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[the best] audiointerface for me
 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 09:44 [#02019183]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular



i'm getting a macbook real soon and i'm planning on turning
it into a portable studio/dj tool, so i'm looking for an
interface that

#1: sounds great
#2: have atleast two pairs of output
#3: affordable
#4: sexy

i was looking at a miglia harmonyaudio, but the minijacks put me
off

i already have an m-audio firewire410, but i expect he shut
down computer before disconnecting bit to be a bit of a
hassle for when i want to change beetwen imac and macbook


 

offline mortsto-x from Trondheim/Bodø (Norway) on 2006-12-19 09:48 [#02019185]
Points: 8062 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02019183



Techno-stars and super-DJ's use MacBook Pro.
Wannabees, and people playing "på lokalet" use MacBook.


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-12-19 09:53 [#02019188]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



I haven't tried it, but this looks like it could
be good.


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 09:54 [#02019189]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to mortsto-x: #02019185



which segment use Dells then?


 

offline mortsto-x from Trondheim/Bodø (Norway) on 2006-12-19 09:57 [#02019190]
Points: 8062 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02019189



Wankers and rockers


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 09:57 [#02019191]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #02019188



that one covers atleast #2 and #4 but it's a bit too
exspensive at the moment


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-12-19 10:21 [#02019208]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02019191 | Show recordbag



what price range were you thinking?


 

offline hedphukkerr from mathbotton (United States) on 2006-12-19 10:25 [#02019212]
Points: 8833 Status: Regular



my macbook (and 30 gig ipod) is coming within the next six
days :D:D:D

and pro is totally unnecessary for music, what do you really
need a good video card for?


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-12-19 10:28 [#02019215]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



I don't know how macbooks are built, but can you use those
weird cards for laptops? the ones you stick into the side?

if so, check out the e-mu cards.


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 10:28 [#02019216]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #02019208



2000NOK ish

looking at that NI Kontrol thinge and it might be exactly
what i want


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 10:29 [#02019218]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #02019215



no pcmcia slots on the macbooks


 

offline cygnus from nowhere and everyplace on 2006-12-19 10:41 [#02019228]
Points: 11920 Status: Regular | Followup to vlari: #02019218



i reccomend m-audio's firewire solo,

i dont think i will need another card, all my gear goes into
my mixer and then into my audio interface then to my pc thru
firewire

link has a mic preamp, two 1/4 outs, three 1/4
ins, spdif in, spdif out, 1/4 out (i use this one
forheadphones)


 

offline Dannn_ from United Kingdom on 2006-12-19 10:50 [#02019233]
Points: 7877 Status: Lurker



let me know what you decide on, I could really use something
more portable and reliable than my current soundcard.

also did you buy x0x?


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 10:58 [#02019240]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to Dannn_: #02019233



i think i could manage a backfeed on which one i finally
got. and yes, i did purchase an x0x, it's still en route and
i hope it'll reach my doorstep before christmas, but i'm not
too sure about that

cyg, if i can, i want to go for something other than m-audio
this time, not that i hate my firewire 410, it's nice and
things. and that solo thing only has one pair. i could use
headphone out for monitoring, but i'd much rather do that on
my mixer


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-19 12:06 [#02019274]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



there seems to be plenty of stuff on the market but on the
other hand most of it sucks.

there is the esi quatafire that might interest you which
gets good notes but there wasn't a new driver released for
like 3 years so that is rather a big minus for esi.

the tc connect is still very buggy and very expensive - okay
it has the dsp chip on board but i doubt you'll use it.

a very good price option is the new focusrite saffire le
(the black one) - 4 in 6 out for 400 euro seems too good and
focusrite is making the preamps for protools so the quality
is rather top-notch. but it isn't really sexy and it's HUGE
so a big minus for portability.

when it comes to sexy you might want to wait for those new
echo http://www.echoaudio.com/ firewire interfaces - now
tell me these aren't sexy.

the rest is actually rubish for that price. if you want
something for years then it's the choice of a rme or motu.



 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-19 12:10 [#02019281]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



oh i forgot to mention the presonus firebox - compact and
steel around so it seems rock solid.

so i guess it's saffire or firebox


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-19 12:12 [#02019284]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



but wouldn't you want to have 4 line inputs? with four you
could connect your decks and use djdecks with the
finalscratch or serato vinyls.

in that case it would be the saffire then


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 13:55 [#02019301]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular



cheers, I'll look into these. what are your thoughts about
the NI Audio Kontrol box?

