The "Which Audio Interface To Go For?" for between £100-£200 thread

[EdRyan]

If that's true dave. Its a really big shame. Why have a great design, and then let the output ruin it.

Even then, the cards were hooked up via spdif to tannoy reveal 6d monitors. T

As for the cable price. I wouldn't grumble so much if I thought that the person who made it got paid anywhere near that amount. And even them, I would like to know how an ancient rs 232 style connection with 4 cables soldered onto it, can be that valuable compared to the board its designed for. If you lose it, most consumers are over their barrel to replace it. It just infuriates me, that they know this and would charge so much for something so simple..anyhow we'er getting into trade ethics here. And that's a whole different conversation. I

My advice is still to get the Focusrite, based soley and wholeheartedly on it's performance and value in the price range !

[mutilatedlip]

Has anyone seen these?

Desktop Konnekt 6

I have a Mackie Onyx 400F, and it's racked in a case, and often gets in the way.

For monitoring at home and mixing, I'd like a little desktop interface, preferably with really, really good quality.

I quite like the look of the new TC Konnekt.

Any comments?

[ecc83]

Ok Ed,

Don't want to get pikky here but you said the sound of the Sapphire was PREFFERED. That is fine, don't mean it is accurate! They might have added some Aphex style fizz! (OK, I'll stop digging but the point is A/B comp's are notoriously difficult to do.).

And no, I don't want to get into a trade price war either but £15.00 has been about the price of a MIDI-gameport lead forever and no one coughs.

Rock on,
Dave.

[EdRyan]

Yo Dave !

I agree on the A/B thing. You can be fooled by yourself wanting it to be better, friendly suggestions or 3rd party reviews etc. I'll stand by my comments that I think M-Audio are over doing their claims of performance matching their top cards though. It is a very good card, easy to work with.

lol you make it sound like focusrite have fitted mini 'hifi' style 'bass boost' to the sapphire.

[ecc83]

Ok Ed,

Can we agree that the Saffy IS better! I would be suprised if a company as prestgious as Focusrite could not beat a card as old as the AP24!

I shall stick to reccomending it to noobs tho' because...

1) It DOES sound better than any OBS.
2) The drivers are so solid that almost any pc will work with it.
3) It gives very low latency.
4) cheap.
5) Fit it. Forget it.

Finally it is my firm conviction that no matter what fancy multitracked flyingwire device peeps end up with, having a solid soundcard in the pc is always a good backup!

And if you ever need a breakout cable making up I'll do it for nine quid, special offer!

Dave. BTW I got Tannoy 5a's, nice.

[EdRyan]

Cool Dave.

And another +1 for the Tannoy 5's as well. I have 6d's, which are the next in the line. I was gonna get the 5s, but got offered the 6s for a silly price at the time. Obvs the 6d are better in many aspects, but the 5s are still very good if you're on a budget.

[ecc83]

Re Tannoys:

Others might like to know how I came to choose them? I based my decision on;
1)space, I have only a very small (12x8.5x8.5') room and that is pretty stuffed with kit!
2)Lots of magazine research over about 3-4months
3)Did not need high sound levels. Son is not into rock anymore, more jazz.
4) Due to (1) an extended LF is pointless but the T's do have suprising "heft" when it is there!
5) And most important! Tannoy know a thing or 3 about speakers, Bellringer et al.....don't.... IMHO.

And the price point din't hurt!

Dave.

[Wilty]

Diggin' up an oldie here, because its just about the right question. As I may have mentioned; in the (hopefully very) near future I am getting a new PC built soley as a DAW and it'll be sans-soundcard. I was thinking PCI, like the EMU 0404 (which I really fancy due to low price and DSP) but due to limitations (I live in a box) direct headphone monitoring is a definite must so it looks like I'll have to go the AI route. Literally all I need is:

-Headphone monitoring (as good as possible)
-Monitor outputs (1 set)

DSP would be nice, but I don't know how much I'll use the various plug-in /patchbay/mixer features of it anyhow.

MIDI would be good in case I decided to buy a synth unit at some point, but isn't essential.

Basically it just needs to drive Cubase and have a headphone hole, I won't be using mic's, never played a guitar and don't know any bands.

I would like a Saffire but its a bit out my range (I'm gonna get a TI firewire card put in as well).

And I know there are pages of posts already up about this but I have sifted through all of them and still can't make up my mind, partly because I don't need to worry about preamps and such (I don't think) and most seem to have to and partly because this is largely all new to me and I'm petrified of wasting money by making my own decisions and sticking with them (this is happens with alarming regularity).

[ecc83]

Hi Wilty,

If you don't need the facilities of an AI and the possible hiccups they can cause, especially fussywire, why get one?

Go for the Emu* pci and a good headphone amp. Such amps are hardly ground breaking technology, even Beringers' offerings get a good rep'!

MIDI you get by default, fastest possible setup (min latency) and a very compact system. You can add mic pre's later if need be, there are some interesting alternatives to the all conquering RNP now. Sontronics Sonora, Audient Mico ( that has S/PDIF/AES out, got to be a bargain at a smell over £400 for two channels!).

*My choice would be AP192 with its second out put but, la di da.


Dave.

[ecc83]

Or....
http://www.dv247.com/invt/51232/

Dave.

[Wilty]

The advantage of an AI is the hands on-ness of it, sounds silly but I like the idea of having a knob or 2 to play with.
I was thinking of something little like the CME Matrix-made for podcasting but really its a little no frills thing. And cheap.

The headphone amp idea I like as well, was thinking an 0404 with a little Samson thing (or a cough Berry cough cough).

My Xio25 has a basic USB AI built into it, I've just realised I can keep using that while I save a little scratch so its not as much of a pressing matter as I've been thinking all morning.

[ecc83]

Ah! But you said..."Monitor outputs (1 set)".

Which is why I revised my post to include the SM PRO!

TBH, (and I know I shall get ***t for this!) a wee Berry mixer+pci is really all you need!

Dave.

[Wilty]

You say that I was just looking at the Tapco Mix 50 (the tiny one) and the 192. All adds up to less than an interface. I do have an Alesis Multimix12 sitting boxed up actually, but I don't know if its useable as its a USB mixer that I wouldn't hook up as USB, if that makes any sense whatsoever? I've never had to hook up anything like this in my life. Obviously I wouldn't need 12 channels either.

[ecc83]

"I do have an Alesis Multimix12 sitting boxed up actually"
W.T,F!!!?
So why on earth would you NOT want to hook it up as a usb 2.0 interface?

And even if you have fallen for some 1/2ares'd misinformation about usb the thing will still perform the basic I/O functions you require without a usb connection I am willing to bet.

As for hooking stuff up: Rule one, get it out of the box.

Rule two, RTFM! THEN come back!

Dave.

[Wilty]

I bought it on a whim when I was still staying with my mum, boxed it up and forgot about it until I saw one when searching around. Had no need to hook it up once I got the Xio so promptly forgot about it.

Just goes to show out of sight really is out of mind.

EDIT:I'm home from work now and not in a hurry.

It'll be hard to use it as a USB 2.0-I'm pretty sure its 1.1.
I think I would rather find a smaller footprint solution to be honest, desk space is somewhat of a premium.
And I have no need for 12 channels as I have nothing going in. I would hook it up if I didn't have a stop-gap solution already, I'm thinking ahead for when the I get my new PC-not complaining about what I have at the moment.

Thanks for the reponse though, think I'll go the PCI route with the 192. Not long till payday

And I can't believe it took me 3 whole minutes to work out what RTFM meant, thats almost sad