Lets talk interfaces......

MARLZTAH

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Im currently updating my setup and I need a quality audio interface.

I've looked at sooooooo many different models, and I just cant decide what to get.


Primarily its gonna be used for monitoring & recording, but i would also like the option of routing to outboard gear..... but this is where i get confused

how would i route to outboard gear???? do i just need a free output and input on the interface or is it more complicated that that???

when a soundcard states it has 2 in & 2 out, is that 2 mono in and 2 mono out? (or in other words one stereo in & out)

also what is S/PDIF all about?? i know what it stands for but what i dont know is what you use it for.... cant find anything relevant on google
 
state your budget and number of In/Out you need, and i'll point out some decent ones
(y)

around £100, can squeeze a few more quid if need be but im already over my budget with all the other stuff ive been buying

im hoping to get something with....

- monitor output
- at least one stereo line input
- at least one mic input (with 48v)
- someway of routing to outboard gear
- midi i/o (this isnt really that important, i can get a cheap midi to usb adapter if need be)
 
If you are looking to buy something that cheap look at the M-Audio PCI cards.

Thats what i have now, and it hasn't given me any problems. The M-Audio Audiophile has a stereo input, and output with RCA Plugs, it also has S/Pdf in/out (which is for digital, most new pieces of gear will have a digital option), then it has one midi in, and one midi out. It should be about 50 GBP so it may be perfect for what you need.

I am gonna be upgrading to a Digi design rack in the next year, those would be around 500-600 GBP.
 
around £100, can squeeze a few more quid if need be but im already over my budget with all the other stuff ive been buying

im hoping to get something with....

- monitor output
- at least one stereo line input
- at least one mic input (with 48v)
- someway of routing to outboard gear
- midi i/o (this isnt really that important, i can get a cheap midi to usb adapter if need be)

so basically you need a few I/O, and a preamp.
imho, if you have outboard the best way is to get a mixer, and use it to connect everything together.

you dont give much info on what outboard you have, but generally connecting compressors, effect pedals etc straight to a soundcard has some inherent problems, like lack of input volume control, and also, unless you have a soundcard with loads of I/O, you can quickly get involved in a cable nightmare.
plus, to get an interface with mic pre-amps of similar quality to a mixer, you'll looking at much more than £100.

for your budget i reckon get a Tapco MIX60 mixer for £60, and a EMU 0404 for £50.
connect the balanced Out of the 0404 to a stereo channel on the tapco.
then connect the mixer's aux send to your outboards inputs, and teh outboard output to the other stereo channel of the mixer. So, when you want your PC sound to go through any outboard, just dial up the Aux send, and you can mix the signals with the channel faders.
Then connect you speakers to the mixer's main stereo out to monitor, and the secondary output to the 0404's input. Whenever you want to record to your PC, adjust the volume of the secondary out, check your levels on your sequencer/recorder,and make some bloody music!

hope this makes sense. the one drawback from this, is that you can have one outboard at any time. You could stretch to a Mackie VLZ1202 mixer, £120, which has 2 Aux ins, and generally much better sound.
 
If you are looking to buy something that cheap look at the M-Audio PCI cards.

Thats what i have now, and it hasn't given me any problems. The M-Audio Audiophile has a stereo input, and output with RCA Plugs, it also has S/Pdf in/out (which is for digital, most new pieces of gear will have a digital option), then it has one midi in, and one midi out.

agreed, thats a very nice soundcard, and i always recommend it for just PC applications.

but he needs to record mics and outboard, so he'd be better of with balance I/O imo.
 
so basically you need a few I/O, and a preamp.
imho, if you have outboard the best way is to get a mixer, and use it to connect everything together.

you dont give much info on what outboard you have, but generally connecting compressors, effect pedals etc straight to a soundcard has some inherent problems, like lack of input volume control, and also, unless you have a soundcard with loads of I/O, you can quickly get involved in a cable nightmare.
plus, to get an interface with mic pre-amps of similar quality to a mixer, you'll looking at much more than £100.

for your budget i reckon get a Tapco MIX60 mixer for £60, and a EMU 0404 for £50.
connect the balanced Out of the 0404 to a stereo channel on the tapco.
then connect the mixer's aux send to your outboards inputs, and teh outboard output to the other stereo channel of the mixer. So, when you want your PC sound to go through any outboard, just dial up the Aux send, and you can mix the signals with the channel faders.
Then connect you speakers to the mixer's main stereo out to monitor, and the secondary output to the 0404's input. Whenever you want to record to your PC, adjust the volume of the secondary out, check your levels on your sequencer/recorder,and make some bloody music!

hope this makes sense. the one drawback from this, is that you can have one outboard at any time. You could stretch to a Mackie VLZ1202 mixer, £120, which has 2 Aux ins, and generally much better sound.

ha.... funny you say that..... i had the exact same idea..... Tapco mix60 paired with an EMU 0404 :D

but i would only be able to process the master signal this way though right?? no way to route an individual track to the outboard right???
 
No way. Unless you get a mixer or another summing format with a digital input - you could then send one track through the s/pdif send, fx it nice and wet like an adult film star and return it to the main mix.
 
but i would only be able to process the master signal this way though right?? no way to route an individual track to the outboard right???
yes, but thats what you'd want to do with this setup.
send one track to the mixer, mix with outboard signal, and record.
dont get into multitracking busses from your pc to the mixer just yet. and please dont take this as patronising !
i just find that with a tapco mixer and emu converters you're not going to get the analogue warmness everyones been talking about...
but by all means, do be adventurous with outboard, just do one track at a time, then resample, chop, sequence, repeat!

once you feel that you're outgrowning that gear, spend half a grand on a mackie 8 buss, and another grand and a half on some aphex converters, and you be pimpin..
 
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