Best portable all-in-one interface? - Page 2

Audiop · 16th October 2008

Yes I believe the AF can be daisy chained, several of them actually and I don't think you have to restrict yourself to AF4 but you can add a 8 or 12.

Yes, simplicity is appealing and beatiful sometimes.

I have a 12" PC laptop which obviously is very portable but the FW port doesn't power the AF4 I have. Bringing a small 12V battery of the motorcycel-type solves that but then it's not that light anymore. Thinking on buying a Macbook (not necesseraly the pro).

Having a ultra portable batterypowered rig is kinda cool since you never have to think of mains power, it's super quick to fire up and you can record in all kinds of funny and strange places.

Me and a friend use to bring a DAT to record outdoors, in the subway (great cavernous reverb), and in the car for example.

BTW, I have heard some nice clips with KM183 and I'm thinking on trying them. Do you have any clips you'd like to share?

/Peter

Mazo Audio · 17th October 2008

If you buy one of these you will be very happy. The pres and converters are outstanding.

BrianHanke · 17th October 2008

I got confirmation from an Echo rep that the AF 4 can indeed be daisy chained with the assistance of a S/PDIF cable.

I'm quite pleased with the 183s! I find the bass response in particular to be exceptionally realistic. I'm considering trading them in for a KM 100 with AK 31 heads however, just so I can get an omni with a truly flat frequency response up close to the piano. We'll see if I can get a good price worked out.

I should have my perfect setup ready in a week or two and will start cranking out recordings in earnest. It's amazing the quality one can get on one’s own these days!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiop

Yes I believe the AF can be daisy chained, several of them actually and I don't think you have to restrict yourself to AF4 but you can add a 8 or 12.

BTW, I have heard some nice clips with KM183 and I'm thinking on trying them. Do you have any clips you'd like to share?

/Peter

BrianHanke · 17th October 2008

Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I just don't think I can justify an entire new computer at this point. Too bad I'm not already a Mac guy...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazo Audio

If you buy one of these you will be very happy. The pres and converters are outstanding.

Matti · 17th October 2008

Best? Orpheus

Matti

Audiop · 17th October 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianHanke

I got confirmation from an Echo rep that the AF 4 can indeed be daisy chained with the assistance of a S/PDIF cable.

Yes you can add two channels via the spdif input. However I think you can add any Audiofire unit to the second FW port. There are two FW ports on all FW units.

/Peter

BrianHanke · 17th October 2008

Sorry, I should have been more specific! The rep said the S/PDIF connection would be used to clock sync the units together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiop

Yes you can add two channels via the spdif input. However I think you can add any Audiofire unit to the second FW port. There are two FW ports on all FW units.

/Peter

Audiop · 17th October 2008

Oh, that makes sense. The AF console has two options for clocking, internal and spdif.

/Peter

Shadow_7 · 23rd October 2008

If all you need is two channels, I'd take the laptop out of the picture. A portable field recorder like the Korg MR-1000 is so much easier to deal with. Or a sound devices unit if you need more features. Fewer cables, longer battery life, more dependable than a laptop. I've got mine literally mounted to the mic stand. Take it anywhere, put it anywhere, and no one is tripping over any cables and screwing up whatever setup I had going.

I did the laptop thing with a mobile pre. Not exactly high end, but it showed me that I didn't want to be lugging my laptop, an interface, a mic stand, cables, mics, and whatever bag / red wagon to lug it all around in / on. Even with long cables (power, usb, XLR) you run into too many issues. The plugs are always in the worst possible location anyway. Throw in foot traffic, even if only by the performers, and reliability is virtually nill. I upgraded to SP? or driver X last night and now my laptop wont boot, the concert started five minutes ago, sir you can't be in the isle sir, it's a violation of fire code, and the fire marshall is in attendance tonight. It's just way too much of a headache.

Not applicable in all cases and limited in it's own right. No multitracking. But it so much nicer to take the same rig out to the middle of a corn field and capture stuff. Then turn around and use the same rig that night at some black tie affair. Or to just make one trip from the car, recorder and mics all tied to a mic stand in one hand, and a ham sandwich, popcorn, large drink, camcorder and tripod, or whatever in the other. No wagons, no backpacks, no dollys, and should there be stairs, no big deal. Throw in college parking, or a stadium where there's a lot of ground to cover between you and the venue. Or just the lack of power outlets at the venue and a field recorder can make things simple. Throw in fifth grader management, claiming that you used their power to make the recording, they paid for that power, therefor they own the recording, and why deal with it if you don't have to.

17th October 2008	#32
Mazo Audio Gear maniac Joined: Sep 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 263	Another two thumbs up for Metric Halo If you buy one of these you will be very happy. The pres and converters are outstanding.

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16th October 2008	#31
Audiop Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 3,960	Yes I believe the AF can be daisy chained, several of them actually and I don't think you have to restrict yourself to AF4 but you can add a 8 or 12. Yes, simplicity is appealing and beatiful sometimes. I have a 12" PC laptop which obviously is very portable but the FW port doesn't power the AF4 I have. Bringing a small 12V battery of the motorcycel-type solves that but then it's not that light anymore. Thinking on buying a Macbook (not necesseraly the pro). Having a ultra portable batterypowered rig is kinda cool since you never have to think of mains power, it's super quick to fire up and you can record in all kinds of funny and strange places. Me and a friend use to bring a DAT to record outdoors, in the subway (great cavernous reverb), and in the car for example. BTW, I have heard some nice clips with KM183 and I'm thinking on trying them. Do you have any clips you'd like to share? /Peter

17th October 2008	#35
Matti Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 3,756	Best? Orpheus Matti

23rd October 2008	#39
Shadow_7 Banned Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 595	If all you need is two channels, I'd take the laptop out of the picture. A portable field recorder like the Korg MR-1000 is so much easier to deal with. Or a sound devices unit if you need more features. Fewer cables, longer battery life, more dependable than a laptop. I've got mine literally mounted to the mic stand. Take it anywhere, put it anywhere, and no one is tripping over any cables and screwing up whatever setup I had going. I did the laptop thing with a mobile pre. Not exactly high end, but it showed me that I didn't want to be lugging my laptop, an interface, a mic stand, cables, mics, and whatever bag / red wagon to lug it all around in / on. Even with long cables (power, usb, XLR) you run into too many issues. The plugs are always in the worst possible location anyway. Throw in foot traffic, even if only by the performers, and reliability is virtually nill. I upgraded to SP? or driver X last night and now my laptop wont boot, the concert started five minutes ago, sir you can't be in the isle sir, it's a violation of fire code, and the fire marshall is in attendance tonight. It's just way too much of a headache. Not applicable in all cases and limited in it's own right. No multitracking. But it so much nicer to take the same rig out to the middle of a corn field and capture stuff. Then turn around and use the same rig that night at some black tie affair. Or to just make one trip from the car, recorder and mics all tied to a mic stand in one hand, and a ham sandwich, popcorn, large drink, camcorder and tripod, or whatever in the other. No wagons, no backpacks, no dollys, and should there be stairs, no big deal. Throw in college parking, or a stadium where there's a lot of ground to cover between you and the venue. Or just the lack of power outlets at the venue and a field recorder can make things simple. Throw in fifth grader management, claiming that you used their power to make the recording, they paid for that power, therefor they own the recording, and why deal with it if you don't have to.