cheddatom Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I find that most interfaces these days seem to come with built in pre-amps. I don't really need pre-amps. What I do need is as many inputs as possible, minimum 16, with the possibility to expand further. I have a Tascam US1800 at the moment and you can't have more than one plugged in at the same time, which is sh*te. Can you recommend me an interface under £500 to fit the bill? I would prefer to buy second hand if it can save me money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 (edited) And connects to your computer how? - USB, FW, PCI, Thunderbolt? That's 16 analog inputs? Balanced or unbalanced? And definitely 24 bit? Or could you get away with 16 bit? Edited May 23, 2014 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Sorry, all obvious questions I should have answered in the OP USB, FW, PCI would all be fine. I'd not heard of Thunderbolt before, I guess I could get a PCI Thunderbolt card so that'd be fine too Yes, 16 analogue inputs, I don't mind what connector they're on. It might be that you recommend I get X interface with ADAT and Y ADAT unit which would be fine too. I just need a total rig to give at least 16 analogue inputs and to be expandable Yeh I need 24bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 You may want to take a look at the motu 828 mk3 - after researching recently based on similar requirements (16 in's for live recording) that seems to be the best of the fairly affordable interfaces as it has 10 analog ins and 2xADAT. In the end though, I got one of these instead: http://cymaticaudio.com/index.php/products/live-recorder-lr-16 Got a great deal through thomann and does what it says on the tin - 16 channels of good quality 24bit audio recorded off the mixer for £235. Bargain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 I was hoping to get my 16 inputs for my £500, I think the 828 mk3 plus an ADAT unit would take me out of that range? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Most studios I've been into use older MOTU's which I've seen quite cheap used on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I take it you don't need pre-amps because you're going to be using the interface in conjunction with a desk that already has them? Which desk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1400838671' post='2457371'] I find that most interfaces these days seem to come with built in pre-amps. I don't really need pre-amps. What I do need is as many inputs as possible, minimum 16, with the possibility to expand further. I have a Tascam US1800 at the moment and you can't have more than one plugged in at the same time, which is sh*te. Can you recommend me an interface under £500 to fit the bill? I would prefer to buy second hand if it can save me money [/quote] This is a nice little interface. The preamps as you've said aren't really needed but you get 20 in/20 out and the converters are very good... The nice preamps are just a bonus :-) http://www.production-room.com/product-details/Focusrite-Saffire-PRO-40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybee Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 You could easily buy 2x Motu 828 mk2 (firewire), 2nd hand and link them together via ADAT. I just have the one of these, and it is absolutely rock solid. Would give you 20x inputs (with preamps on 4 of those). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybee Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 [quote name='skej21' timestamp='1400851942' post='2457552'] This is a nice little interface. The preamps as you've said aren't really needed but you get 20 in/20 out and the converters are very good... The nice preamps are just a bonus :-) [url="http://www.production-room.com/product-details/Focusrite-Saffire-PRO-40"]http://www.productio...-Saffire-PRO-40[/url] [/quote] I think if you want 20 analogue ins you need to hook this up to another interface via ADAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1400844754' post='2457439'] I was hoping to get my 16 inputs for my £500, I think the 828 mk3 plus an ADAT unit would take me out of that range? [/quote] I guess, as others have mentioned there are options which could enable you to get that many inputs for less - particularly if you're happy with firewire. Many folks will be selling off firewire interfaces soon, because the driver support in Windows8 is poor. If you're running a mac, it could mean an opportunity to get a cheap used interface. FYI, the Cymatic audio box I linked provides 16 inputs via USB, in addition to the ability to operate as a standalone live recorder. We recorded a gig with it a couple of weeks back and I'm amazed by the quality of the recording considering how little it cost, I'm not aware of any cheaper way to get 16 inputs other than used firewire interfaces. The main disadvantage is slightly higher latency than some other (e.g RME) interfaces when using the ASIO drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 My current set-up gives me 16 inputs. It seems to me I'll need more than one unit. The MOTU stuff is cool, I've been watching a load of them on Ebay, always seem to miss the good deals. I was thinking, there are lot of 8 or 16 channel interfaces which run on USB. Surely there are some which will work with more than one at a time? [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1400845404' post='2457450'] I take it you don't need pre-amps because you're going to be using the interface in conjunction with a desk that already has them? Which desk? [/quote] Yeh, I'm using a Mackie - 16:8 at the moment but hoping to get my 24 channel one serviced soon. Not sure on the model of them. I like the pre-amps though and have a bunch of other pre-amps I use when I need something more "delicate" The reason I like to use a desk is that it allows me to do 4 different headphone mixes off the auxilliaries with EQ and definitely no latency or interference from the computer side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 couple more questions - are there any ADAT units with analogue inputs but no pre-amps? I guess that would make it cheaper? This bundle seems ideal: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111363268715?