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7K views 68 replies 14 participants last post by  Ant1981 
#1 ·
Well, want to do some home recording, so multi track recorder or PC with interface?

Pros and cons for both.
 
#54 ·
Ok, well, lets get back to this question,

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Just been looking at the Phonic Helix 18 FW mixer which also has a firewire interface on it too, alot higher spec than the Alesis I was looking at.

Runs at 96Khz like some of the Motu stuff, rather than the Alesis's 44Khz.

But still not sure if I need the actual mxing desk side too, or just the interface.
 
#55 ·
It's not universally accepted that 96k makes an audible difference over 44.1k, especially when the end result is a 44.1k CD. And it's even *possible* that a 44.1k implementation sounds better than a 96k one - not due to convertor specs, but some other aspect of the design. I'm not taking a side or saying that's true in THIS case, just bringing it up with the reason that if the Alesis has other features or usability advantages, 96k might not overcome those in a buying decision. This is all hypothetical - I have no experience with either of these devices.
 
#57 ·
My opinion, FWIW, would be to say an interface that is capable of the higher bitrates. You can run those at lower bitrates, but you can't run the mixer at the higher bitrates. Especially with DVD audio starting to show up, the higher bitrates may come in useful. They are probably better quality interfaces also, rather than an after thought thrown into a mixer. That said, you'll still need an analog mixer or some mic preamps to put between the interface and the mic's or other recording sources.

I use an Edirol 2496 PCI interface, they do make some nice firewire interfaces also (Edirol is a Roland company, BTW). I use an old Behringer mixer (from the days when Mackie was suing them because their preamps were too similar to the VLZ preamps, those old boards cost 2X as much as their new stuff). For most stuff I use a mixer insert line through a compressor, then straight to the interface, then the signal goes from the matching output of the interface back to the board for monitoring. This way, the signal only sees the mixer preamp, then the compressor before going to the interface, it doesn't go through the EQ and all the rest of the board so it's pretty clean. You could also not even use a mixer, just get some mic pre's and go into them, then directly to the interface, if I was doing it again, that's probably what I would do. Of course, you lose some of the monitoring capabilities that way, a board is nice to have around.

$0.02,
Roger
 
#62 ·
Ant1981 said:
I understand from some things I have read, that the firewire interfaces make splendid interfaces with no latency issues also if you get the right interface. I understand that firewire runs pretty much of the same bus as PCI and can often actually offer more flexibility as there are many TRS and XLR inputs with variable gain.
Firewire has very high latency compared to PCI. Firewire alone, not taking into consideration any extra latency from the card is higher latency than any decent recording card.
 
#63 ·
Ant1981 said:
I've never seen a pci card with 8 XLR ins, 8 trs ins, loads of gain controls, phantom power controls, meters, the lot that goes with it really.
Check out some of the M-Audios. Some of them have something like 10 XLR inputs and whatnot.

Normally you would run to a digital external interface via PCI if you are really trying to record professionally, but the sound cards alone, not counting the external units seem to start around $500.

toma said:
mac's, all the way!!!!!
Yes my NIC has one of those too... or if we're talking about the 60s-70s line of Mcintosh receivers, then I'm all for THOSE Macs.... I actually own one :)
 
#64 ·
rgr said:
Sounds good, I'm kinda out of the loop on the latest stuff, I'll look into those. Of course, I can't really afford any GAS right now, so maybe I won't look at what's out there:mrgreen:
Go on, have a look, you know you want to ;)

I will probably go to Digital Village in London tomorrow and get a Motu Traveler and a mic and get started. I reckon the Traveler is a great way to go, even has ADAT if I need to stick more channels in.
 
#65 ·
What other programs are people using for their DAW's?
I have Cake Pro but have had latency and monitoring issues from the onset, which have caused me to rethink my setup. I currently have the MOTU 1224 system which is fed by a few outboard mic pre's and a patchbay for the line in from my synths. Drums are all Beta Monkey loops edited in Acid. The flexibility is a definate plus. But between setup time and tweaking to lower the latency times, a desktop hard disk recorder makes some level of sense as well.
 
#67 ·
I bought two SM-57's today with stands and cables, yay for me.

I almost bought a Motu Traveler too, but the box was tatty and there were finger marks all over it. He was only prepeared to knock £25 off, bringing the price to £675. I wasn't prepeared to settle for that when it's clearly been used!

Might get one on eb_ay, can do so for £590!
 
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