pc alternative for apogee duet

[StudioTinPanAll]

hi,

a friend of mine has been recording with a BR-8 for some time now
he wants a step up now in quality
he only records one or two tracks at a time (he's a singer)

if he had a Mac i would suggest the Duet (good mic pre's)

what's the alternative for pc ????

the options i found are :

motu 828
onyx 400
yamaha i88x

[StudioTinPanAll]

anybody knows if the pre's in the yamaha N-8 are any good (like i88x ??)

[jjharvey]

It would be interesting to know whether there are any windows drivers in the pipeline for the apogee, I own one and am trying to get used to Sonar running on paralells, but no drivers are available, so I just have to imagine I am making a great song hahaha

Sorry for the hijack OP

Oh, your probably already aware of this, but tell your friend to steer clear of things like the lexicon alpha; I let a salesman talk me into it. One of the worst purchases I have ever made!dfegad

[junior]

The i88x is good, cheap and runs well on XP/Tiger/Leopard/Bootcamp...

Haven't tried the N8, but I hear the pres are good. Haven't tried the Onyx, but I hear good things too. Have you thought of an Apogee mini me?

[pjplayer]

apogee mini-me with usb/firewire is the most directly comparable with duet, and compared to the other options you mention it's hello-headroom! unfortunately it's compartively expensive, worth requesting one in the classifieds here though.

[Kim Bjäle]

RME Fireface 400

[StudioTinPanAll]

thanks for the replies,
the apogee mini-mp has no firewire option,
so you would need the mini-dac too !!
that would be costly !!

for less money i could get the duet and a macbook or mini-mac


other possibility is the RME fireface 400
anyone knows how good these preamps are (compared to duet or onyx)

i also saw the tascam FW-1802 but i don't really trust the pre's here

thanks again for all you input

grtz,

[junior]

I had a Fireface800 for a while... I thought the i88x pres were better... haven't heard the Onyx, though...

[tnjazz]

Originally Posted by StudioTinPanAll

thanks for the replies,
the apogee mini-mp has no firewire option,
so you would need the mini-dac too !!
that would be costly !!

for less money i could get the duet and a macbook or mini-mac


other possibility is the RME fireface 400
anyone knows how good these preamps are (compared to duet or onyx)

i also saw the tascam FW-1802 but i don't really trust the pre's here

thanks again for all you input

grtz,

Mini ME, not Mini MP. There's one right now over on Tapers Section for $575.

The Mini Me of course has USB and can be retrofitted with Apogee's new Firewire option.

[StudioTinPanAll]

thx tnjazz,

i didn't see the "me" on the apogee site because it is not made anymore
but it's the closest to the duet i guess,

thank you all very much for your help and input,

grtz,

wim