Do not invest in these. I have one and it failed after a year of light use. The QC on these is awful.
Go for the Tascam Models if you need something like this.
The Soundcraft 12MTK pots are noisy, channels are dead and the USB would drop at various times.
Not a good last value from my personal experience.
Just my 2 Cents of course…
Zoom U-44 can work standalone, I guess U-24 should too, since it looks the same except the expansion and optical ports. It can also be powered by batteries.
Did you get it working? I would create an audio track in Logic aimed at Outputs 3-4 (basically any other than Main 1-2 Outputs) as my external hardware sampler channels.
Just a quick update.
After much research, I narrowed it down to the Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 and Presonus Studio 1810c. More I/O, metering, & price won, so I went with the Presonus.
The Presonus has 8 analog audio inputs (4 w/ mic preamps) and 6 analog audio outputs, the Focusrite has 6 (2 w/ mic preamps) and 4 audio outputs.
The Presonus can act as a standalone mixer, but only while the USB is plugged into the computer. The Focusrite can act as a standalone mixer without it plugged into the computer. I plan on leaving the audio interface permanently plugged into the computer, so either would work in my case.
The Presonus is currently $100 of at most retailers. Link.
Yes, thanks for this!
Zoom Gigcaster 8, you can even record multitrack on sd card.
Boss?
Boss is the Gigcaster, Zoom is the LiveTrak. Both similar features and price.
Yes Boss, my bad.
I think Behringer Xenyx 1002 FX works for this purpose
Oh man I miss that screen so bad!
I would look into stageboxes/live solutions, oddly enough they are usually way more bang for the buck and pack a bunch of features that are useful in the studio. I bought a soundcraft ui24r for $800. 22 analog inputs plus one stereo RCA input. Master out + 8 aux outputs for sending to effects or samplers. The interface works on any device (iPad, computer whatever) and has an amazing matrix system for routing anything anywhere. Works really well on its ok own or with a daw. Built in effects, recorder, everything. Not sure why more people don’t use these kind of boxes, behringer makes one, allen and heath, etc
I can’t believe anybody mentioned the Mackie Onyx 12 here! Rock solid, good sound, real hands on mixing, standalone, multitrack recording, affordable! I love mine!
A blast from the past! I had a 1212, around 20 years ago. Fond memories of GigaSampler and GigaStudio.
Those stageboxes with multitrack USB interfaces built-in are a relatively new product category? I did look at the Behringer and Midas, but don’t need all the extra I/O.
I didn’t realize Mackie made a multitrack mixer. Looks killer.
I think the only multitrack mixer with MIDI I/O is the Tascam Model 12.
I’m happy with the Presonus Studio 1810c. Rock-solid drivers, haven’t experienced any ‘Audio Interface Not Found’ issues like I had frequently with my MOTU Audio Express.
Just a 1+ year update.
In that time, I’ve had two Presonus Studio 1810c units fail. Over time, several of the inputs became much quieter. Presonus sent me a replacement and it developed the same issue. Finally, they sent me the bigger Studio 1824c, which operated without any hardware issues in the few months that I had it. Unfortunately, when updating the firmware, the custom software mixer routings I created were erased, and I don’t remember if there was a way to save them, I never tried. And it looks like Presonus discontinued the 1810c.
I went back to using my nearly 20-year-old Roland VS-100, whose 10-year-old Windows 10 drivers work fine under Windows 11. (A minor tweak to Windows 11 was all that was required to install its Win10 driver). The ADC/DACs sound clearer than the Presonus’ too. The mic preamps are a bit noisier though. Drivers are similarly stable, with decent-enough low latency. It handled my Ableton Live stress tests without any issues.
Nice thing is that this ancient 8-input/6-output USB 2.0 audio interface can also be used as a hardware mixer and an SD-card recorder when the computer is off. Pretty handy. That’s what I was aiming for when creating this thread in late 2023.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VStudio100--cakewalk-v-studio-100
I’ve almost purchased a 3rd gen 18i20 Scarlett a number of times in the past 18 months, but not quite done it.
I think ultimately the reason I didn’t, is that I really want an RME, but I’m just struggling with justifying the price to myself.
