USB/Firewire for Laptop

Two hands31 · #1 08-19-2003, 07:51 PM

The Mbox is looking more and more out of the question, so can anyone recommend a USB or Firewire interface that'll work nicely on my laptop, is cheap, simple, and has at least two inputs (both XLR and 1/4-inch pref.)?

darren wilson · #2 08-19-2003, 08:51 PM

http://m-audio.com/products/m-audio/audiophileusb.php

Two hands31 · #3 08-19-2003, 08:57 PM

Thanx! I'll check it out. Can you recommend some cheap, but good recording software to go with it?

glynn · #4 08-20-2003, 10:53 AM

You get a disk with software if you buy the m-audio, I got some decent stuff when I got my 1010, like a version of Live, and I think cubasis and a couple of other ok progs.

Cool Edit just got purchased by Adobe, so you should be able to get a copy for dirt, and its good software, plust you get a free upgrade to the Adobe version.

Polaris20 · #5 08-21-2003, 07:54 AM

Tascam US122. A friend has one, it is sweet. Same price as Audiophile, but it also has XLRs with phantom power 48v, which the AU USB doesn't have.

Two hands31 · #6 08-21-2003, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polaris20

Tascam US122. A friend has one, it is sweet. Same price as Audiophile, but it also has XLRs with phantom power 48v, which the AU USB doesn't have.

Does it also come with software?

darren wilson · #7 08-21-2003, 10:21 AM

The Audiophile also has S/PDIF digital I/O, which some people might find more handy than XLRs with phantom power.

The Tascam is a nice little unit... i haven't seen that one before. And yes, it does come with software.

http://www.tascam.com/products/compu...s122/index.php

Two hands31 · #8 08-22-2003, 08:50 AM

Cool, thanx guys

Now it just comes down to whatever I have enough money for in a couple weeks, and what's available.

Two hands31 · #9 08-29-2003, 11:38 PM

Went for the Tascam US-122, cuz they had one in the store, and the price and features were right, I'll give a better review later if anyone's interested.

darren wilson · #10 08-30-2003, 08:04 AM

Definitely give us your impressions of it. I need to get an interface of some kind.

Two hands31 · #11 08-31-2003, 11:23 AM

My review so far:

Haven't learned Gigastudio yet (one of the programs packaged with the US-122), but working with the bundled version of Cubasis it's great so far

The sound is crystal clear, and great, and the software is great (it's even letting me use plugins/effects from Acid 4.0, which probably isn't a big shock to some of you, but a pleasant surprise for me). Simple to use, but very nice sounding.

Polaris20 · #12 08-31-2003, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Two hands31

My review so far:

Haven't learned Gigastudio yet (one of the programs packaged with the US-122), but working with the bundled version of Cubasis it's great so far

The sound is crystal clear, and great, and the software is great (it's even letting me use plugins/effects from Acid 4.0, which probably isn't a big shock to some of you, but a pleasant surprise for me). Simple to use, but very nice sounding.

I would highly recommend Cool Edit Pro 2.1, which is now called Adobe Audition. If you're a student, you can pick it up for as little as $150.

My friend is using CEP2 with the 122, and the results are staggering for such an affordable (cheap?

) set up.

In conjunction with an MXL603 small diaphragm condenser and a 2003 large diaphragm, the vocals and acoustic stuff sounds like the guitar player is still playing and the singer's still singing when you "play the tape back".

Very impressive, considering when all said and done, the whole set up cost him $500, including software.

He's running it on a custom built "Jeffway" Polaris M21 computer, with an AMD 2100+, 512MB DDR, 120gig Seagate, and a nice quiet power supply.

-- Jeff

darren wilson · #13 08-31-2003, 02:46 PM

The 122 looks great, but it's not the right box for me, unfortunately. I really want an interface that has S/PDIF in and out so i can just use the 30-bit converters in my GT-6 and keep it in the digital domain after that. no sense in converting the digital signal back to analog and then back to digital again. I'll probably pick up the Audiophile unit.

Now, if there were only some decent, affordable audio software for OS X.

Polaris20 · #14 09-01-2003, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darren wilson

The 122 looks great, but it's not the right box for me, unfortunately. I really want an interface that has S/PDIF in and out so i can just use the 30-bit converters in my GT-6 and keep it in the digital domain after that. no sense in converting the digital signal back to analog and then back to digital again. I'll probably pick up the Audiophile unit.

Now, if there were only some decent, affordable audio software for OS X.

There isn't jack for OSX that's well coded and affordable. It's either you go the Pro Tools route, or Cubase SL at the least.

If you know a student (or are one) you can pick up Cubase SL for $229, or you can get the MBox with PTLE for $399.

If I were running Mac, I'd definitely be running PT, because I really hate all the other solutions for Mac out there right now.