rscain
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Interface research
OK, with X2 being here now I figure it's time to upgrade my interface so I've been doing some research.
In my price range ($300-400) I've narrowed things down to either one of the Focusrite Saphire units (24 or 40) or one of the Presonus models.
Anybody got any opinions/advice?
Oh yeah, I should mention that I want to stay with a firewire unit, too many USB ports in use as it is.
Thanks in advance, guys!
My Tunes On SoundClick AMD FX9350 @4 gHz, 16 gb ram, 240 gb SSD, 2 1Tb SS/Hybrid HDs, 1 Tb Fantom External HD, Windows 10 64 bit, Sonar Platinum 64 bit, Studio One 4 Pro, Harrison Mixbus, Izotope Neutron 2 Advanced and Ozone 8 Advanced, ARC 2, NI Komplete 11 Ultimate, TC-Helicon VoiceLive 3, Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP, Focusrite Octopre MkII, KRK Rokit 8 monitors, Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones, MidiMan Oxygen 8, Behringer X-Touch, guitars and stuff
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bluzdog
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 10:21:41
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The new MOTU Track 16 looks interesting. It can do USB 2 or Firewire and has everything I'm looking for in an interface. http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/track16. It comes in a little above your price point though, $549. Rocky
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cclarry
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 10:30:17
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I'd take a serious look at this....it's $150 more then your budget...but would be worth it... If I had the coin...I'd have it...24 bit - 192 Khz - Firewire 400 AND USB.... http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Track16 and Sweetwater let's you make 3 payments of $183.00 There's a one time $10.00 Fee for the service....but it makes it easier to get things that are usually "out of reach" And you can get them to "Price Match" so, if you find it cheaper....they'll match that price.. Right now MusiciansFriend has it for the same price with 15 percent off...making it $467... That's my 2 cents worth.... Both the Focusrite and Presonus units are worthy...but only hit 24 bit - 96 Khz...which is really more then enough...but if you can get even better rez...and MORE inputs...why not?
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cclarry
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 10:32:15
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bluzdog
The new MOTU Track 16 looks interesting. It can do USB 2 or Firewire and has everything I'm looking for in an interface. http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/track16. It comes in a little above your price point though, $549.
Rocky
ha...posting at the same time...nice!
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Mystic38
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 10:56:17
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I think your selection needs to come down to interface type (firewire) and number of I/O..
So, with respect to the prior recommendations for the Track16..its "horses for courses" since if you have external synths or fx gear the track16 (with only one pair of balanced inputs) is pretty useless.. so for me, looking at my 4 (real) synths...I would be looking at the saffire 40 as it looks like it would be very flexible..
so..look at your gear, and see what your i/o needs are
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JonD
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 11:03:25
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The Track16 is sexy all right, but personally I wouldn't touch any interface that hasn't been out long enough to have its drivers patched a couple of times. (Also, it's USB... Apparently the other posters didn't read the OP's entire post: He's asking for Firewire). Speaking as someone who owns two FW units, I have just one piece of advice... Even if your board has built-in FW, install a PCI/PCIe FW add-on card (SIIG is a good brand). They are not very expensive - especially the PCI - and you will bypass all the problems generally associated with the built-in FW ports. (Even TI chipset controllers can be glitchy, depending on your board's architecture. The add-on card, in my experience, gets around any conflicts). Good luck. 
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
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rscain
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 11:36:54
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Thanks guys, the MOTU unit looks cool but out of my range ATM.
I'm thinking the Saphire 40, I don't need that many I/Os as a rule but every now and then I'll need to do a session where it would come in handy.
My mobo has a Via chipset which according to Focusrite should work fine, if not I can slap a card in there.
Yeah, I believe the Saphire 40 is gonna be the ticket.
My Tunes On SoundClick AMD FX9350 @4 gHz, 16 gb ram, 240 gb SSD, 2 1Tb SS/Hybrid HDs, 1 Tb Fantom External HD, Windows 10 64 bit, Sonar Platinum 64 bit, Studio One 4 Pro, Harrison Mixbus, Izotope Neutron 2 Advanced and Ozone 8 Advanced, ARC 2, NI Komplete 11 Ultimate, TC-Helicon VoiceLive 3, Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP, Focusrite Octopre MkII, KRK Rokit 8 monitors, Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones, MidiMan Oxygen 8, Behringer X-Touch, guitars and stuff
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evansmalley
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 11:55:56
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I have two Sapphire pro 40's- couldn't recommend them enough! Sounds much MUCH better than my old MOTU's- no comparison. (didn't have the Black Lion mods though)
Focusrite, like Cakewalk, has an actual phone help line where people actually answer the phone and help you. Amazing. Great company, hassle free. You should know that if you do a ton of midi work that there are probably interfaces which allow you to work at lower latencies. I mostly record acoustic, classical instruments and for that, the Focusrites are absolutely superb.
