advice on audio interface for x3

Also in regards to the HDD... with that laptop, unless it has an internal SSD (Solid State Drive) you may be better off replacing the internal drive with something faster. 7200RPM is recommended for DAWs but they have 10,000RPM drives now which are obviously even faster. The hard drives are usually what screws up DAWs on high powered laptops... well that and bloatware so try to do a clean install of windows. With the Windows license that came with the laptop you can use any copy of the SAME version of Windows (eg: Win7 Pro 64 preinstalled on the lappy will require a Win7 Pro 64 disc). If you do not have a like disc available there are methods online of stripping out the proprietary install gobbledygook of like Windows discs  (if you have a Win7 Home disc but the lappy is Win7 Pro then you can strip it out to the ISO and install Pro on the lappy). Also MS has recently released downloadable ISOs of all versions for exactly this purpose (but you still need the license/serial number from the laptop).
 
That way you don't have all that bloatware futzing up the recording process. Also there are optimization considerations like disabling power management features while recording. You may already know about some of that stuff though so I'll let this post be unless you ask for more info. Cheers. You sound like a cool dad.
 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention TASCAM's US-322 and US-366 interfaces. As TASCAM and Cakewalk are both part of Gibson there is definitely self-interest at play. However, when I needed an interface for seminars I requested a US-366 to evaluate, and was very impressed. It's now what I'm using with my laptop (for my home studio, I'm still using the V-Studio).
 
What I like about it:
 
Mic pres. There are two combo jack (XLR mic/TRS line) inputs and they can both handle phantom power. The circuitry is discrete, not op amps, and the frequency response extends to 60kHz.
SPDIF digital I/O. Both optical and coaxial (US-366 only - see below).
The high-Z input for guitar is 1 Megohm so there's virtually no loading.
Very solid construction and compact size. I take it on the road, so both matter.
Onboard DSP. Compression, de-esser, reverb, and EQ as well as a mixer. The main use is for situations where, for example, the singer wants to hear the voice with some reverb while recording. One seemingly minor but very cool feature is that there's a button you hit to show/hide the DSP and mixer applications on-screen - you don't have to root around in a programs menu or find a shortcut.
Headphone amp. This is subjective, but it sounds better than average to me.
Inputs are on the front. A small point, but it leads to a neater setup.
 
Limitations:
 
No MIDI in or out. Granted most MIDI these days uses USB, but if you have devices with 5-pin DIN MIDI connectors, you'll need a separate MIDI interface.
Doesn't play nice with ASIO4ALL. Having ASIO4ALL installed on your computer interferes with TASCAM's drivers (which are far better for ASIO anyway, so I don't see any advantage to having ASIO4ALL installed).
You can't enable phantom power for each input individually. To be fair, virtually all relatively low-cost interfaces work similarly.
Only one headphone jack. If you're engineering someone who wants to monitor what they're doing, you'll need to connect a headphone amp to a line out.
 
The main difference between the -366 and -322, aside from $50 ($200 MSRP vs. $150 MSRP, respectively) is that the -322's maximum sample rate is 96kHz and there's no digital I/O. The -366 has optical and coaxial SPDIF I/O and handles sample rates up to 192kHz.
 
The interface market is quite competitive, and there are lots of options at reasonable prices. TASCAM interfaces had never really been on my radar until I joined Gibson, but I have to say the US-322 and -366 are very well engineered and sound excellent. And of course, going forward the drivers will always be tested thoroughly with Sonar.

How about that, Beeps...   The last time I was researching interfaces the QC was first on my list!   But just as you mentioned it was the total cost that first brought Focusrite to my attention, and your good experience with the 18i6 that helped with the final decision.   And absolutely no regrets at this point.
 
If I had the $$ I'd actually like to try the Studio Capture.   
 

Before you buy anything...
 
What about a mike? You didn't mention that you have one yet, nor did you say anything about budgeting for one.
Part of that £300 should definitely be earmarked for something like an SM-58 or an AT-2020.
If she starts gigging sometime down the road, the SM-58 (by Shure) will be suitable for taking on the road. I don't know about the new ones, but back in the day (as they say) you could bang in nails with those suckers. They wouldn't look great after that, but the sound was totally unaffected.
 
As for the AT-2020 (by Audio Technica) it's a studio mike and best left in that environment. It needs phantom power (+48 volts mentioned above).

As far as dynamic mics the classic SM58 is... well a classic but I found the Beta57 is REALLY nice for clarity and higher end vocals (I used it for melodic/screecher stuff and would be great for live female vox I'm assuming) but still has all the durability and body of the 58 (which I found to be a little muddy/boomy in comparison). They are a little more expensive (last time I checked) but man I wish I had access to one again.
 
http://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones/beta/beta-57a-instrument-microphone
 
 

Yeah I think it's really good for the money. I've just ordered it. Got to keep my maddie happy. She did the dishes, walked the dog and made me a drink. I think she knows what's coming haha

Anderton
I would be remiss if I didn't mention TASCAM's US-322 and US-366 interfaces. As TASCAM and Cakewalk are both part of Gibson there is definitely self-interest at play. However, when I needed an interface for seminars I requested a US-366 to evaluate, and was very impressed. It's now what I'm using with my laptop (for my home studio, I'm still using the V-Studio).
 

 
Hi Anderton,
 
How is the low latency performance on the Tascam units? They look really cool, but low latency performance means everything for my workflow, lots of softsynths, etc. and fairly high track counts almost always.
 
I enjoy an Echo Gina3g unit on my main rig still which is PCI (not express) and of course the low latency performance is quite amazing.
 
I want to get a portable unit soon that will still yield good low latency performance. I know the Roland uits have been 
quite successful with this.
 
 
WOW!!! IT COMES WITH Cubase LE. I assume that will be changing to SONAR X3 LE or something soon lol.
 
Thank You In Advance!
 
Lance
 

Beepster
I found the Beta57 is REALLY nice for clarity and higher end vocals

Thanks, Beepster. I'll have to put that on my list of things to get eventually. I hadn't looked at the Beta57 until clicking on your link, so I was surprised to see it has a steel mesh over the business end, unlike the classic SM-57. The classic always made me nervous without the steel mesh, so I always went with the '58.

Throwing away my Roland T-Shirts right now... ;)

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
We got a TASCAM US-366 sent to Boston and we love it. This will be our interface at the NAMM show that shows off SONAR X3. 

That would be tempting if it had midi i/0.
 
Rocky

BTW...I had the Audio Kontrol 1 when it first came out, and it was nice...so, with the added improvements,
I'm sure the 6 does a good job.