price or good customer care are below. http://www.thomann.de/es/index.html http://www.andertons.co.uk/ https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/ http://www.juno.co.uk/ Also I don't mind paying more if something is £500 if the extra cost is worth it for a quality build and good features  Thank you for your help folks -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Feb 12 2016, 06:08 PM
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QUOTE (Phil66 @ Feb 12 2016, 06:40 AM) Thanks I'm looking for something to last Shops that I use because of price or good customer care are below. http://www.thomann.de/es/index.html http://www.andertons.co.uk/ https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/ http://www.juno.co.uk/ Also I don't mind paying more if something is £500 if the extra cost is worth it for a quality build and good features Thank you for your help folks I was looking at one of these just yesterday. http://www.rolandus.com/products/octa-capture/ http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/r...audio-interface |
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Feb 12 2016, 06:28 PM
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QUOTE (Phil66 @ Feb 12 2016, 03:40 PM) Thanks I'm looking for something to last Shops that I use because of price or good customer care are below. http://www.thomann.de/es/index.html http://www.andertons.co.uk/ https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/ http://www.juno.co.uk/ Also I don't mind paying more if something is £500 if the extra cost is worth it for a quality build and good features Thank you for your help folks Cool, I checked the andertons site as for some reason its faster for me. For budget to mid-budget stuff if they work past 6 years then consider yourself lucky The only soundcard that got my attention around 500 is the RME which is 600 pounds it is professional grade but I really don't think you'll need such investment as its more of a studio tool than home.So the good thing is around 200-350 pounds there are some really decent stuff. Just sharing some links; http://www.andertons.co.uk/usb-interfaces/...o-interface.asp http://www.andertons.co.uk/usb-interfaces/...dio-38-midi.asp http://www.andertons.co.uk/usb-interfaces/...i-interface.asp http://www.andertons.co.uk/usb-interfaces/...o-interface.asp http://www.andertons.co.uk/usb-interfaces/...o-interface.asp http://www.andertons.co.uk/usb-interfaces/...i-interface.asp My experience of the 2 channel version of roland is pretty good, decent sound and drivers worked great on 2 of my friends pc's. Todd uses an iconnectivity, best is to ask him. I readed my times people complained that steinberg soundcards inputs clip when guitar is direct inserted. I didn't really look into is if its about high output pickups or something but never read anything else bad about them. m-audio, focusrite, presonus are the most popular brands and I haven't worked with them for a long time here in Turkey focusrite is probably the most popular either their 1 or 2 input versions and I don't remember any complaints.
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Feb 12 2016, 07:18 PM
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Thanks Mertay,
Really appreciate your help mate I'll have a good look and create a shortlist in the next few days Cheers -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Feb 12 2016, 07:50 PM
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QUOTE (Phil66 @ Feb 12 2016, 06:18 PM) Thanks Mertay, Really appreciate your help mate I'll have a good look and create a shortlist in the next few days Cheers Cool
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Feb 15 2016, 01:29 PM
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Phil Look at Dv247.com too They're very good
-------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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Feb 15 2016, 03:13 PM
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Yeah thanks I've used them before
-------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Feb 15 2016, 10:24 PM
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Ok,
Thanks for you help folks. My current shortlist is THIS which comes with THIS (I always liked my old Cakewalk DAW). HERE is a page with some videos of the product. I don't know about all of this but I'm hoping someone can advise as I want this to be as future proof as things can be these days. and THIS If you look HERE and select the video tab there are great videos for this product. Due to my limited knowledge of these things I'm asking for your help, I know both will cover me for my immediate needs but it would be great if you can take a look for me and explain why you think I should have which one you think I should have. This is a toss of the coin for me at the moment  Thank you so much for you help, I really really appreciate it. Cheers folks, no rush, I want to be sure it's a good purchase. -------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Feb 16 2016, 12:20 AM
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Since I have no experience of the iconnectivity (as its not sold here too) I'll leave it to other members, also I never really got into using ipad etc. for recording.
