16 ch interface with with 16 preamps?

[solo-bration]

Can anyone suggest a (preferably rack-mounted - not a mixer) 16+ channel firewire interface? I need something with 16 preamps, xlr in, gain control knobs, +48 & pads: for live recording into Protools 9.

I only have internet on my phone right here so my googling results have been limited. Thanks in advance!

[artbeat77]

I've had my eye out for something like that for a long time. The best solution that I've seen, unfortunately, is a 16 channel mixer with integrated firewire which is exactly what we aren't looking for.

I have no idea why there aren't a million rack-mounted options out there that fit this description.

[disinfor]

If I just read the last post from Black Lion on Facebook correctly, they are actually making one...DB25-AES, USB2 and Thunderbolt connectivity.

[nedorama]

Mac? Windows? Budget?

Even a lowly 003R Factory + an ADAT pre gets you there, just not in one box.

With Macs and PT9, you can use multiple devices in aggregate IO.

[artbeat77]

Originally Posted by disinfor

If I just read the last post from Black Lion on Facebook correctly, they are actually making one...DB25-AES, USB2 and Thunderbolt connectivity.

Yikes! $12k-$15k!!

[solo-bration]

Originally Posted by nedorama

Mac? Windows? Budget?

Even a lowly 003R Factory + an ADAT pre gets you there, just not in one box.

With Macs and PT9, you can use multiple devices in aggregate IO.

Def not $12k budget, but maybe 1-2k tops. I have an old 003r and 002r. Will pt9 let me use both at the same time? I'm on a macbook pro. Not sure if it has more than 1fw port. Thanks for the responses!

[artbeat77]

Using Nedorama's solution, you would only need one firewire port. You would, for example, take the Optical out of the 002r into the Optical in of the 003r which would be connected to your DAW via firewire.

[JR Hiner]

You could also daisy chain 2 interfaces, maybe something along the lines of MOTU 8pres are well within your budget.

[tacitus]

Motu 896HD used + 8pre (or even B***ger ADA8000). I'm suggesting the older 896 as I understand (and therefore could be wrong) that you can't bypass the pres on the new one. If you wanted better pres later you might want to do that.

This gives a 16 channel entity on one firewire.

[travisbrown]

Does I need to be one unit? Two 8 channel preamps --> ADAT units plus a M-Audio Lightbridge or Presonus Lightpipe would work and leave you room for another 16 channels.

Two Mackie Onyx 1u rack units with FireWire would get you there just fine under $2k

[RightOnRome]

it can be rack mounted but its a mixer

presonus studio live 16.4.2


i use one for live sound, live recording, and my in-ear mixer

love it!

[Bassmankr]

Here is what I would do with that $2k budget to get the most flexibility and best sound. Buy a used Alesis HD24XR ($1200 used) and RME 9652 PCI interface card (the newer version with 2 midi I/O, $300 used) which would give you 24 channels I/O with one of the best low latency at full load interfaces/interface software. Now team that with pres and my choice within your budget would be a used JBL 7510A or 7510B unit with at least 4 cards (each card has 4 pres on it and the unit will take 6 cards for a total of 24 pres total). The used JBL's sell for around $25 per pre (around $100 per card). Now in 6 rack spaces you have a self contained 24 channel recorder that you can take anywhere easily. For your home studio use I'd use the HD24XR as converters only and for remotes, record to it's hard drive and when back just dump the files to your computer (there is a free app to do this). There are plenty of threads here to read up on about the above gear. As for the JBL pres there are some fairly cheap mods that can be done to make them more useful and they have a mid forward voicing similar to API but without API's 3D (what do you want for $25 per pre?). Of course going this route leaves the door open to many pre options but for your budget (down the road you can just get better pres but keep the converters/interface) I think having the better converters/interface (than the firewire options) I suggested would do you the most good. If you are never going to do remote recording then for the same pre money you may be able to find a good deal on an analog mixer with decent sounding pres (even a Mackie 24-8 will have usable neutral pres and they are $700 used). As for software, with your budget and Avid's upgrade paths/pricing I think it's time to save a lot of money (up your budget by another $2k) or switch DAWs. You can keep either the 002 or 003 to use via file transfers but pick up Reaper/Cubase/Presonus/Samplitude as your main DAW. I'm sure for your budget, money spent on pres / converters / interface will reap more benefits than spending that same money on Pro Tools.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by artbeat77

Using Nedorama's solution, you would only need one firewire port. You would, for example, take the Optical out of the 002r into the Optical in of the 003r which would be connected to your DAW via firewire.

