Advice on (budget!) Audio Interface for my small setup

Martinukai · 2015-01-11T04:23:10.000Z

Hi there.

Right now I have no audio interface whatsoever.

My gear consists of an MD, OT & Dark Energy 2. I may purchase another synth in future and certainly another Elektron machine (MNM).

Basically I want to be able to record a few separate tracks from the MD and OT outputs into Ableton at the same time as the Dark Energy and whatever else comes along in the future.

What are the best budget options. Is there any way I can ‘cheap out’ on this at all?

Cheers in advance for any tips on this:)

Hans_Olo · 2015-01-11T07:19:37.000Z

Hi,

you might want to take a look at Focusrite. They come with different numbers of analog I/O and while it’s not all rainbows and unicorns I’m happy enough with my 18i20 given the price tag.

Hans

Accent · 2015-01-11T07:58:30.000Z

My budget has been really low the last few years. Planning for the future, I’ve picked up:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (the 18i20 may be fine for you), Presonus Digimax FS via ADAT, 2xBehinger Px3000 patchbays, Emagic Unitor8 MkII and MkI midi patchbays. Probably around $1000 total, since the Pro 40 was new, but lots of room to grow with. If I run out of space, it’s a matter of more inexpensive patchbays that I can easily justify.

Martinukai · 2015-01-11T15:24:55.000Z

""Accent"":

My budget has been really low the last few years. Planning for the future, I’ve picked up:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (the 18i20 may be fine for you), Presonus Digimax FS via ADAT, 2xBehinger Px3000 patchbays, Emagic Unitor8 MkII and MkI midi patchbays. Probably around $1000 total, since the Pro 40 was new, but lots of room to grow with. If I run out of space, it’s a matter of more inexpensive patchbays that I can easily justify.

Whoa… that’s quite a bit of kit (for a low price I guess). I’m not sure I need patchbays/midi patchbays yet.
I don’t think my setup will ever grow that large. I just want a few machines.
Would I get by with just a simple decent audio interface such as this with 6in, 6 out for the time being?

http://www.thomann.de/ie/focusrite_scarlett_6i6.htm

Call me cheap, but I really didn’t predict the financial black hole I was getting myself into;)

Martinukai · 2015-01-11T15:27:21.000Z

[quote=““Hans Olo””]
Hi,

you might want to take a look at Focusrite. They come with different numbers of analog I/O and while it’s not all rainbows and unicorns I’m happy enough with my 18i20 given the price tag.

Hans
[/quote]

Cheers for the tip!

Maybe I’m being shortsighted but I don’t think I’d ever need 18 inputs… or is that the mistake a lot of hardware newbies make?

PeterHanes · 2015-01-11T15:34:40.000Z

""Martinukai"":

Maybe I’m being shortsighted but I don’t think I’d ever need 18 inputs… or is that the mistake a lot of hardware newbies make?

Only you know what your plans are for the future; hobby vs profession, playing live vs studio, budget vs flexibility, and whether you need to use the complex audio routing and individual outputs available on the MM and MD.

If you want to use a small number of connections at a time but different combinations, consider an audio patch bay plus a small (= few channels) audio interface instead of a large audio interface.

But take time to specify what you will want to use in the foreseeable future before you buy.

Martinukai · 2015-01-11T15:54:55.000Z

If you want to use a small number of connections at a time but different combinations, consider an audio patch bay plus a small (= few channels) audio interface instead of a large audio interface.

Forgive my ignorance now but if I had a small audio interface why would I need the patch bay? Is it because it’s a hassle to constantly swap the configuration around on the actual interface itself?

Cheers Peter.

PeterHanes · 2015-01-11T16:02:22.000Z

""Martinukai"":

If you want to use a small number of connections at a time but different combinations, consider an audio patch bay plus a small (= few channels) audio interface instead of a large audio interface.

Forgive my ignorance now but if I had a small audio interface why would I need the patch bay? Is it because it’s a hassle to constantly swap the configuration around on the actual interface itself?

If you have a several machines in the future, but only need to use a few of them at once or want to redirect outputs from one instrument into another, you could connect all the connections from all the instruments into the patch bay and then just patch the ones you want to send to/from the computer into the (small) audio interface, rather than have all the connections permanently connected to a (large) audio interface.

It’s worth thinking about whether you would work that way in the future. It may not necessarily be the way you want to work.

Martinukai · 2015-01-11T16:10:41.000Z

Aha. Loud and clear. That’s a great idea man. Those behringer bays are fairly cheap. Many thanks:)

Hans_Olo · 2015-01-11T16:29:44.000Z

[quote=““Maybe I’m being shortsighted but I don’t think I’d ever need 18 inputs… or is that the mistake a lot of hardware newbies make?””]

[/quote]

Well, yes and no. At the end of the day we’re talking about 4 usable analog stereo pairs, e.g., an A4, an Octatrack, two effect devices and that’s it. I don’t find that too outrageous, looking at the amount of gear folks here seem to be using.
Best,
Hans

Martinukai · 2015-01-22T18:12:17.000Z

Thanks all for the advice. The quest continues. For the moment I’m happy actually learning the machines without the need to record any of my crap just yet;)

Martinukai · 2015-02-01T05:12:20.000Z

Ended up going for this guy on the cheap…

http://www.roland.com/products/fa-101/

10in/10out

I am waiting for fir wire 400 to 800 adapter before I can use it… but I hope it works out for a year or so;)

t · 2015-02-01T09:28:42.000Z

The new Behringer interfaces are really good also. Esp. the UMC1820 looks like great value.

Martinukai · 2015-02-01T18:19:38.000Z

Yeah this is pretty old too, but I’ve read good things. Maybe latency not the best but looking forward to making the most out of the multiple ins and outs

huuper · 2015-02-01T20:36:57.000Z

I recommend Focusrite Scarlett as well. Save yourself the headache and get one with more inputs then you think you need.

jeffe · 2015-02-01T21:36:41.000Z

""Martinukai"":

Ended up going for this guy on the cheap…

http://www.roland.com/products/fa-101/

10in/10out

I am waiting for fir wire 400 to 800 adapter before I can use it… but I hope it works out for a year or so;)

I’ve been using an FA-101 (edirol version) for years - they are great.

However the preamps SUCK - I use it for line level, external preamps only.

It should work well in Linux too.

Martinukai · 2015-02-03T04:47:45.000Z

""jeffe"":

[quote=“Martinukai”]Ended up going for this guy on the cheap…

http://www.roland.com/products/fa-101/

10in/10out

I am waiting for fir wire 400 to 800 adapter before I can use it… but I hope it works out for a year or so;)

I’ve been using an FA-101 (edirol version) for years - they are great.

However the preamps SUCK - I use it for line level, external preamps only.

It should work well in Linux too.[/quote]
Great man, happy to hear people say good things about my risky buy;) It works fine so far.

poonti · 2015-02-03T05:36:20.000Z

""Martinukai"":

[quote=“jeffe”][quote=“Martinukai”]Ended up going for this guy on the cheap…

http://www.roland.com/products/fa-101/

10in/10out

I am waiting for fir wire 400 to 800 adapter before I can use it… but I hope it works out for a year or so;)

I’ve been using an FA-101 (edirol version) for years - they are great.

However the preamps SUCK - I use it for line level, external preamps only.

It should work well in Linux too.[/quote]
Great man, happy to hear people say good things about my risky buy;) It works fine so far. [/quote]
I use the UA-101, never had any problems with it - works fine!