4 audio interfaces...which one???

[Bernoulli]

Well I just got an imac 21.5 with Logic Express. I am interested in a firewire audio interface that has midi, s/pdif, and enough inputs and outputs for myself and maybe a couple others...real small ensembles. I am interested in quality DAC and mic preamps but I can not afford RME. I have narrowed it down to 4 different firewire audio interfaces. Each runs for $399...Has anyone used these and can you vouch for them using a Mac. Are any hands down better or worse than the other? below are the four interfaces:

TC electronic Impact twin
TC Electronic Impact Twin | Sweetwater.com

Roland FA 66
Roland FA-66 | Sweetwater.com

M-audio profire 610
M-Audio ProFire 610 | Sweetwater.com

Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP
Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP | Sweetwater.com

[msl]

Of those you list personally I'd go for the Impact Twin. I have a Konnekt 6, the DAC is great as good my Duet, pre is ok, I prefer other pres I have. A good mate has the Profire, very good interface for the money, good ADC/DAC, don't know about the pres. I don't like the Saffire range at all.




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[tagpass]

I've used a *ton* of interfaces through the years and am now using the Pro24 DSP with my iMac. Works great so far; love the sound, the flexibility and the built-in reverb plus the compressor and eq on the preamp inputs. Haven't fully delved into the VRM stuff, but it's nice to know it's there there to test mixes or mix via headphones.

I can't speak for the TC stuff, but I'd be definitely be cautious about the ProFire. Depending on what you're planning to record, the ProFire has a gain issue with line level inputs (on the Octane channels). (I recently sold my 2626 expressly for this reason.) Search this site and elsewhere on the web, and you'll find that for certain sources, like synths, the recording level is very, very quiet. Not totally unusable, but definitely inconvenient. For Hi-Z or mic inputs though, there's plenty of gain.

[mike vee]

dude just save a bit more and get a Profire 2626 of off eBay. They go for less that 550 new!!!

[Arcadia]

Stay away from TC... had nothing but driver problems with my Konnekt24D on Mac. RME has been rock-solid.

[miscend]

TC is said to have driver issues with the Konnekt series. Have a look at any of the RME interfaces within your budget range they are excellent.

[thefunnel]

All I'm going to say is avoid M-Audio. Toys at best, and they'll drop support in a few years for your preferred OS configuration at worst. M-Audio FW410 did the job for awhile, considering the price, but I CONSTANTLY had issues that would keep me from getting work done. And my simple-as-shit Radium49 just won't work on Win7 64-bit. It's a basic MIDI keyboard. But they refuse to make any sort of driver, or allow third parties to develop a driver to allow me to use it. So $175 down the tubes on that one, even though it works absolutely fine on my Macbook Pro (but I don't use it for my main DAW). There's a whole thread that's been ongoing since Vista 64-bit (from like 2007?) where M-Audio said they would make drivers but never have. They locked it and delete any other threads. It's a damn shame

[diogo_c]

+1 on the Pro24DSP. thumbsup

[Rust Creep]

not intending to hijack the thread but i didn't want to start a new one for a similar question


i want to use my eventide's ad/da converters... what is the most cost effective audio interface with midi in/out and AES inputs?

if connecting the digital outs from the eventide to the digital inputs on an audio interface, are any of the shortcomings of the interface circumvented.. like poor converters, etc?

any reason to use spdif instead of AES?

thanks

[007]

I was at a friend's house last night, he just got the Profire 610 a few days ago and all I can say is....wow. I'm also in the market for an interface and like the OP, was looking at 3 or 4 different models and now my decision has been made. That thing looks, feels and sounds just brilliant. Plenty of I/O for my needs, small footprint, excellent preamps; heard some vocal, glockenspiel and guitar recordings through SM7B and Rode NT1A mics into the 610 pres-->Logic and I was floored at how good it sounded.

I was leaning on a MOTU Ultralite Mk3 but nah....for $150 less I'm going with the M-Audio. They've upped their game with this one.

[Bernoulli]

Originally Posted by msl

Of those you list personally I'd go for the Impact Twin. I have a Konnekt 6, the DAC is great as good my Duet, pre is ok, I prefer other pres I have. A good mate has the Profire, very good interface for the money, good ADC/DAC, don't know about the pres. I don't like the Saffire range at all.
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What do you not like about the Saffire?

[Bernoulli]

Originally Posted by Arcadia

Stay away from TC... had nothing but driver problems with my Konnekt24D on Mac. RME has been rock-solid.

I do not believe the Impact Twin is part of the Konnekt series... I may be wrong....however, it is a TC Electronic product. Every video on you tube shows people using the Impact twin with Macs...so I'm assuming it probably works well with Macs...again I may be very wrong.

[Bernoulli]

Thanks for the responses...please keep 'em coming. What about the FA 66???Has no one used the Roland FA 66?

[arbee]

I'd go with the focusrite.

I have the pro 24 (without DSP thing) and I love the sound and flexibility. great interface and I have nothing but good things to say.

I've had bad experiences with m-audio interfaces, so I am not interested in those.

[Bernoulli]

Originally Posted by arbee

I've had bad experiences with m-audio interfaces, so I am not interested in those.

Yeah... When I was thinking about getting a PC I was looking at different Audio interfaces and M-Audio seems to have really dropped the ball on a lot of folks who have earlier interfaces. They have abandoned people who have win 7 64 bit and not even old interfaces. Even their new interfaces are having problems with win 7. Anyhow...It's not just M-audio having problems with win 7 64 bit. A lot of manufacturers are having problems producing solid drivers with win 7 64 bit.That is one of the main reasons I finally went with a Mac.

