New Audio Interface

[PepsiFX357]

I would tend to lean towards the MOTU stuff, I've played with the 896HD and I like it a lot the inputs are both XLR/1/4" and have the possibility of +4 operation and -10 operation. And it's Firewire.

[w_stylz]

RME is not out of your budget if you know what to buy. I suggest a used multiface with PCI or Laptop Card. The go all day on ebay for $400-500. It is also expandable as well since it has an ADAT in and Out. It is also better and lower latency than firewire!!!

[sguali]

RME MULTIFACE II - Thomann Verkkokauppa

I think that if i don't eat in next month i can afford it..

Again i get the feeling that i should just save up as much as i can and just get my self a nice peace of fireface800

[truthnlife13]

I would go with the MOTU 828 MkII. I have one and it is rock solid.
Although if you can swing it +1 for the RME

[Heartfelt]

of those you listed, Audiofire has better specs and has been found similar to an apogee in a blind test by many people.

[bulls hit]

I have a firepod and when it worked it worked really well.

However many of the units (including mine) appear to have a limited shelf life due to some less than stellar quality components, particularly their firewire chips.

Maybe they just use cheap stuff, or their chinese QC needs an overhaul

[w_stylz]

Our studio had a fireface but we were able to get the latency lower with a multiface because it is not Firewire. Firewire is good depending on what you are doing but for performance, nothing beats PCI, or Laptop card. What type of computer are you using?

Get the multiface 1 and save some cabbage. It is very similar and about half the price!!

[w_stylz]

And buy it from the US if you can. Your money is worth 1.4 times what it is there!!

[sguali]

First off..Thanks to everyone. Your guidance has been so helpfull and i appreciate it a lot.

The reason why i don't want to buy the audiofire is that it has only the TRS jacks..And i dont have any experience from the manufactor.

The reason why i would like to purchase the MOTU is that i have a friend that is very pleased with his 828.

That firepod that Mr. Bull Shit owns...Well...Its cheap, pretty and practical.
But i dont want to fight with intrefaces no longer..more info & user comments required on that one.

The Firestudio Project (from the presonus) i absolutly dont know a damn thing about the product. but a) it looks damn cool b) it has enough i/o for me

Still, somehow i'd like the idea of getting RME for my studio. I have very good experiences from the multiface 2. But then again theres the very limited budget of mine...FFS THIS IS HARD!

So anyone of you who owns firepod...Please write in!

[bulls hit]

Just go to the Presonus forums & check out the litany of misery for yourself.

Inspire, Firebox, FP10 (Firepod) - PreSonus Forums

To be fair, most people go there to complain and there are many quietly satisfied users out there (like I used to be). But the local dealer here in NZ has had a 15% return rate on firepods/fp10s, nearly all of the them needing new chips.

If you want one, you'd better hurry as MF are discontinuing them, so their days are numbered

[orange]

I'd avoid anthing USB - not a suitable interface for realtime/highcpu applications IMO.

PS - I'm using 2 828mkii firewire - working great

[sguali]

AWW SHIT!

The fp10 is out of question. So many sad faces..

then i found a interface from alesis...

http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_io26.htm

I dont like the fact that is not rack unit shaped...But not a big deal...

Any comments on that one?

Man this is taking me forever...And for the bonus.. I left my job today.

[fcorl]

I have and use a Firepod everyday for the last 2-3 years to record drums. I use all 8 pres and I haven't had a single problem with it. This is the first I've heard of issues with the Firepod. Obviously, I've heard opinions on the quality of the pres, etc... But everyone knows what they're getting when they buy 8 mic pres for $499.00. They do the job, and are fairly transparent.

[sguali]

Well. That changes all...The convenience of the price range is just fabulous...
And it can't be that bad (compared to my M-Audio Audiophile)

Hmm...I guess that i'll go with that..or the motu..
Anyway..Thanks a lot..And if anyone have anything to say on the alesis product, it would be cool.

[sguali]

I just can't drop this thread... I totally forgot that focusrite existed!

FOCUSRITE SAFFIRE PRO 26 I/O - U.K. International Cyberstore

And does anyone know anything of this

PHONIC FIREFLY 808 - U.K. International Cyberstore

[Yago]

Can I ask why you passed on the Echo equipment ?
The TRS connector thing is vague , if you want a couple of pre amps then the audiofire 8 has two xlr combo sockets as well as 6 more TRS .
As for the manufacture , Echo seem to have a good reputation and are recommended on here by quite a few .
I have one (audiofire 8) not had it that long , but it sounds good and has worked flawlessly .

[jeronimo]

I can´t believe you´re dropping Echo because of 1/4" I/O and you´re considering Phonic and Alesis.

