interface help

[iamjoe2]

im pretty new to recording, but i know the basics,

my problem is icant find what i need, i thought it would be simple,

all i need is about 12-14 mic/line pre's , and it needs to be firewire so i can get all the tracks into my daw individually.

oh, and it has to be cheap and work with live 6

but price isnt to big a factor, i just need to know if they make somthing like this

thanks

[The Chemist]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-Onyx-1640-16Channel-Mixer?sku=634268

plus

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-Mixer-FireWire-IO-Card?sku=634269

=16 simultaneous tracks, and it works with live 6.

Only problem is the $1800 price tag, but I'd definitely go for it if you have the funds.

[cgecko1219]

fw1884 has expandability and built in firewire ports...another option.


thats a mighty big project if ur plannin to record and track 12-14 tracks at once...live stuff?

[The Chemist]

fw1884 has expandability and built in firewire ports...another option.


thats a mighty big project if ur plannin to record and track 12-14 tracks at once...live stuff?

Yes, and the FW 1884 takes serious system resource (READ: to pump 10+ tracks, allot about ~1 gig of ram for JUST the 1884).

Besides, the 1884 is really hard to use.

[Hobbes]

I own an Alesis MultiMix 8 firewire mixer, and it works really well for me... they make a 16-channel version for around 400 dollars.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-MultiMix-16-FireWire-16Channel-Analog-Mixer-?sku=630169

I haven't used the 16 channel mixer, but I'd assume it would be the same as mine, only twice the channels.

Only issues are: I'm not sure if it works with Live 6 or not, never tried it... and they JUST RELEASED windows vista drivers, so we'll have to see if they work properly.

[The Chemist]

Beware Alesis.

preamps = pure crap.

[Hobbes]

While I'm sure The Chemist knows what he/she is talking about, I still have found that the Alesis works very well, especially considering the price.

[Moseph]

The way this number of channels is normally acquired in home studios is with a firewire interface with fewer than 12 analog inputs (normally 4-8) and then with an additional device providing more inputs (usually 8).

For instance, you could choose a firewire device like the Presonus Firestudio or Focusrite Saffire PRO26 which each supply 8 mic pres, or even something like the Tascam FW-1804 which has 4 mic pres and 4 line inputs. The key feature that you're looking for is expandability, normally done using ADAT Lightpipe (or the S/MUX version of ADAT Lightpipe if you need high sampling rates over more channels).

You could then invest in another 8-channels expansion with devices like the Presonus Digimax FS, Presonus Digmax LT, Focurite OctoPre LE (with ADAT card), or M-Audio Octane. That'll put you in the 12-16 mic pre range.

If you don't need that many mic pres, just that many analog inputs (say your mixer has 12 direct outputs or something) then you could pick up the Echo AudioFire12 and avoid this hassle, since it has 12 line level analog ins.

The Mackie Onyx series w/ converter is nice, but it's really designed more for FOH with recording options: you're going to be paying (and not a little bit) for stuff that isn't really used.

[iamjoe2]

stupid question... can i expand somthing like the presonus firestudio with that fw 1804?


yes it would be a sizeable project, but i have a funding problemb so i might get somthing like the 1804 to start out with then use it to expand a fire studio or somthing.

is there anyway i could do this for like.... 5-6 hundred?

btw whats the difference between the digimax fs and the firestudio?

[Moseph]

stupid question... can i expand somthing like the presonus firestudio with that fw 1804?

No. Well, you could, but it would probably take 2 computers.

yes it would be a sizeable project, but i have a funding problemb so i might get somthing like the 1804 to start out with then use it to expand a fire studio or somthing.

You could get the 1804 and use it's ADAT inputs with something like a Digimax or even a cheaper device like the SMPro MKII (+card) or Behringer ADA8000. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as those units aren't known for their dependability, but they'll work reasonably well in the short term.

That'll give you 16 channels, 12 with pre amps (the other 4 expect line inputs). You could additionally grab something like the ART DPS II tube preamp to add an additional 2 channels via S/PDIF if you need to (though it's probably cheaper to add preamps to the last 4 channels).

btw whats the difference between the digimax fs and the firestudio?

