Interfaces

[James Rock]

I have another thread about monitors and I'm also looking at audio interfaces.
I thought I liked the Fast Track Pro but it is only USB 1.1 so i'm a bit weary. Others I've found are the FAST TRACK (USB 2.0 come with pro tools m powered so might be another daw I can get into as it is the industry standard), Icon series ubs 2.0.

I would like more then 2 outputs for DJing and for seperate monitoring.
Decent preamps would be nice.
Phones Output
Under $300
Multiple inputs would be nice but not neccesary
Line Ins
24 bit recording
USB 2.0 would be good
Windows 7 compatible drivers

I would use firewire but I only have a 4-pin socket so something with a serperate power supply would be needed.
I've been searching heaps but its hard with so much information

I still have at least a month till I have enough money

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Interfaces

Tall order there.

Your best bet is likely to look used. The TC electronic Konnekt series is great for the money, I just sold a Konnekt live on this forum for about $225. Surprisingly nice mic preamps, and excellent built-in DSP effects. The windows 7 drivers are a little, eh, shaky though. They'll probably get fixed in the future, but for the time being they're far from perfect. They're firewire as well.

I'm pretty sure that I've heard that the offerings from presonus are pretty solid, driver wise. The mic preamps aren't particularly stellar (honestly, nothing will be under the 300 dollar mark), but they work.

Check out E-mu as well. They use nice a/d/a converters in their stuff.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Interfaces

Yeh I'm not expecting super quality preamps or anything just a little better then my toneport and actually working (my toneport has strange driver errors in that it stops working unless I reopen line 6 monkey its like freezes)
The E-MU seem to have no win 7 support

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Interfaces

Ah, right. Their windows 7 drivers are in the beta stages actually, forgot about that. You can still get 'em, but they might not be *totally* stable.

 

[dominus]

Re: Interfaces

M-Audio's drivers are good under Windows 7, and you get the ability to run Pro Tools M-Powered if you want. (I'd recommend M-Audio even without that capability.) I run an FW 410 and have had no problems whatsoever.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Interfaces

basically I've come between getting the Fast Track Pro (USB1.1) or the Firewire Solo with the other option as the Presonus USB

 

[dominus]

Re: Interfaces

Go Firewire Solo then. Or find a used Firewire 410.

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Interfaces

Updated my win 7 drivers last night and my toneport seems to now be without issues.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Interfaces

Now I've completely flipped due to problems people have had with their M-Audio and Windows 7 to looking at the Focusrites Saffire USB and Saffire Pro 24 both in my budget range and both seem to be reliable and sound decent?

 

[James Rock]

Re: Interfaces

Thanks for everyones help I think I'm gonna go with the Focusrite Saffire 24 PRO it seems to have good drivers, decent preamps and good routing possibilities with Optical and S/PDIF in and out which will allow me to use some better Preamps and D/A come time (maybe hire or borrow some for recordings of drums or something). It is 18x8 which means I can have up to 18 inputs and 8 outputs (3 stereo analog outs) which could be useful for bands and good monitoring capabilities (main mix, monitors 1 and 2)