[sguali]

Man i dont know. More i think of getting audiofire 12, the more i prefer motu. Actually that was the orginal plan. Just purchase the motu and everything would be fine. But then i lost track of my thoughts and started wondering around the internet..And now im totally lost..

I dont want to buy some M-Audio shit anymore. And its about time that my super-low-end studio gets rid of the "super"..

But for your question. Its really hard to get in finland..I went to the local music shop at the other day (The are normally well informed about manufactors) and they was like "WTF are you talking about?!?"

Then they start talking about RME FF800...

Of course i could buy it from the internet, like any other gear that i own...Its just too odd to me...or something..

[Yago]

I think I understand what you are saying ....
You are unsure about the company (echo) as they are unheard of in Finland ??
Echo are an American company , who (to (mis?)quote WarHead) excel at making quality eququipment , but suck at marketing !

I have already contributed what I know of the Echo stuff , and I am not going to push any product further (I don't know enough !) .
My advice would be to take your time , read threads (there is one current about interface quality/reliability)
Finally , I suppose the only safe bet in your position is to save the extra money and go for an RME fireface400 , anything else (without trying the equipment) would be taking a gamble (from your perspective) .

[sguali]

Well...RME is solid as a rock. But i just left my job (today) and i really cant afford RME for the time being at least.

I guess that i cool down for a while and get my self a proper budget.

~1k would be so lovely..

[Shadow_7]

Echo seems like good devices.

I probably wouldn't go RME. Not that they're bad, just that their linux support is poor. Sure they at one time cooperated in getting linux drivers for a couple of their devices. But as of late they seem to have no interest in linux. And only about two of their twelve or more devices currently produced have linux drivers. Again, not that they're bad devices with bad drivers, just that if you want to use them in linux, you better be a gambler.

Most of my current devices are M-Audio. Decent for the money and linux support seems to be there. As I'm looking at getting more OS / PC independant devices like the Fostex FR2LE. YMMV.

[sguali]

At this moment i have the M-Audio Audiophile, and i HATE IT!
It drops once a day, there are only few i/o..

But the drivers are good in linux got to admit. I installed a ubuntu and i was suprised as person can be when it just...worked. And if i remeber right, there was no fighting at all.

[redddog]

I have owned and used extensively a Firepod, a Fireface 800 and an Audiofire 12/mackie 800r. I still have the AF12.

The preamps in the fireface sucked for me and I couldn't justify having the unit with 4 preamps that I hated. I absolutely love the Audiofire. As someone said before, there was a blind converter shootout that was very well done and most everyone picked the AF 12 over the apogee ad16x/da16x. It was actually quite funny. Then, of course, once the tests were revealed, everyone backtracked and gave bullshit reasons for their choices. The results were there. I have a buddy with apogees and brought my AF over and he said they compared very closely after he listened to them. FWIW.

The bottom line is that you should buy what you're comfortable with. But to cross the Echo off the list because it only has TRS connectors doesn't make any sense.

[vcovco]

Well...if you don't want trs inputs only, how about Echo Audiofire 8? I have an audiofire 4 and an RME fireface400 and I much prefer the sound of audiofire over the fireface (I strongly agree with redddog--I think the preamps in the fireface suck big time.)

Fireface has much better latency than Echo stuff if you are into software synths, but other than that, Echo stuff rocks.

I also own a presonus firestudio project, and I've had good luck with it, but the Echo SOUNDS the best of all...

Definitely buy from someplace with a liberal return policy...

[studioland]

the next m-audio coming 2616 or 2816 I guess check their websites or cheaper the FW1814 very stable and working with protools what others don't. I would stay away from the firestation.

[Doc Mixwell]

Forget about connectors and get an interface that works with you,

You have a many instruments, do you need multi-channel? If you are on a Mac, the Apogee Duet would be your best choice for sound quality, I think.

If you overdub, there's no reason for extra channels when you don't need them.

[sguali]

M-AUDIO - ProFire 2626 - High-Definition 26-in/26-out FireWire Audio Interface with Octane Preamp Technology

That is awesome!

But that is not even in stores yet? correct me if im wrong..

[studioland]

yes you have to wait 1-2 months I guess. I have a 1814 right now working very stable never any audio or digital problems with it and I think I will go for the 2616 as a soon as I know it works well too.
I agree with Roc if you only need 2 track apogee duet is a good options but still doesn't work with ptools.

[sguali]

There are gonna be some changes in the studio so duet is not suitable.
1-2 months would be no problem for me to wait...in that time i could get a proper budjet, so it would be win/win situation...

Then again...There is the motu that works well and has the i/o i need.

Time will tell how expensive the m-audio will be...Its useless to start wondering that in this point.