Looking for an interface

kmsmith · Post by **kmsmith** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:53 am

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at buying a firewire audio interface but now sure which one to get, any ideas?

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:36 pm

What are your needs??? There are plenty to choose from. From as low as $150 on up....

kmsmith · Post by **kmsmith** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:44 pm

I need something that can handle recording drums, guitars, keys, basically a typcial acoustic rock band. I use Digital Performer on a powerbook G4, hopefully soon enough I can get the G5...

jmoore · Post by **jmoore** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:17 pm

kmsmith wrote:I need something that can handle recording drums, guitars, keys, basically a typcial acoustic rock band. I use Digital Performer on a powerbook G4, hopefully soon enough I can get the G5...

It's still pretty unclear as to what your exact needs are, but I'll do my best. When I thing of a traditional acoustic rock setup, I think 8 channels of drums, 1 of bass (either mic'd or di'd), 1 channel of acoustic guitar and 1 of electric. 2 channels for stereo keys and maybe 2 or 3 inputs for vocals. So, I'd say you probably ought to be looking at something that will give you 16 inputs. To the best of my knowledge there really aren't any (well...perhaps the mackie onyx mixer w/Firewire) firewire interfaces that give you that many inputs with mic pre's. I'd suggest that you look into something like the MOTU 896HD (or a used 896) and a presonus digimax lt. You could probably get all of that gear for about $1700. It's a little steep, but that would give you 16 mic pre's, and a lot of flexibility.

Good luck,

-jordan