You can't use the 002r standalone - this won't work. Plus anyway, it only gives you 4 more pres.

[Slikjmuzik]

$1-$2k budget is what kills it. In any case, ideal would be an Aurora16 with Firewire Lslot card and 16 external pres. My ideal would be 2 Daking 4pres, 1 3124 and 1 Vintech 473 for your 16 total pres. If you need anything outside of that, build yourself a DIY tuber pre like a Redd47, but really any studio would be happy with that selection.

Now that that's out and I can stop dreaming, within your budget, the best bang for your buck is going to be a Mackie Onyx going in Firewire.

I personally have a Lynx Aurora16 going in adat into a Profire2626 with a variety of external pres.

Best wishes.

[Enlightened Hand]

The current budget ruins this situation if long term reliability is a consideration. But if I were wanting what the OP wanted I'd consider:

-Lynx Aurora 16 ($3k)
-Lynx LT-FW expansion card ($500)
-16 preamps of your choice (so many options here the price can vary from as little as just around $1k for 16ch to the sky as the limit, I personally would go for something reliable and decent sounding, like the Shiny Box Si4(x4))

That gets you 16ch of high quality, versatile pres (if you went with the Shiny Box option), 16 channels of high quality conversion i/o, firewire interfacing, and rack mounting all for a bit under $10k after tax, which is an excellent deal for the level of quality and ease of use.

But if money is the main concern then you simply either can't have it all be "the best" or you can't have as much. In which case I'd consider:

-Steinberg MR816 CSX ($1k)
-Steinberg MR816 x ($700)

That's a very good deal as well for the sound quality and features. Everybody I've spoken with says it sounds fantastic. I can't speak for the long term reliability as I don't own one.

[nedorama]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

You can't use the 002r standalone - this won't work. Plus anyway, it only gives you 4 more pres.

Actually, you can and we have. On the 002r, inputs 1-8 are mirrored to ADAT out 1-8. Can't speak to the 003R.

The reason I suggested the 003R Factory is that instead of 4 mic pres + 4 line inputs, it has 8 mic pres.

I'd sell your 003R and 002R, get a presonus D8 mic pre (avoid the Behringer ADA8000 - they're a crapshoot) and get either a 003R Factory or get a new FW 8 channel mic pre of choice. You'll be able to stay within 3RU of space.

For a hard drive to record 16 channels live, I wouldn't skimp; get a Glyph drive. Then you can rackmount the whole thing in a shockmounted 4-space rack and be done with it.

You can easily stay within your budget with that setup. Yes there are better interfaces than the 002r, but if you're doing some recording and not a lot, no sense spending a ton of money vs. your main interest. Other option would be to rent when you needed it if it's a 1-2 time a year type of thing.

We've used an Alesis HD24 for recording -- great if you have line inputs off a mixer, but I wouldnt buy that and then 16 mic pres as well. It's also painfully slow to transfer files, and the firewire caddy is iffy. That also becomes a 6RU recording rig - not very portable. The RME suggestion obviously doesn't work since you're on a laptop...

Presonus mixer - it has 16 mic pres, but you're paying for a consumer digital mixer with a lot of other things besides 16 mic pres and a FW interface. I'd avoid.

[Bassmankr]

Hard drive file transfers go real fast now (same as any other hard drive to hard drive file transfers) with the HD24 - HD24XR just by moving the hard drive in it's caddy to your main box and use a free app for format conversion. Your main box needs a compatible caddy holder which is under $20. All that info is here and at the usergroup with a bit of digging. Using a laptop kills using a RME 9652 though. The point of the HD24XR was to get better converters than the typical firewire solutions, converters that would be keepers. It also frees you up to use any pres you want instead of the typically low grade pres found in firwire devices. The JBL pres suggestion fit your budget and when you were ready to move up in quality with some other pres (say at least $200 per pre), you would probably break even on the JBL's resale. How important is keeping the laptop for a music computer to you? You can have a decent old box for less than $400 and a new DIY Sandybridge box build for under $1k. Additionally if you ever intend to go beyond 16 channels I/O, firwire or USB won't cut it. The new Thunderbolt connection for laptops will probably handle 24 I/O but its still wait and see what they do in the real world (low latency under full load) plus they are going to cost a lot more bucks.