I'm not too interested in the time coded thing just yet, i'm
getting pretty good at just using my evolution
midicontroller for traktor, so i think I'll stick to that,
until i get a reasonably priced korg microkontrol or
something


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-19 15:30 [#02019330]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02019301



i have no idea what a microkontrol has to do with final
scratch but ok.

the kontrol is to new - never seen it, never used it.

one thing for sure - it has much worse quality then for
example the focusrite - just look at the advanced specs.

it has much worse signal to noise ratio and distortion then
the focusrite one.

depends on what you expect - if you are an audiophile or you
want to use the box for some more professional
recording/studio related stuff than i wouldn't take it.

on the other hand if you haven't a proper microphone and
studio monitors you probably won't hear any difference at
all.

although i have to admit it has a high sexy-factor.

so, bottom line - if you are maybe thinking of making
something more with the interface like recording of multiple
signals, vocals, you want to do surround mastering go with
another interface.

but if you just want to use it for dj'ing purposes take the
audio kontrol



 

offline hanal from k_maty only (United Kingdom) on 2006-12-19 15:34 [#02019333]
Points: 13379 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02019301 | Show recordbag



im tempted to get the NI box.



Attached picture

 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-19 15:38 [#02019335]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to sadist: #02019330



it has nothing to do with final scratch but all to do with
me triggering effects and setting loopmarkers on the fly in
traktor. but yeah, the specs on the NI-box is pale compared.
i will have to do some thinking and see what box i am to
desire the most. thanks for taking the time anyhoo -
appreciated



 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-19 15:50 [#02019340]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02019335



you know what the more i see those pictures of the ni
interface the more i want to stick my wee wee into it. those
polished edges are so yummy.



 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-24 02:08 [#02021012]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular



i think i'm going to go for the focusrite saffire le, use
that on the stationary computron, and use the m-audio for
the macbook


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-24 02:15 [#02021014]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to vlari: #02021012



no wait, the firebox is cheaper at playback.com so i'm going
for that instead


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-24 09:07 [#02021053]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to vlari: #02021014



think about it TWICE

the firebox has 2 preamps in the front and just 2 line
inputs. in the saffire, the two preamps on the front also
work as line inputs when switched.

this is very important - if you want to connect 4 line level
sources to your pc - the saffire is the only way.


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-24 15:58 [#02021130]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to sadist: #02021053



i did and i'm not going to use more than one pair of inputs
anyway, atleast not until i've busted the microkontrol.


 

offline Dannn_ from United Kingdom on 2006-12-24 17:05 [#02021146]
Points: 7877 Status: Lurker



that firebox one looks perfect to me, but I don't exactly
understand the deal with line inputs, haven't done much
recording at home

PS - MC


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-12-25 04:33 [#02021219]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



hey, wait

if one of them is stationary, e-mu 1820 is the way to go!


 

offline vlari from beyond the valley of the LOLs on 2006-12-25 05:26 [#02021225]
Points: 13915 Status: Regular | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #02021219



erm, the stationary is an iMac, so i dont think i could
squeese it in. but thanks anyhoo


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-25 11:59 [#02021281]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to Dannn_: #02021146



you see - there are three types of inputs in audio
interfaces - instrument, microphone and line-level. everyone
of it has another sensitivity, and you cannoct connect all
sources to each other.

so - most of the audio interfaces have combo inputs where
you can switch them to mic, line or inst. sensitivity. but
not all.

so - in the saffire for example - you can connect every
source to the front inputs as you wish - in the firebox -
only mic or inst. stuff because they don't accept line
levels.


 

offline Taxidermist from Black Grass on 2006-12-25 12:03 [#02021284]
Points: 9958 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #02021281



Aren't instrument and line different names for the same
thing? Correct me if I am wrong...


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-25 12:12 [#02021292]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to Taxidermist: #02021284



wrong indeed - the input resistance is different. wait
searching anywhere for it....

um...

oh got it:

• Mic Gain: +13dB to + 60dB
• Line 1&2 Gain: -10dB to +36dB
• Instrument Gain: +13dB to +60dB

the gain is different


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-12-25 12:15 [#02021293]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



this is from the saffire le - in other interfaces there is
also a difference between mic and inst. - oh and only mics
have phantom power.

okay - there is a way to connect different level sources to
each other but you would have to use external mixers or
preamps or even solder some new cables.


 


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