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:VRI&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2661 24 analogue inputs and the ability to expand later, but, it's £850! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 ...or maybe it'd be better to save up for a behringer X32? This way I could get rid of my desk and interface all together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 I used to have the original MOTU Ultralite, think it was around the £300-400 mark when new, I think that had the option to daisychain units via firewire so you could add more inputs/outputs etc. I had it for about 6 years and it never had a problem, apart from the inputs and outputs would sometimes have a bit of a seizure and start sending random crackling and noise to all the channels. The Windows drivers have always been a bit sketchy compared to Mac ones (so I've read at least) but after a while the problem became really infrequent, in fact it may have stopped altogether so maybe they fixed it. Last year I decided it was getting old and wanted something quieter and a bit more 'pro' so I traded the MOTU plus £500 for a used RME Fireface 800. The RME is quieter probably owing to better circuitry and AD/DA converters - the MOTU still is quiet and gave about -85dB to -87dB in REAPER with the line ins to begin with though, but the RME is -99dB to -102dB in some cases. I prefer to use outboard preamps anyway so I prefer quiet high quality line inputs. I spoke to the guy who took my MOTU off me and he said he noticed a definite difference, saying that the low end of the MOTU was not as evident and high quality as the RME. RME drivers have been rock solid from day one and never had a single problem. FF800 also has ADAT connectors for connecting additional units or better quality AD/DA units. There is a Fireface 400 at the £750 ish mark but it only has 4 line ins on the rear, the other 4 are 2x combo XLR/TRS and 2x jack instrument/line ins. One thing I loved about the MOTU Ultralite was that it had two dedicated main outs for your monitors - the FF800 makes you sacrifice your line out 1 and 2 so effectively you only have 6 analog outs for routing signals out of it. It does however have very complex mixing software that gives you full control over your ins/out/buses etc. MOTUs have a dedicated main vol control and headphone level on the front panel, the master vol is also the power on button and as time wore on it felt looser to the point that it felt it might break anytime - I looked into this and it's a VERY specialist part and nigh on impossible to replace yourself. I did a lot of research at the time and it felt like MOTU and RME were the only good choices under a grand but this may have changed since! I was never keen on going over the £500 mark but the sad truth is if you want the next step up in quality you don't really have much choice. Not sure if all this will be relevant but it's good to know anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 that's great untune, very useful! All the RME units I've looked at have minimal analogue inputs meaning I'd have to get a bunch of ADAT converters. Fine, but the cheaper ADAT stuff all have pre-amps built in, which I don't need. The bigger MOTU units seem quite well regarded in terms of reliability, but their drivers aren't considered as stable as RME The most attractive deal I've found is that 24 i/o on Ebay but it is out of my budget... May be best to bite the bullet and stick it on a credit card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 I found this the other day: http://www.thomann.de/gb/sm_pro_audio_q_adat.htm Which gives you 8 line inputs to ADAT Two of these and one of the MOTU 2408 or similar rack units would seem to do the job, and relatively cheaply. Any thoughts on this option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1402569126' post='2474816'] I found this the other day: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/sm_pro_audio_q_adat.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...udio_q_adat.htm[/url] Which gives you 8 line inputs to ADAT Two of these and one of the MOTU 2408 or similar rack units would seem to do the job, and relatively cheaply. Any thoughts on this option? [/quote] I've seen some really turgid reviews of this kit, like Behringer, but worse. Be careful. I think you may find the x32 is your easiest solution in fact. It wont compete with something like an RME for sound quality though, just not going to happen. Nice little desk though all the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Sorry, I should have updated the thread but I thought it was long dead! I bought a MOTU 24 i/o in the end and it's working great. Now I just need to get my 24 channel desk up and running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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