[clonewar]

For your needs and budget I would go with two Steinberg MR816x's. That'll give you 16 I/O, 16 decent pres, XLR ports, gain control knobs, and digital I/O for future expansion. And they can be daisy chained over their firewire ports, so you only need to use one firewire cable to your Macbook.

[popmann]

Agree...the two contenders should be Mackie's Onyx Blackbirds and the Steiny mentioned above. 2 units of either. If you use Cubase, go Steiny. Otherwise, I'd look into the driver compatibility of the Onyx...solid pres. Cheaper.

Steiny with cubase gives you two tracking reverbs and control from your daw GUI.

The funny thing about your post? I've been bitching about how no one makes 16io boxes with NO preamps...except the old MOTU units and expensive solutions like apogee and lynx!!

[cme]

Originally Posted by artbeat77

Yikes! $12k-$15k!!

That's for the high end model. They say the basic model will be in the $1500-$2k price range. Ought to be interesting.

That said have you looked at the metric halo 2882? Either 2 of those or one and something like a Digimax FS will get you to 16 tracks.

[cheu78]

Originally Posted by Enlightened Hand

The current budget ruins this situation if long term reliability is a consideration. But if I were wanting what the OP wanted I'd consider:

-Lynx Aurora 16 ($3k)
-Lynx LT-FW expansion card ($500)
-16 preamps of your choice (so many options here the price can vary from as little as just around $1k for 16ch to the sky as the limit, I personally would go for something reliable and decent sounding, like the Shiny Box Si4(x4))

That gets you 16ch of high quality, versatile pres (if you went with the Shiny Box option), 16 channels of high quality conversion i/o, firewire interfacing, and rack mounting all for a bit under $10k after tax, which is an excellent deal for the level of quality and ease of use.

But if money is the main concern then you simply either can't have it all be "the best" or you can't have as much. In which case I'd consider:

-Steinberg MR816 CSX ($1k)
-Steinberg MR816 x ($700)

That's a very good deal as well for the sound quality and features. Everybody I've spoken with says it sounds fantastic. I can't speak for the long term reliability as I don't own one.

+1!!!
If budget is a matter I'd probably get the steinberg..but..

That said I'd get 2 x ATI 8mx2 so you get some very very nice preamps (plus some other nice features) at a reasonable price all considered..
Check out the Apogee AD16X with the firewire card installed.. They go relatively cheap now and it's good..

Or the Ferrofish 16 channel converter and any interface that could accept ADAT or MADI.. (like rme digiface..)
Or also the HD24XR with any interface that accept adat.. In this case you'll also have a backup.

This setup will be also stellar and around 6k, which considering the quality you're getting is really cheap.

Just my 0.02$,

Cheu

[Dreamsindigital]

You can link 2 focusrite saffire pro 40's together. They have adat, FW and 8 clean pres each. They are rack mount and within budget. I've had great luck with mine.

[customclimates]

I run a M-Audio Profire 2626 firewire interface with a Focusrite Octo pre dynamic MKII
The pre amps are where it’s at IMO We record 16 live tracks at once and mix/master
in Protools. When the band is set up the key is isolation. We have the drums in one room, line in
guitars and bass in another and the vocalist located in another separate room. The mix runs into
a Behrenger 8 channel headphone amp with miles of headphone extension cabling.
We run the channels into the octo pre as follows:
1 Kick
2 Snare
3 Hi Tom
4 Mid Tom
5 Low Tom
6 Hi Floor Tom
7 Low Floor Tom
8 Hi Hat
And the channels through the 2626:
9 Left Drum Overhead
10 Right Drum Overhead
11 Right Guitar 1
12 Left Guitar 1
13 Right Guitar 2
14 Left Guitar 2
15 Bass
16 Vocals
Once everyone is happy with the live jam we Mix, add effects, over dubs, any drum replacement needs
in Drumagog, ect. You would be very surprised with the quality of the recording. The end result is this ….
You are only going to record and produce what YOUR level of recording and undertsatnding of the DAW software you use allows.
Obviously if you bring it to a tech that runs Protools all day long they will be able to take it to a much higher level.
I only know this due to my limitations with understanding the in & outs of the program and what all it's features are.
I will post a few snippets of what we get out of it later if interested.