Revamping my Studio (which interface?)

mhayesmusic · Post by **mhayesmusic** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:00 am

Hey all,

I am in the midst of selling and trading alot of my old gear and revamping my studio. I basically wanted to get rid of stuff to "shrink" (if you will) and work more within the box (mix and edit in DP). I've been using DP since before it did audio...(WAY BACK).. I have a 2408 (mk1) that i just don't need anymore.. i'll be using mostly software for sound mods and sampling and using my Triton rack unit. Recording live guitar tracks... maybe some live drums as well..

Bottom line .. I have been looking at 3 MOTU interfaces .. the 828... the Traveler... and the UltraLite... I want some advice on which to actually get. I want to monitor my Triton rack (where I'll be getting my MIDI sounds from) through the new unit as well as monitor my live guitar and drum tracks. I don't want to use an external mixer for monitoring different sources anymore. I wannt to work right DP. And I need to have those preamps for live tracks to be pretty damn good. Now lets hear what you got folks ....

Some diagrams of your layouts would ROCK... my stuff is mostly guitar oriented music (Blues, Jazz, Rock, Redneck Jazz, Country).... guide me people!!!!!

OldTimey · Post by **OldTimey** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:07 am

not slam motu interfaces, as i own and use one myself (the integration with DP is fantastic, the drivers for OSX are flawless) but maybe you should consider spending a little more and getting an interface with better A/D, D/A conversion, Apogee Ensemble, Metric Halo, RME Fireface 800 etc...

mhayesmusic · Post by **mhayesmusic** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:30 am

Thanks for that advice... those thoughts DID cross my mind... but.. i would like to stay a little lower in price... do you have any experience with the 3 you mentioned.. just in case i happen to find a few more bucks to spend?

OldTimey · Post by **OldTimey** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:43 am

no i dont unfortunately, but a number of folks on this board use the ensemble and say it works really well. The fireface probably works pretty well too, but i've heard better things (compatibility-wise!) about the apogee piece.

i personally have an 828mk2, and feature-wise, it's a great box. the sound is pretty prosumer, but i don't mind. I use an external D/A for monitoring. I hope to get a higher quality two channel A/D in the future. I don't normally record more than 2 channels at a time, but the extra inputs come in handy for patching in outboard gear and synths.

if you don't need more than two channels, consider the Apogee Duet. it's a a bit lacking in expandability but the sound is supposed to be pretty nice.

jliechty · Post by **jliechty** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:16 am

I use the Traveler with DP to do most of what you mentioned, except for recording drums. While an Apogee would probably sound better, I console myself with the thought that $3000 ADC/DAC units wouldn't extract any extra detail from the audio coming out of the dated DACs in my Kurzweil. Besides, electric guitar, once run through a distortion / amp simulation plugin, won't have many subtleties that a higher-end DAC could reveal. Please don't tell me otherwise; my wallet couldn't bear the thought that I might be wrong.

Anyway, do consider how many preamps you'll need at once, and think about whether you will use external preamps in addition to or rather than the ones in your interface. If you'll need more than two, the Ultralight may not be enough. The 8pre has enough preamps, but doesn't have enough outputs to handle 5.1, should you want to do that.

jliechty · Post by **jliechty** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:16 am

sorry, double post.

OldTimey · Post by **OldTimey** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:32 am

jliechty wrote: Besides, electric guitar, once run through a distortion / amp simulation plugin, won't have many subtleties that a higher-end DAC could reveal. Please don't tell me otherwise; my wallet couldn't bear the thought that I might be wrong.

Haha i won't. If it sounds good to you, then you are on the right track.

jliechty · Post by **jliechty** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:51 am

OldTimey wrote: Haha i won't. If it sounds good to you, then you are on the right track.

In seriousness, I hope my comment was obviously sarcastic enough not to be misunderstood. It would be very informative (for me) to see a discussion about the merits of higher-end ADCs following lower-end DACs (e.g. the 44.1/16 coming out of most keyboards). However, that would be a off the topic of the thread, and as such should be saved for another time.

Many people seem to like the Lynx Aurora converters as well, for what it's worth. Even though I'm terribly unworthy, I'm still lusting after the Prism Orpheus or its bigger brother...

mhayesmusic · Post by **mhayesmusic** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:38 pm

jliechty wrote:I use the Traveler with DP to do most of what you mentioned, except for recording drums. While an Apogee would probably sound better, I console myself with the thought that $3000 ADC/DAC units wouldn't extract any extra detail from the audio coming out of the dated DACs in my Kurzweil. Besides, electric guitar, once run through a distortion / amp simulation plugin, won't have many subtleties that a higher-end DAC could reveal. Please don't tell me otherwise; my wallet couldn't bear the thought that I might be wrong.

Well no "simulators" on that end here fellas ... i want guitar > amp > mic... i have recorded with my pod and despise it.. i only use that thing for practicing with headphones late at night.... i need a real amp sound. That is actually one of my points ... I will need to be sure those preamp in whatever unit are "decent". I dont mind "tweaking" some EQ and stuff after the fact, but I need live amp sound.

mhayesmusic · Post by **mhayesmusic** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:42 pm

and even on another front... with say the traveler's and 828's MIDI capabilities .. does that mean i really don't need to use my MTP AV? I'll keep it for when I do some scoring and sound design stuff for TC but, I 'm wondering if I'll actually need that too.... Ad I totally get yout sarcasm my friend .. for I am a real sarcastic bastard myself