[msl]

Well I haven't used the new Saffire range like the pro24, but I wasn't impressed with the DAC and pres on the regular Saffire (the white one).

The TC driver issues have been solved over a year ago if not longer, personally I never had a single problem (osx 10.4, 10.5, 10.6) I believe the problems were with the firewire chips in certain mac models that came out in '07. As for M-audio well they have a bit of a bad name for a reason, bad support in the past, but the profire is pretty damn nice and very well priced.

In all honesty in that price range all interfaces are pretty much the same sound quality wise, its a matter of what features you want.



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[mike vee]

the profire 2626 is an AWESOME interface...the only really good thing they make though..and the 610

[Xero]

don't forget the echo audiofire line of products...very good stuff for the money

i was considering that fa-66 though, looks pretty nice...

[Bernoulli]

It seems like the Saffire Pro 24 DSP is a good way to go...But now I'm not sure if I should just get the simple Saffire pro 24 or the Saffire pro 24 DSP. It seems like they are pretty much the same minus a headphone jack, and the virtual monitoring. Do you think it's worth a hundred bucks more for the DSP?

[msl]

If your recording vocalists yes, its very handy to have monitoring reverb.




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[Bernoulli]

Originally Posted by msl

If your recording vocalists yes, its very handy to have monitoring reverb.
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Yeah...but how do people record vocals on all the other three audio interfaces I have mentioned that don't have monitoring reverb? Are you not able to record a vocal to let's say two individual tracks...one with reverb effects for instance, and the other dry. The one with effects can be your monitoring track simply to lay down a good vocal and the other dry track you can use for the real track and add just the right amount of effect in the final mix. The original wet track can be disregarded once the track is recorded. Will the wet track have too much latency for a good spot on recording?

I'm curious...I've heard how great the apogee duet is but that does not have the ability to have monitoring effects does it?

[tojo]

I have the FA-101, the bigger edirol brother to the fa-66. It's never had any issues. Works great daisy chained to my owc external firewire drive. The pre's sound fine to me (but what do I know, I came from a behringer mixer before I got mine a couple years ago). Lots of inputs/outputs on the back of my unit. The only qualm i have is that the headphone output is not loud enough. At first I thought the pre's were weak but it was just the output that seemed pretty quiet. At least, when I was playingback in logic and trying to sing over top of tracks and couldn't hear myself (over the track) and the backing track as loud as I would have liked.

I bought mine used for 250 (canadian)

[Bernoulli]

So...Does the Apogee Duet have the ability for the vocalist to monitor effects?
If not, do you just record vocals dry and add the effects later?

[Bernoulli]

Bump

[007]

Originally Posted by Bernoulli

So...Does the Apogee Duet have the ability for the vocalist to monitor effects?
If not, do you just record vocals dry and add the effects later?

No onboard processing on Duet.
You could just put a reverb insert on the vocal track and tweak the reverb thereafter. My only gripe about the Duet (I used to own an Ensemble), while it sounds great, is the lack of I/O. I was really hoping they would have released a Quartet by now, somewhere between the Ensemble and Duet, like the Profire 610 configuration and footprint, but with the pres and converters of the Apogee models. Who knows, maybe it's in the works?

[Bernoulli]

Originally Posted by krou

No onboard processing on Duet.
You could just put a reverb insert on the vocal track and tweak the reverb thereafter. My only gripe about the Duet (I used to own an Ensemble), while it sounds great, is the lack of I/O. I was really hoping they would have released a Quartet by now, somewhere between the Ensemble and Duet, like the Profire 610 configuration and footprint, but with the pres and converters of the Apogee models. Who knows, maybe it's in the works?

Yeah I would have purchased the Duet if it had MIDI and S/pdif like most of the audio interfaces. Something like a quartet would be a no brainer if it had the MIDI and s/pdif and a DSP chip to monitor effects.

[Xero]

Originally Posted by Bernoulli

Yeah I would have purchased the Duet if it had MIDI and S/pdif like most of the audio interfaces. Something like a quartet would be a no brainer if it had the MIDI and s/pdif and a DSP chip to monitor effects.

i wouldn't let midi stop you, there's so many cheapo midi usb interfaces out there it's not that important...

but the duet is still way overpriced imo...

[Captain Proton]

Originally Posted by Rust Creep

not intending to hijack the thread but i didn't want to start a new one for a similar question


i want to use my eventide's ad/da converters... what is the most cost effective audio interface with midi in/out and AES inputs?

if connecting the digital outs from the eventide to the digital inputs on an audio interface, are any of the shortcomings of the interface circumvented.. like poor converters, etc?

any reason to use spdif instead of AES?

thanks

Get a cheap Motu sound card and use it over adat. That's how I have mine set up, 2408mk3's can be had for £400

[Bernoulli]

Originally Posted by Captain Proton

Get a cheap Motu sound card and use it over adat. That's how I have mine set up, 2408mk3's can be had for £400

I have an imac...no card ports to add. If that is what you mean. I finally settled on the Focusright Saffire pro 24 DSP for $399. Only problem is I ordered it from Amazon.com and selected the free shipping. After I completed the purchase I get informed that they will ship it out a week later even though the site said they had it in stock. Free shipping really means they will take their sweet time putting it in a box and shipping it to ya. Next time I'll pay the ten bucks so I can get on with my studio.

[msl]

The problem with running reverb within the daw for the vocalist is latency. So with the duet I sometimes use outboard reverb through my mixer or just do it dry... not ideal but the duet pres are the best ones I have.



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