Hi Everyone,

I'm about to get a new interface for my home studio and I am having a had time deciding on which to get. Some have the benefits of being very portable (but without a lot of connectivity) and other have lots of bells and whistles, but maybe not the best converters, etc.

So here's what I need at a minimum:

-at least 4 analog input channels (only 2 of which need to be mic channels)
-Firewire
-better converters than the old MOTU 896 I'm using now
-at least 6 analog outputs (for surround mixing)
-physical input level controls on the box itself

Some things I'd like to have:
MIDI
SPDIF
standalone operation

I'm considering the following:
RME Fireface 800 (really worth the cost?)
RME Fireface 400 (nice and portable but is it really worth the cost?)
Focusrite Saffire pro 24 (nice an portable but...are the converters good enough?)
Focusrite Saffire pro 40 (are the converters good enough?)
Yamaha N12 (but I don't use Cubase, so will it work
well with Logic and Performer? also no SPDIF, not going to be part of a portable
touring rig, that's for sure)

I've done tons of reading. Have I missed an obvious candidate?
Will I ever really want 192kHz sample rates?

Any and all opinions very welcome....

Hi Greg,

Check out the TC Electronics Impact Twin.
http://www.tcelectronic.com/impacttwin.asp

I think it has everything you're looking for with the exception of 6 analog outputs. It has 4 analog outs and an additional 10 digital outs.

I picked one up a couple of months ago and love it, I use it as a standalone unit to blend, EQ, compress and have a bit of reverb, sounds fantastic! Hope this helps.

Dave

Greg

i work for a guitar selling store and we carry a vast collection on interfaces...i recommend highly the focusrite interfaces.. either of them will be fine.. they have great preamps

darren/gnat...


btw: i will get back in touch with u on lessons.. after the holidays

Greg - The RME product is some of the best you can get for the money. They have rock-solid drivers, good tech support should you need it. However, the Fireface 400 and 800 are pricey. The 800 would be overkill based on your requirements. The 400 would be a good candidate if you are willing to spend that much. I would also look at their new Fireface UC box - it has Firewire and USB. I currently don't have their external product (out of my price range) but I have had up to 4 of their internal PCI cards in different machines - absolutely love them!

The new MOTU Ultralite units have been getting some good reviews - they also offer one that is combo USB/Firewire. Being a PC user myself I always found their tech support to be lacking (for the PC product). I did have a Traveler that I absolutely loved...however it didn't play well with my MSI laptop top so I sold it and bought a M-Audio ProFire 2626 which I am very happy with.

Focusrite is also known for their audio channels and processing gear - I'm sure their interfaces are good though I don't have first hand knowledge of them.

I suggested the USB/Firewire units because it will allow you a bit more flexibility should you change your computer or just decide to use it with a different one...firewire drivers can be finicky..

Dave

another possibilty

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/ensemble.php

-mike

I am now mainly using a RME Fireface 400, for the same reasons as you are listing as your requirements. Yes, it is pricey but IMHO the best solution for the money in the price range; to get a better sounding box you'll have to pay a lot more. I'm bringing it with me all over the world for different kind of gigs. Today I used it to play West African music in a band on EWI + laptop softsynths, last month I gigged with an alto flute and interactive pedalboard controlled electronics and sometimes I plug in the Stick to run both sides with its own rig. I also use this box in the studio to record vocals, percussion etc with up to four simultaneous microphones (it has two built-in mic preamps so two external pre amps are needed for 48 v mic 3 and 4). Sometimes I play with it live in the studio and send nine digital ADAT channels to a second multi track recording computer (the receiving box using a RME Muiltiface). I've been running software both in OS X and in Windows XP and the FF400 works well under both systems with almost exactly the same user interface for the driver software's mixer and mic input control.

My touring backup audio interface is an Echo Audiofire2, a piece of gear that got great reviews in the music tech press, but since I started performing live with the FF400 I don't want to use the Audiofire2 more because I think it sounds so bad in comparison. With the Stick, for example, all emotion in the tone is gone with the Audiofire2. The difference is big, my tone shines with the RME. I also think the Fireface 400 has as good mic preamps as my old great sounding analog channel strip. Therefore I tend to record more with the Fireface's mic preamps because it is faster and more convenient - which means more time to focus on the music when recording.

Most important to me is that it sounds better then other converters I have tried. When I asked around among experienced music engineers that work at different studios I found they shared this opinion on the RME, although studios tend to use the FF800 (converters are the same and fidelity is equally good). The only reason I can think of for buying another box is that don't need the good fidelity... for some reason.

+1

Apogee makes wonderful converters. Lots better than MOTU and others.

//J

Thanks everyone for all of the recommendations.

I'm definitely leaning toward the RME (a tossup between the 400 and the 800).

The Apogee's reputation and dedicated control through Logic is very appealing. My problem with the Ensemble is it's reported latency is pretty high, and it has no MIDI interface (thinking I would ultimately like to be able to use a laptop and park all these rack processors I schlepp around, I wouldn't want to have to have a separate MIDI interface as well). Plus, I understand you cannot simultaneously use the digital and analogue inputs, which would make sending signals out to external processors via S/PDIF impossible to do. If I'm wrong about these things, please let me know.

Per, do you know if there is any disadvantage to the 800 over the 400? I know the 400 is a more recent interface, so I was curious if there was any improvement in any of the components from the 800 to the 400.

The other thing I really like to see on the 800 is standard power and MIDI cabling, plus all those firewire ports, and 10 simultaneous analog inputs is very appealing for live band recording.

Well, the only "disadvantage" I know of is the size and weight of the 800.

If I remember correctly doesn't the FF800 have only one instrument input compared to the FF400 which I believe has two? I know that since you use the StepAbout you may not be that concerned...but I've found it very helpful to have the dual instrument inputs in case I don't have access to my sp13...I can plug the Stick directly into the interface and it's not bad sounding at all. (I'm using a ProFire 2626...same idea though).

As for the extra inputs. The FF400 does have an 8 channel optical port that allows you to add 8 more channels to the mix. Just pick up an 8 channel A/D/A convertor (focusrite, motu, behringer, apogee...what ever your budget allows) and you can then record the band if you want....

Dave