Hi all,
 
I am looking for an audio interface that will allow me to record Trumpet and Guitar tracks.  Right now all I have is the onboard Sound Line In and an SM57 Mic (and a cheap Radio Shack Mixer that is OLD) :)
 
I was looking at the FocusRite Scarlett 2i4 or the M-Audio Avid FAST TRACK USB II Audio Interface.  I have Win7 PC.  Does anyone have any experience with either of these?
 
Thanks,
Greg

Like I mentioned in your other thread you might want a Roland interface because that comes with Sonar too. 

Thanks for the recommendation. The Roland comes with Sonar X1 LE and is about $265.  I can get Sonar Studio X2 for $150 if I buy X1 and upgrade before the end of the year.  So I am looking at a few other options this way I can get a better version of Studio.  Can you give me your opinion on these?
 
Focusrite 2I4 - $200
Tascam US-200 - $116
Tascam US144 Mkii - $120
M-Audio 9900-65145-12 Fast Track Pro - $202
 
Or any others I should consider?
 
Thanks for the help.
 
 

Thanks for the recommendation. The Roland comes with Sonar X1 LE and is about $265.  I can get Sonar Studio X2 for $150 if I buy X1 and upgrade before the end of the year.  So I am looking at a few other options this way I can get a better version of Studio.  Can you give me your opinion on these?
 
Focusrite 2I4 - $200
Tascam US-200 - $116
Tascam US144 Mkii - $120
M-Audio 9900-65145-12 Fast Track Pro - $202
 
Or any others I should consider?
 
Thanks for the help.
 
 

Even though I own one and for me there are no issues, many here will warn you about Tascam's drivers. The issues have never effected anything I do as it is only a Round trip Latency issue which would only bother me if I used real time effects like Guitar rig. I think there are a few interfaces out there that the drivers could use a little work on. 

I have no personal experience with anything other than the Tascam so cannot personally say much other than what I have read here on the forums. Motu seems a popular choice.  I once owned a M audio fast track pro and it had the worst pre amps. I had to use the SPDIF only. So that brand is in my bad books too. 
The Tascam I have the us1641 has been replaced by the us1800. I think all their products would be about the same and I will say that other than the drivers not being stellar, the rest of the unit is well built and the pre amps are very good. 
Focus on the brand that has at least 1 good pre amp as that's all you will need for your work. 

cannelg


Thanks for the recommendation. The Roland comes with Sonar X1 LE and is about $265.  I can get Sonar Studio X2 for $150 if I buy X1 and upgrade before the end of the year.  So I am looking at a few other options this way I can get a better version of Studio.  Can you give me your opinion on these?
 
Focusrite 2I4 - $200
Tascam US-200 - $116
Tascam US144 Mkii - $120
M-Audio 9900-65145-12 Fast Track Pro - $202
 
Or any others I should consider?
 
Thanks for the help.
 
 

I know one thing - Focusrite's pre-amps are some of the best in their class at whatever price point you care to choose

Focusrite has a grainy signature Focusrite sort of sound that some people speak very highly of.

It's even more obvious with their expensive all discrete transformer based stuff because then when you compare within the higher price points it is very easy to hear how stressed and grainy the mid range sounds compared to deluxe sounding gear.

That might be ok for a trumpet... if you want it to sound aggressive perhaps even irritating.

It's my impression that low priced Focusrite grainy sounding stuff sounds ok when you compare to all the other generic stuff that sounds grainy.



Shopping for a device with good drivers is the way to go if you are sticking with a lower price point.

Sending a trumpet to a generic iChip is going to be an exercise in compromise.

It will be a lot more fun if the drivers are best in class and you can focus on getting the best sound with what you end up with.

RME and Motu have the best Win drivers. 

The Roland stuff has great drivers but poor grounding on the appliances so they seem to have noise issues.

Who else makes great drivers?



best regards,
mike

I don't hear this "graininess" you speak of, and I can choose between several different flavours of Focusrite pre-amp.

Can you post some real world examples for everyone to listen to

"Can you post some real world examples for everyone to listen to"

No... two reasons:

1) After auditioning preamps head to head for a specific task and selecting another preamp we rarely make an additional copy on the preamp we chose not to use.

2) I would not post files for comparison unless I went to great lengths to make the examples suitable for comparison. If you don't do the comparison fairly it's waste of every one's time.


I'll bet you can find some comparisons over at Gearslutz. :-)

best regards,
mike

mike_mccue


"Can you post some real world examples for everyone to listen to"

No... two reasons:

1) After auditioning preamps head to head for a specific task and selecting another preamp we rarely make an additional copy on the preamp we chose not to use.

2) I would not post files for comparison unless I went to great lengths to make the examples suitable for comparison. If you don't do the comparison fairly it's waste of every one's time.


I'll bet you can find some comparisons over at Gearslutz. :-)

best regards,
mike

He is going from his inboard sound card and an old RadioShack mixer and is targeting $200 sound cards and you are offering RME and MOTU. 
Lots of happy Focusrite users on these forums. To th OP -  sometimes moving forward occurs in small steps.