Audio Interface/Soundcard

Hi, i have been making house music for a while now, using genelec 8040 monitors, but still using the built in sound card with my mac pro. I was told this is a sin as i am losing quality from the output to my speakers from the built in soundcard.

My question is, what would be a good audio interface to buy, in the £100-400 bracket, i don't need loads of ins and outs, just a few for recording a dj mix, a microphone and a guitar - that's all i would have going in. Good sound Quality is vital. Also What leads/cables are best suited for going from my monitors to the audio interface?

 

Any ideas or suggestions or experiences would really be appreciated,

 

Many thanks

 

Tom

Edited September 24, 2008 by elastic

Sounds like the Apogee Duet is what you're looking for.

 

Not too many ins and outs. Top sound quality/converters. And controls integrated directly into Logic.

 

And right in your price range.

Do you use MIDI?

Yes i use midi, i write a lot of my parts in midi, using things like logics own instruments, or 3rd party plug ins in logic such as rob papen etc.

 

the apogee sounds very good, i just read a review of it in future music magazine, i don't know why but i just keep thinking it is somewhat basic, maybe it's just the design, also on the apogee - it says it has 2 xlr mic inputs, ccan they be used for something other than a mic, e.g a guitar.

 

Also, my monitors have an xlr socket to phone on them, i'm guessing i will need new cables - xlr to..........(not sure)

 

Wouldn't it be better to have xlr to xlr?

On the apogee spec it says it has 2 unbalanced line outputs, 2 unbalanced high impedence inputs and 2 balanced xlr inputs.

 

Any chance you could break that down a little?

Yes i use midi, i write a lot of my parts in midi, using things like logics own instruments, or 3rd party plug ins in logic such as rob papen etc.

 

the apogee sounds very good, i just read a review of it in future music magazine, i don't know why but i just keep thinking it is somewhat basic, maybe it's just the design, also on the apogee - it says it has 2 xlr mic inputs, ccan they be used for something other than a mic, e.g a guitar.

 

Also, my monitors have an xlr socket to phone on them, i'm guessing i will need new cables - xlr to..........(not sure)

 

Wouldn't it be better to have xlr to xlr?

On the apogee spec it says it has 2 unbalanced line outputs, 2 unbalanced high impedence inputs and 2 balanced xlr inputs.

 

Any chance you could break that down a little?

 

Balanced outputs are nice for monitors, but if you studio is not so noisy you could live with non-balanced (short) cables. Yes, you need something that converts from balanced to unbalanced.

interesting, what are your thoughts on the focusrite saffire -

 

http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR249163

interesting, what are your thoughts on the focusrite saffire -

 

http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR249163

 

I don't own one but I suspect it's good for the price. I would go with an Apogee if you don't mind the somewhat limited input/output ports as the sound quality is superb for that price. Next I would look at either MOTU traveller Mk3 even if the new price is very high, or then I would check out the new M-Audio ProFire 610 that has the new Octane Pre-amps and nice routing, good price/feature combination.

after looking at the m-audio profire 610 i am tending to lean towards that one, is the sound quality of a high standard with this interface? Many thanks for your help by the way, as i'm sure you're aware how important it is to get the right product.

after looking at the m-audio profire 610 i am tending to lean towards that one, is the sound quality of a high standard with this interface? Many thanks for your help by the way, as i'm sure you're aware how important it is to get the right product.

 

Just check the reviews and if possible do a sound test yourself, it's a brand-new box and I'm not 100% sure how well it sounds, but the price point versus features is very sweet in my old eyes. Yes, get a really good audio interface, my FW410 is still working fine and I got it the day it was released long time ago. It's not worth changing it as it still works fine for my production work (I'm not recording huge orchestras and so forth...)

after looking at the m-audio profire 610 i am tending to lean towards that one, is the sound quality of a high standard with this interface? Many thanks for your help by the way, as i'm sure you're aware how important it is to get the right product.

 

You want to stay away from M-Audio stuff, they have terrible drivers. I was a 410 user myself, there was always something with the software.

If you want good quality for the money you should look at MOTU.

I switched to the Ultralite a year ago and it has been great, they have very good software drivers.

Yo I'm down with Triplets on this one. Read my digital lips: STAY AWAY FROM M-AUDIO!!!

 

Dirtyy

Hey Tom,

 

I produce house too as well as DJing with Ableton and Tractor and had a look into quite a few soundcards when I needed to upgrade. The Apogee is cool but seeing as I needed a card with more outputs to take on the road it ended up being between the Saphire LE and Presonus Firebox. The LE is a great piece of kit, but I went the Presonus Firebox route because of the way it was laid out and it's build quality. I was using a Firewire Audiphile (M-Audio) and will have to agree with the others, the drivers are crap. Firebox is awesome, great sound and quality - I highly recommend it. Check it out http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=4

after looking at the m-audio profire 610 i am tending to lean towards that one, is the sound quality of a high standard with this interface? Many thanks for your help by the way, as i'm sure you're aware how important it is to get the right product.

 

You want to stay away from M-Audio stuff, they have terrible drivers. I was a 410 user myself, there was always something with the software.

If you want good quality for the money you should look at MOTU.

I switched to the Ultralite a year ago and it has been great, they have very good software drivers.

 

Hmm, I've had a FW410 for don't know since stone ages and the drivers are not superb but they are stable and do their job. Just had to constantly update them, that was sure. I think M-Audio got a bad rep from all their products and had time supporting all their drivers, that's the curse they have to drag on now even if they driver support is in order...

I'm very happy with my RME FireFace-400. Good sound quality, very versatile and stable drivers.... And for the connections to the monitors balanced is the way to go as said above.

I'm very happy with my Alesis iO/26 -- but it's got more ins and outs than you say you need.

 

So, how about the Alesis iO/14?

I'm absolutely stoked with my Mackie Onyx 400f. Diamond build, Diamond drivers, AKM Converters (same as RME), the Pre-amps are spectacular, haven't had one prob with it at all. I guess it comes down to standards. If you're happy to go with gear that's "just stable" then that's your bananas. These days, the game is so tight, anything less than the best is a compromise... for me anyway.

 

Dirtyy

However, I do commend M-Audio for a great job on the Izotope range - superb plugins, they are a frequent part of my arsenal.

 

Dirtyy

However, I do commend M-Audio for a great job on the Izotope range - superb plugins, they are a frequent part of my arsenal.

 

Dirtyy

 

They are actually resellers, Izotope is a separate company. Anyway, I've seen a lot of bad mouthing of M-Audio recently, it's a big product, many product lines, one is tainted, the rest get a bad rep, so it goes...

Yea, Im aware of that, hence why I said they did a "great job". At least they're good at marketing someone elses stuff as obviously they've realized it's better than their's.

 

tsk tsk

 

Dirtyy

M-Audio is a little bit like Ibanez. You don't really know who is the real delivery company, some is done in-house, some they just get in and place their M-Audio stamp on it and so forth.

 

I suspect their driver development model was outsourced, and for a while to not a productive group, but it has dramatically improved this year.