audio interfaces

i'm looking to grab a beefy audio interface for my computers. my laptop tends to overheat when things get intense, and i found when i was using my friend's NI kore2 interface (with its own asio driver sets), the load (and latency) were MUCH better. now that his interface is gonegonegone, i'd like to get one of my own. so, questions:

a) is it worth getting a good pci/pci-e sound card for LISTENING purposes, or should i just let the interface handle it all?

b) what usb audio interface would you recommend (or pci, if that's the case)?

i was looking at our good friends at MOTU and found: this. it seems quite beefy, but carries a bit of a price, too. i'd like something nice -- how low can i shoot?

PCI - M-audio 2496 or the newer 192, Terretec are also quite solid (use mine for main stereo purposes too) but I hear bad things about the E-mu's drivers.

I've also heard bad thing with MOTU's support for PC's but this was a while back.

thanks for your input! in your experience, is there good driver support (windows xp-7) for it? i like the idea of a usb interface, because it allows for me to use it on my laptops as well (though i'm about to build a desktop, so this will likely make the cut). any other thoughts?

if you want i'll sell you my kore 2 software and kore controller with the audio interface.

i actually just saw your gear box posting, ryan. it seems pretty good, but i was curious as to whether there was any disadvantage to the controller being from the first generation. how's the input/output quality? got any pictures?

edit: big oops on my part. the ni device i used and would like is the kontrol. i'm looking for something that has audio inputs (some mic ones would be nice too) as well as outputs. the controls on the kore look fantastic, though! the m-audio axiom's knobs suck the big one.

only technical difference between the first generation and the second generation is the lack of an 2in/2out audio interface on the new ones. other than that the buttons are a tad bit different in layout, the newer ones are just a tad be more pleasing aesthetically. the 8 knobs though, which are the most important part, are exactly the same, and they are the nicest knobs i've ever used period.

you get what you pay for though, if you are willing to sacrifice the slightly sleeker new layout of the 2nd generation (you can see the difference in pics if you google or whatever) then it's a pretty good little controller/audio interface combo (not to mention the kore software is pretty cool, you'll get lots of sounds right out of the box). the audio interface has the same a/d converters as the audio kontrol so the quality will be the same as you are used to.

let me know if you are interested, i can snap some pictures tomorrow if you'd like.

edit: also forgot to mention that recently NI released an update that lets you use the kore controller as a standard midi controller (not just a dedicated controller for the software) so you can use it with whatever software you want. seriously beautiful knobs man.

I have an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8r. It's USB 2.0.

This thing worked perfectly in my studio for over a year. It really helped my workflow begin able to record 8 tracks at once, and the 8 outputs were handy for sending to different monitoring devices.

Then it went belly-up. My two laptops won't recognize it as a device most times, and when they do they can't seem to figure out what device it is.

M-Audio support has been nothing short of worthless.

i am about to acquire a motu ultralite mk3. so i guess i should recommend that.

I've always wanted to give one of these a try...

http://www.zzounds.com/item--TASFW1082

hmm thanks guys. think i'm gonna go for the ultralite -- i'll keep ya posted. that m-audio 192 is up there.

Emu drivers are fine, and classy. The old ones were a bit iffy. You also get quality fx that run off the pci card and don't bother your cpu.

Presonus have lots of good options

The MOTU is excellent unless you are using a PC. They have well documented issues with PC's (not sure about the current gen). Some people have no issues, others end up taking it back. Just be weary of that. Otherwise MOTU stuff is quite good.

If you are using a desktop set up, by all means get a pci card interface as its always gonna give you some extra leverage.

Make sure you are getting something that will be able to monitor without latency on your system.

ultralite is awesome I have one myself

  On 3/2/2010 at 6:55 PM, o00o said:

ultralite is awesome I have one myself

mac or pc?

mac but also in bootcamp / xp

you can't go wrong with motu, the ultralite is nice. personally i'm using a focusrite saffire pro24, and it kicks ass.

my audio interface is gonna come near the price of the rest of my new desktop haha! and it's gonna have a phenom ii 965 with a motherboard and ram to match it!

I've got a TC Electronic Konnekt 8. It's a firewire interface. They discontinued the Konnekts and replaced them with TC "Impact" series, which is the same thing but with a black scuba diving shell.

I like it. Reduced my CPU load alot for softsynths.

  On 3/3/2010 at 5:16 PM, iamabe said:

I like it. Reduced my CPU load alot for softsynths.

that's what i'm most looking forward to! my new desktop should be fine, but my laptop is unhappy when i get to ~7 tracks.

  On 3/3/2010 at 5:16 PM, iamabe said:

I've got a TC Electronic Konnekt 8. It's a firewire interface. They discontinued the Konnekts and replaced them with TC "Impact" series, which is the same thing but with a black scuba diving shell.

 

I like it. Reduced my CPU load alot for softsynths.

I've read pretty much nothing but good things about that, and have it lined up to be my next interface as prices on ebay are quite good, and the expansion is awesome for me b/c I like to put everything in direct and do all my mixing in the computer, instead of using a hardware mixer. Good to see more positive things about it.

OK, i might need a new interface as well. Does anyone else have a miserable time keeping firewire interfaces working well w/ Windows? I haven't had a great experience, but all the best interfaces seem to be firewire. :(

I've had a m-audio firewire 410, which lost connection all the time and often required multiple reboots to restore.

Most recently I'm battling a Digi 002 Rack in stand-alone ASIO mode, which is giving me a similar headache. Maybe my firewire port (factory) is crap? Would putting in a new firewire PCI card help, I wonder?

Anyway, I would like an audio interface that has:

• multiclient ASIO
  
• minimum 4 TRS inputs (w/ at least 2 of them XLR)
  
• balanced TRS out for mains/control room
  
• headphone jack/rotary
  
• all inputs available on rear (i.e no XLR in front, TRS on rear)
  
• decent preamps on the mic inputs
  
• rackmountable (full-width, not portable)
  
• MIDI I/O
  
• Reliable
  

Can anyone recommend something for me?

I'm sick of spending more time troubleshooting drivers than making music.

The Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 I/O looks perfect for me. Does anyone have any experience with it (especially w/ Windows)?

I have a NI Audio Kontrol 1 and the sound quality on it is fucking superb. I've only occasionally had issues where if i unplug it and plug it back in without rebooting, it won't redetect it, but rebooting fixes it. It's just a slight annoyance.

I also have a MOTU 828 mkii which is, well, fucking awesome. Both devices are being used on macs.

Edirol FA-101 is what I use and swear by, plus it's got a funky red aluminium body. picked mine up for £180 second hand a year or so ago and can say nothing but good things about it. it's FireWire though which might not be what you're after.

  On 3/5/2010 at 2:58 PM, blicero said:

The Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 I/O looks perfect for me. Does anyone have any experience with it (especially w/ Windows)?

I have one of the cheaper Saffires http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire and its worked really well for me

I've had the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 for a couple of months now and it's been great to me. The Loopback feature is really nice for sampling.