Suggestions on a Semi-Portable Setup

jaysunice · 12th February 2006

THE LOW DOWN:

I'm a college student. Back home I have a simple setup in the garage: tuned room, dual G5, logic pro 7.1, motu 896hd (soon to be Apogee Ensemble

), nice keyboard, monitors, etc... I do my own thing (basic contemporary type stuff) as well as bring in various singers, rappers, and generally high-school bands to produce demos and help fund it all...

Problem = Most of the time, I'm not at home, and I'm having WITHDRAWL!!! I do however, own a nice Dell Laptop (guess painting all summer has it's perks, eh?). I would like to purchase some type of portable interface that I can use on the laptop.

It need not be bus-powered, as I don't plan on doing any "remote" recordings, but not like I'm objecting to it. MIDI I/O is pretty esential, although I do have an extra micro lite sitting in the garage, so no biggie. I've been considering the following:

M-Audio 410 (m-powered for ProTools -- nice complement to Logic)
mBox 2 (again, nice complement)
PreSonus Firebox

...thoughts and suggestions on those? Should I just break the bank and get something like the RME 4 channel preamp? Or maybe a Firepod -- this of course because I will ultimately need more preamps considering the Apogee Ensemble only comes with four.

Or would that be stupid? As in, I should start considering saving for some higher-end pre's for the "real" studio back home and just get the M-Audio "cheapie".

Congrats if you made it to the end of this thread...and more power to ya if you're willing to throw any advice my way. J.

jaysunice · 19th February 2006

BUMP BUMP BUMP

dirren · 20th February 2006

Since you're a Logic user already, why not laptop + logic + RME Fireface 800?

jaysunice · 20th February 2006

Because my laptop is a Dell and I don't have the funds for a powerbook or iBook. I had to get a PC for my major -- and I wasn't going to mess with virtualPC on a Mac.

dizziness · 20th February 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysunice

Because my laptop is a Dell and I don't have the funds for a powerbook or iBook. I had to get a PC for my major -- and I wasn't going to mess with virtualPC on a Mac.

I had great success with Nuendo with Fireface 800 on a Compaq laptop. I'm moving to MacBookPro/Logic.

Chris

nathanvacha · 20th February 2006

I would consider three things:

1. How much use will you get from this portable setup... how much time compared to your home setup, what will you be working on, do you need pro results or demoing for yourself to redo at home, etc...

2. Will any of the options you are looking at augment and/or streamline into your current setup? Is there an interface that is both portable and adds to your home setup with extra digital ins or fair quality pre's?

3. Is adding PT going to give you added return? i.e. appease clients who know the name protools or anything? The mbox is probably a bit better than the 410 in that case, but it also has lightpipe and could be used with ext. converters if you needed a larger session in PT...

warhead · 20th February 2006

Firepod = very decent sound and all in one device with solid drivers. I'd look there first.

War

12th February 2006	#1
jaysunice Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2006 Location: Sinking Spring, PA Posts: 205 Thread Starter	Suggestions on a Semi-Portable Setup THE LOW DOWN: I'm a college student. Back home I have a simple setup in the garage: tuned room, dual G5, logic pro 7.1, motu 896hd (soon to be Apogee Ensemble ), nice keyboard, monitors, etc... I do my own thing (basic contemporary type stuff) as well as bring in various singers, rappers, and generally high-school bands to produce demos and help fund it all... Problem = Most of the time, I'm not at home, and I'm having WITHDRAWL!!! I do however, own a nice Dell Laptop (guess painting all summer has it's perks, eh?). I would like to purchase some type of portable interface that I can use on the laptop. It need not be bus-powered, as I don't plan on doing any "remote" recordings, but not like I'm objecting to it. MIDI I/O is pretty esential, although I do have an extra micro lite sitting in the garage, so no biggie. I've been considering the following: M-Audio 410 (m-powered for ProTools -- nice complement to Logic) mBox 2 (again, nice complement) PreSonus Firebox ...thoughts and suggestions on those? Should I just break the bank and get something like the RME 4 channel preamp? Or maybe a Firepod -- this of course because I will ultimately need more preamps considering the Apogee Ensemble only comes with four. Or would that be stupid? As in, I should start considering saving for some higher-end pre's for the "real" studio back home and just get the M-Audio "cheapie". Congrats if you made it to the end of this thread...and more power to ya if you're willing to throw any advice my way. J.

20th February 2006	#3
dirren Gear maniac Joined: Jul 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 207	Since you're a Logic user already, why not laptop + logic + RME Fireface 800? __________________ 15K Studios, SWE

20th February 2006	#7
warhead Jai guru deva om Joined: Feb 2003 Location: South Carolina Posts: 12,259	Firepod = very decent sound and all in one device with solid drivers. I'd look there first. War __________________ Warren Dent, Owner - ZenPro Audio: Gear Now & Zen

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19th February 2006	#2
jaysunice Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2006 Location: Sinking Spring, PA Posts: 205 Thread Starter	BUMP BUMP BUMP

20th February 2006	#6
nathanvacha Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2005 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,231	I would consider three things: 1. How much use will you get from this portable setup... how much time compared to your home setup, what will you be working on, do you need pro results or demoing for yourself to redo at home, etc... 2. Will any of the options you are looking at augment and/or streamline into your current setup? Is there an interface that is both portable and adds to your home setup with extra digital ins or fair quality pre's? 3. Is adding PT going to give you added return? i.e. appease clients who know the name protools or anything? The mbox is probably a bit better than the 410 in that case, but it also has lightpipe and could be used with ext. converters if you needed a larger session in PT...