I'd also recommend getting them on eBay- I saved a bunch of money that way.
Best wishes-
Ev
Win7 Pro 64 bit sp1, i7-960 Intel processor, 8 gig RAM, SSD 64gig boot drive, Samsung F3 1TB D drive, nVidia Quadro 600 video card, Gigabyte X58A mobo, LG Blu-ray drive, 500 Gig E, F Drives, dual-monitors: 26" each, 2 X Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 ASIO hardware I/O's, Tascam US-428 control surface, Sonar 8.5.3 and X1 Producer, Avid Media Composer 5.0.4, Vintage 42-input Amek console, much outboard analog audio gear, acoustic world instruments, and noise toys!
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bluzdog
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 12:43:20
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In my situation, I like the idea of having optical (adat) out. Otherwise the Focusrite Scarlett would be right up my alley.
Rocky
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cclarry
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 13:00:42
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JonD
The Track16 is sexy all right, but personally I wouldn't touch any interface that hasn't been out long enough to have its drivers patched a couple of times.
(Also, it's USB... Apparently the other posters didn't read the OP's entire post: He's asking for Firewire).
Speaking as someone who owns two FW units, I have just one piece of advice... Even if your board has built-in FW, install a PCI/PCIe FW add-on card (SIIG is a good brand).
They are not very expensive - especially the PCI - and you will bypass all the problems generally associated with the built-in FW ports. (Even TI chipset controllers can be glitchy, depending on your board's architecture. The add-on card, in my experience, gets around any conflicts).
Good luck.
JonD, The Track16 is BOTH USB AND FIREWIRE 400...you obviously ddin't read the entire description (or posts) And it has 16 inputs....only 2 Mic Pre's...and has Lightpipe as well... It's a pretty sweet unit... If you've ever used any of Motu's MK3 units there drivers are pretty solid... and their reputation is pretty solid as well.. I'm certainly not opposed to either Focusrite or Presonus....I just think - bang for buck..the Track16 is the way to go....and at $549 with 15 percent off making it $467....it's a steal.. I would love to be able to up my Quad to an Octa one day...but if I'm gonna spend that kind of money I'll opt for the Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 for few hundred more and 16 inputs and a digital mixer that I can use in Studio OR Live...
post edited by cclarry - 2012/10/01 13:36:58
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travismc1
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 13:10:24
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I wanted to throw out that Sweetwater and Guitar Center and others are selling the Maudio Profire 2626 for $399. It's a good unit... 24 bit/192 khz... It's rock solid and if firewire goes the way of the wild dodo, u can use the lightpipes to connect to other interfaces.
Dell XPS Studio / Core I-7 920 / 8GB DDR-3/ Windows 7/ 2-1 Tb SATA hd. SONAR X3b Producer / Axiom49 (2nd Gen)/ Profire 2626 / ProTools 11 http://bigtstudio.com/
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cclarry
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 13:35:33
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travismc1
I wanted to throw out that Sweetwater and Guitar Center and others are selling the Maudio Profire 2626 for $399. It's a good unit... 24 bit/192 khz... It's rock solid and if firewire goes the way of the wild dodo, u can use the lightpipes to connect to other interfaces.
+1 Good point Travis! More and more, and now with USB 3.0, Firewire is dwindling away... Still don't have any USB 3.0 Audio Interfaces yet...will be interesting to see where it goes...
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myconsumerclub
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 13:46:52
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usb 3.0 is what I want to see come out before I buy anything else as well.
Samsung I7 8 mb ram windows 8 64 bit on everything x2 & X1 producer line 6 podfarm gold interface event monitors Ibanez rg 350 guitar and GA6CE classical edirol pcr 500 keystation 88 plugins out the wazoo
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Blogman
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 13:47:49
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Also, if you enter 'SAVING200' in Guitar Center's online code it will take off $10 off $49, $100 off of $499, and $200 off $999 or more.... this goes through Oct. 3. +1 for Sweetwater payment plan too. :)
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tlw
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 19:46:55
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It might be wise to hold off any final decision until the real world availability (and quality) of Win8 drivers is known. Just a thought....
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JonD
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/01 23:04:14
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cclarry
JonD,
The Track16 is BOTH USB AND FIREWIRE 400...you obviously ddin't read the entire description (or posts)
...