I'm very familiar with the 2 input version which I mentioned before of the roland and really liked it. The only downside I know is it doesn't work well with windows xp (Worked flowlessly with win7 upgrade on the same machine) and didn't work well with my friends mac (though I wasn't there when it was installed). I checked some user reviews and negative comments were rare (pretty good since its been 4 years since its release), one obviously had system issues (maybe graphics card, I'm not sure) and one incidated that increasing preamp gain will cause noise while recording. It does state this on its manual but I don't think this will be a problem for you as you won't need to do that anyway. As for the sound, features...reviews are great. My experience was very positive with the 2 channel version, preamps were very quiet yet not weak sounding. It has 8 inputs with preamps, this alone means its ment for small studios (8 mic.s is sort of standard from drum recording). Reviewers were also mostly studio owners so these are strong indications the unit is dependable. Been out for 4 years so to me its a proven unit, which means lesser chance of bumping into software problems depending on the computer (though there's always a risk). As for home use, a friend of mine bought a soundcard and waiting for it to arrive that has more than 4 inputs. Sure like you he'll probably use 3 at the same time most but has a few guitar, keyboard, bass guitar and mic.s. He simply payed more for more inputs so he didn't have to keep connect/disconnect cables...hopefully he won't get lost between all the routing  These are the 2 best reviews I found specially for the experienced members here to check; http://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/82/octa-cap...udio-interface/ http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/...rface--30964656 Phil66, could you remind me why 2 inputs aren't enough? asking cause the UA-55 seems less than half price, I just want to be sure
This post has been edited by Mertay: Feb 16 2016, 12:23 AM |
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Feb 16 2016, 05:50 AM
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The iconnectivity is quite spiff and has endless routing to offer but it may be a bit much more than is neeeded for you at this point. The Roland products are very solid and I've heard generally good things about them so the four or 8 input would be a fine way to go
The 8 input has a handy rack mount option so you can install it in a rack and carry it with you if you like. Or leave the rack ears off and use it on the desktop. That said, you don't have to take advantage of all the iconnectivity can offer in order to get a lot out of it. Just using it as a usb 2.0 4 inputs on the front interface is nice It can also let you expand later by using ipad/ipod as an external processing unit, eg. running BIAS on your ipad/ipod/iphone to process guitars while you record to computer. THe preamps are nice as well. I've been using the iconnectivity as my primary interface ever since I got it and it's been great. I've not turned it off yet so it's been running solid for several months without a break. I like to burn in gear to see if it will fail and nothing yet. QUOTE (Mertay @ Feb 15 2016, 06:20 PM) Since I have no experience of the iconnectivity (as its not sold here too) I'll leave it to other members, also I never really got into using ipad etc. for recording.
I'm very familiar with the 2 input version which I mentioned before of the roland and really liked it. The only downside I know is it doesn't work well with windows xp (Worked flowlessly with win7 upgrade on the same machine) and didn't work well with my friends mac (though I wasn't there when it was installed). I checked some user reviews and negative comments were rare (pretty good since its been 4 years since its release), one obviously had system issues (maybe graphics card, I'm not sure) and one incidated that increasing preamp gain will cause noise while recording. It does state this on its manual but I don't think this will be a problem for you as you won't need to do that anyway. As for the sound, features...reviews are great. My experience was very positive with the 2 channel version, preamps were very quiet yet not weak sounding. It has 8 inputs with preamps, this alone means its ment for small studios (8 mic.s is sort of standard from drum recording). Reviewers were also mostly studio owners so these are strong indications the unit is dependable. Been out for 4 years so to me its a proven unit, which means lesser chance of bumping into software problems depending on the computer (though there's always a risk). As for home use, a friend of mine bought a soundcard and waiting for it to arrive that has more than 4 inputs. Sure like you he'll probably use 3 at the same time most but has a few guitar, keyboard, bass guitar and mic.s. He simply payed more for more inputs so he didn't have to keep connect/disconnect cables...hopefully he won't get lost between all the routing These are the 2 best reviews I found specially for the experienced members here to check; http://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/82/octa-cap...udio-interface/ http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/...rface--30964656 Phil66, could you remind me why 2 inputs aren't enough? asking cause the UA-55 seems less than half price, I just want to be sure |
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Feb 16 2016, 08:14 AM
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Thank you gentlemen,
I'll take a look when I get home this evening. Mertay, two inputs are probably enough for now BUT, I'm thinking it might not be in a few months, we were also discussing a while back about recording direct from GT-001, mic and xlr out from Peavey all at the same time and blending the sounds so I thought if ever I want to experiment when I have one of those days when I want to fiddle around then I can Cheers and thank you again. For the record, I'm leaning towards the iConnectivity at the moment.
-------------------- SEE MY GMC CERTIFICATE “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success.” Israelmore Ayivor |
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Feb 16 2016, 04:17 PM
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I usually prefer Presonus (mostly older series of firewire connection models) or Focusrite. Scarlet's preamps won a few engeneers prizes.
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