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Scarlett 2i4 or Avid Mbox
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Old 5th October 2012   #1
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Scarlett 2i4 or Avid Mbox
Hi guys,

I currently have a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 for my macbook pro going straight into pro tools 10. Being at university, i wanted to be able to keep this, but also have a small interface to take around for small location recordings, and for going home during breaks so i don't have to haul my 56 with me. I'm using pro tools 10, and i was looking for something small, portable and USB bus powered. I originally went straight to the Avid Mbox (the mid range one, not the mini or pro) as it is (i'm guessing) most likely to 'play nice' with Pro Tools, and it's USB 2.0, as opposed to 1.1. Then i saw the scarlett 2i4, which unless i'm mistaken seems to be essentially the same interface but in a Focusrite enclosure and MUCH cheaper! Can anyone confirm this? And does anyone know it works with Pro Tools and also Logic (i barely use Logic, but i still have it installed, and it would be nice to know i can still use it without a hitch). Also, does the scarlett use Focusrite's Mix Control software?

And of course, what would you guys recommend for under £200 (bearing in mind i can get education discounts!!)?


Sorry for the jumbled mass of questions towards the end, i appreciate your help!
mrmeister
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- 15" Macbook Pro 2.2GHz i7 (late 2011), 16GB RAM (1333MHz), 240GB Vertex 3 SSD, Mac OS X 10.7.4 (Lion)
- Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56
- Pro Tools 10.3.2
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Old 6th October 2012   #2
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If you are familiar with the quality of liquid pre on the front of LS56, you may be disappointed with the pres of Scarlett. I'm not saying Scarlett's pres are bad, and they are quite clean and usable as Paul says (except for low output mic like SM7 or RE20). LS56's pres are so good, in my opinion, when I compared with my Saffire 24, which is something similar to Scarlett. I don't know the pres of MBox 3, but MBox would be a safe choice, if you use it with PT (again, I'm not saying Scarlett doesn't work with PT).
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Old 6th October 2012   #3
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Ok. So far it seems like 1 in favour of the Focusrite and 1 in favour of the Avid (although still not saying no to the Focusrite). Does anyone else have an opinion on this so to help make up my mind?
Thanks
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Old 6th October 2012   #4
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ill suggest the Roland quad capture even though you didn't list it.

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Old 6th October 2012   #5
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Focusrite anything over Avid/M-Audio anything. That's not idiotic brand loyalty, so much as having owned multiple interfaces from both and the Focusrites consistently making a mockery out of the Avid/M-Audio/Digidesign stuff on a price vs sound quality ratio.
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Old 7th October 2012   #6
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RME and Focusrite are both brands deserving of loyalty. It's nice to buy something and not sweat in terror when you plug it in wondering if it will work/sound like wet cardboard/explode.
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Old 7th October 2012   #7
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I would go with the Scarlett. It does not use the Mix Control but instead the 2i4 has a "mix" knob so you can hear yourself with no latency. The 8i6 uses the mix control software and has superior preamps, but it is not bus powered. However, if you are willing to plug the interface in to a wall outlet the 8i6 is a superior interface.

If you want to take out a bank loan the Forte rules all! Haha. I just got one and the preamps sound amazing and have a RIDICULOUS amount of gain.
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