TomG
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Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
Hi all Due to some good fortune, I have up to ~$1300 to spend on a dedicated Audio Interface. My needs are:- - my studio is a small project studio - dont need any more than 4 in / 4 out - I am already happy with my Pre's / Mic's / Monitors / Other hardware / Software etc... - it must run fine with Sonar 8.5 X64 and Windows 7 X64 - Firewire or USB but will consider PCI / PCI-E if there is a clear "winner" - I already have separate dedicated MIDI I/O - A manufacturer with a proven driver record [ like EchoAudio who write awesome drivers !! ] - I do a lot [ well just about everything actually ] live input monitored so the lower / better the latency, the better It is replacing my much loved EchoAudio Layla 3G - for which a friend made me an offer to good to refuse
The main priority I have is:-
- Best possible Audio quality I can get for the $$ [ as a minimum, at least better than the Layla 3G ]
I dont have to spend ~$1300, but that is my limit. [ I would only consider going over my limit by a few hundred or so $$$ if that got me an interface that was in yet another sphere and level of quality ]
All ideas / suggestions would be hugely appreciated.
Thx.
Tom
post edited by TomG - 2010/08/17 02:43:31
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Lanceindastudio
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 02:51:01
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I would consider the newer RME usb unit that runs as fast as good firewire units. Good future proof unit that is recommended by great DAW makers like Jim from Studio Cats that posts frequently on this forum. But, truthfully, you cant go wrong with one of the echo products. You are so right in mentioning them. They rock man! With them, you save a lot of money and get a great product. I will, with confidence, claim that between something like the gina3g and the RME unit, the sound of either unit wont make or break your musical quality. They both sound greta, and, they both have great drivers and low latency ;)
post edited by Lanceindastudio - 2010/08/17 02:54:49
Asus P8Z77-V LE PLUS Motherboard i7 3770k CPU 32 gigs RAM Presonus AudioBox iTwo Windows 10 64 bit, SONAR PLATINUM 64 bit Lots of plugins and softsynths and one shot samples, loops Gauge ECM-87, MCA SP-1, Alesis AM51 Presonus Eureka Mackie HR824's and matching subwoofer
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mgh
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 04:17:17
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that's a lot of cash for just what you need! i'd agree with Lance in the RME Fireface UC, you could also look at the Lynx AES16e and the RME HDSPe AES if you already have all the preamps you need, they will probably give you the lowest latency and solidest performance, and being PCIe are fairly futureproof.
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 08:31:40
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+3
Fireface UC would be an excellent choice...
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timboe
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 08:47:15
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Hi Jim [ & TomG and Lance and MGH ]
Jim - seems that the *only* negative thing I read about the FireFace [ FW & UC ] is that the pre's arent great - any thoughts on that from your experience.
Also, from you experieince, is the audio-quality of the FireFace [ FW or UC ] pretty much as good as it gets without having to spend '000's on dedicated AD's, dedicated DA's etc...... ?
tim
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AT
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 11:02:25
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Lynx - one of their PCI cards 4x4 and an ADAt daughter cards for $1200. You won't have to worry about quality - plenty of big league pros use Lynx (everybody from Goldrappe to Paul Leary of the butthole Surfers) and you can expand it to 16 channels if need be through ADAT. The Lynx AES is PCIe but doesn't come w/ converters, so you would only have $500 for conversion itself.
That would be what I'd get at that price, anyway, tho nothing wrong w/ any of the other suggestions.
@
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ohhey
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 15:53:33
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TomG
Hi all
Due to some good fortune, I have up to ~$1300 to spend on a dedicated Audio Interface.
My needs are:-
- my studio is a small project studio
- dont need any more than 4 in / 4 out
- I am already happy with my Pre's / Mic's / Monitors / Other hardware / Software etc...
- it must run fine with Sonar 8.5 X64 and Windows 7 X64
- Firewire or USB but will consider PCI / PCI-E if there is a clear "winner"
- I already have separate dedicated MIDI I/O
- A manufacturer with a proven driver record [ like EchoAudio who write awesome drivers !! ]
- I do a lot [ well just about everything actually ] live input monitored so the lower / better the latency, the better
It is replacing my much loved EchoAudio Layla 3G - for which a friend made me an offer to good to refuse
The main priority I have is:-
- Best possible Audio quality I can get for the $$ [ as a minimum, at least better than the Layla 3G ]
I dont have to spend ~$1300, but that is my limit. [ I would only consider going over my limit by a few hundred or so $$$ if that got me an interface that was in yet another sphere and level of quality ]
All ideas / suggestions would be hugely appreciated.
Thx.
Tom
I'm using a Lynx II card 4x4 and it's the best sounding device (of any kind) I've used. So if converter quality is job one for you that might be a good choice. However, it's internal PCI and when spending that kind of cash you might want to future proof yourself a little more in case you are using a laptop some day. So today I would be buying the RME Fireface UC. It didn't exist when I bought my Lynx card. I'd like to get the RME at some point and use the Lynx card and a rack mount PC for my home stereo. 
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jasonthurley
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 16:13:13
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If you are looking for a simple (great sounding) A/D interface than I would look torwards the Focusrite Liquid Saffire... focusrites Preamps (you get 2 of there more premium preamps and 6 lesser but good preamps) are amazing and have been leaders in Digital A/D It plugs via Firewire and Lists for $999 allowing you to save a few bucks and get an amazing piece of gear. http://www.bhphotovideo.c...iquid_Saffire_56_.html
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 18:48:06
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Jim - seems that the *only* negative thing I read about the FireFace [ FW & UC ] is that the pre's arent great - any thoughts on that from your experience. Also, from you experieince, is the audio-quality of the FireFace [ FW or UC ] pretty much as good as it gets without having to spend '000's on dedicated AD's, dedicated DA's etc...... ? Hi Tim, If you're used to the likes of Universal Audio, GML, Neve, etc... you're not going to be excited by any unit's onboard preamps. That said, the onboard preamps are certainly useful... and sound decent. You'd have to spend $3k+ to move up (significantly) fidelity wise from the UC. The next step up would be something along the lines of the Lynx Aurora series... and from there you move into boutique territory.
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haydn12
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/17 22:52:45
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The RME Fireface is the best for low latency in that price range. I used one doing demos of the Garritan Steinway Grand at NAMM this year on a MacBook. We were getting .75 ms latency! I wish I could afford this unit myself.
Jim
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TomG
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Re:Help me spend ~$1300 on an Audio Interface .... what should I get ?
2010/08/19 07:57:35
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