If you've ever used any of Motu's MK3 units there drivers are pretty solid...
and their reputation is pretty solid as well..
... Fair enough - I stand corrected. Still, I'd be hesitant to recommend a new-on-the-market $300+ interface based on the company's past drivers. Chipsets, suppliers - heck, even programmers, change all the time.... In short, quality of drivers can turn on a dime (No pun intended). Seriously, I'm surprised you didn't recommend the Quad-Capture since that is what you have. From what I've read, it's a solid unit... and of course, it's made by Roland, CW's parent company. I would've bought one, but was leaning toward FW, so got the TCE Impact Twin instead. So far, it's been rock-solid. Not getting the ultra-low latencys I hear the Roland units get with Sonar, but close enough for my needs....
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
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Psychobillybob
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/02 01:32:41
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Presonus makes pretty noisy gear, at least any preamp I've used of theirs was a wet blanket compared to other products...and there's generally no way to truly bypass the circuit...its a isolation barrier design flaw they've never invested in overcoming (Behringer has this same disease as well as mackie)
Motu is a good company (except on the customer support model...its long and murderous not worthy of their products)...but they tend to the high side of cost and if you are going to commit that much payola you might as well go with Lynx or Prism, or Apogee...
I suspect firewire has maybe 3 years of life left, thunderbolt is starting to replace it
Anything USB 2 will have some future since anything else on that bus will probably be backwards compatible...
Saffire is good...
I'm using SOnar Platinium on a 6 core Lynx Audio machine and a ton of vintage pre-amps/eq's/comps I build for fun and sometimes money, REDD.47/API/Neve I also use the UAD stuff, and also use a Macbook Logic 9 through Apogee...
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travismc1
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/02 07:31:23
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I'm going to throw this out there not meaning to step on toes, but I don't foresee any new gear coming out of USB3 in the near future and even if it is introduced at the next NAMM how long will it take to bring the product to market, would the ASIO drivers be mature enough when it gets here to handle the changes without hickups in performance or workflow? Also something to think about, since most of us here use the ASIO model, how long will it take STEINBERG to model the Windows 8 ASIO drivers if the sound i/o is as drastic of a change as Windows XP wdm to Windows Vista WASAPI was? I can honestly say that I am extremely satisfied with the stability Win 7 Pro and the current hardware schemes of FIREWIRE or USB 2.0. Since FIREWIRE was the love child of Apple and Apple no longer puts that on Macbooks, FIREWIRE will die, the question is... HOW SOON? Can you even buy a high end PC laptop with firewire? OR a PCMCIA slot to accept FW adapters? Most USB 2.0 equipment does not handle LIGHTPIPE. Steinberg and MOTU have just introduced medium-end hardware in the last year that can handle LIGHTPIPE. Where do we go from here?
Dell XPS Studio / Core I-7 920 / 8GB DDR-3/ Windows 7/ 2-1 Tb SATA hd. SONAR X3b Producer / Axiom49 (2nd Gen)/ Profire 2626 / ProTools 11 http://bigtstudio.com/
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cclarry
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Re:Interface research
2012/10/02 07:50:15
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JonD
cclarry
JonD,
The Track16 is BOTH USB AND FIREWIRE 400...you obviously ddin't read the entire description (or posts)
...
If you've ever used any of Motu's MK3 units there drivers are pretty solid...
and their reputation is pretty solid as well..
... Fair enough - I stand corrected. Still, I'd be hesitant to recommend a new-on-the-market $300+ interface based on the company's past drivers. Chipsets, suppliers - heck, even programmers, change all the time.... In short, quality of drivers can turn on a dime (No pun intended).
Seriously, I'm surprised you didn't recommend the Quad-Capture since that is what you have. From what I've read, it's a solid unit... and of course, it's made by Roland, CW's parent company. I would've bought one, but was leaning toward FW, so got the TCE Impact Twin instead. So far, it's been rock-solid. Not getting the ultra-low latencys I hear the Roland units get with Sonar, but close enough for my needs....
JonD, I HIGHLY recommend the Quad-Capture to anyone using USB.....the Quad is ROCK SOLID....and has incredibly low latency and incredible Digitally controlled Pre-Amps....VS Pre-amps...the same as in Rolands flagship VS-700. For the money, IMHO...it's the best USB interface in the price range. I had a V-Studio 100, which I loved, but had to sell due to some cash flow issues a few years ago...it, also, is a brilliant piece of hardware. I am a HUGE Cakewalk fan...but I don't let my "fan-dom" sway a "balanced" opinion, as most fanboi's do....objectivity is key.
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