The Digimax FS is a set of 8 channels of preamps that includes ADAT Lightpipe I/O in addition to the standard analog I/O.

The Firestudio is a firewire audio interface (read: pro sound card). It also happens to have ADAT Lightpipe I/O, as well as MIDI I/O and S/PDIF I/O.

Basically, the Firestudio can talk to your computer directly via firewire, whereas the Digimax FS cannot.

[iamjoe2]

im loking at getting a presonus firepod, it says you can "daisy-chain" them together via firewire, will i get 16 independent inputs if i do this??

thanks

link: http://www.presonus.com/fp10.html

[Moseph]

im loking at getting a presonus firepod, it says you can "daisy-chain" them together via firewire, will i get 16 independent inputs if i do this??

thanks

link: http://www.presonus.com/fp10.html

PreSonus has gone on record as saying that it potentially can work. They have also said that it's hit/miss from system to system.

A smarter thing to do would probably be what I suggested and take advantage of ADAT Lightpipe.

For instance: a Tascam FW-1804 is about $400 (you probably should have purchased it 2-3 weeks ago when Musician's Friend was trying to liquidate the stock by dropping the price to $280). You can then add a Behringer A/D/A800 via ADAT (for about $250) or an SMPro PR8II w/ card (for about $300) to get 16 independent channels (12 with pres).

That is your least expensive option. It's also the only thing that really comes near your apparent $600 upper limit.

The best bang for the buck is a Presonus FireStudio w/ a Presonus Digimax FS. 16 channels (all with preamps) for about $1200, and since you can utilize S/MUX ADAT Lightpipe, you can record everything at 24-bit/96kHz sampling if you really wanted to.

The FireStudio is more or less interchangeable with the Focusrite Saffire26, depending on if you have a preference for preamps or outputs.

FYI: I looked into using the FW-1804 independently and if you really want to do it, you can make use of an ADAT converter and the inserts on the FW-1804 to get 4 extra channels w/ pres into a FireStudio down the road. However, there are easier, cheaper, and less troublesome solutions than that.

[The Chemist]

PreSonus has gone on record as saying that it potentially can work. They have also said that it's hit/miss from system to system.

A smarter thing to do would probably be what I suggested and take advantage of ADAT Lightpipe.

For instance: a Tascam FW-1804 is about $400 (you probably should have purchased it 2-3 weeks ago when Musician's Friend was trying to liquidate the stock by dropping the price to $280). You can then add a Behringer A/D/A800 via ADAT (for about $250) or an SMPro PR8II w/ card (for about $300) to get 16 independent channels (12 with pres).

That is your least expensive option. It's also the only thing that really comes near your apparent $600 upper limit.

The best bang for the buck is a Presonus FireStudio w/ a Presonus Digimax FS. 16 channels (all with preamps) for about $1200, and since you can utilize S/MUX ADAT Lightpipe, you can record everything at 24-bit/96kHz sampling if you really wanted to.

The FireStudio is more or less interchangeable with the Focusrite Saffire26, depending on if you have a preference for preamps or outputs.

FYI: I looked into using the FW-1804 independently and if you really want to do it, you can make use of an ADAT converter and the inserts on the FW-1804 to get 4 extra channels w/ pres into a FireStudio down the road. However, there are easier, cheaper, and less troublesome solutions than that.
QFT.

[Moseph]

Qft?

[Tremens]

quote for truth

[iamjoe2]

sorry i took so long to reply, but is there any way to check if two firepods will link up w/ my system?(stupid question i know)



if that cant be done im looking at either the presonus firestudio or the alesis io 26

please post concerns or recommendations about either of these

[Moseph]

sorry i took so long to reply, but is there any way to check if two firepods will link up w/ my system?(stupid question i know)



if that cant be done im looking at either the presonus firestudio or the alesis io 26

please post concerns or recommendations about either of these

Call Presonus and ask them based on your computer specifications. They will know better than anyone else.

[iamjoe2]

just checked there web site and there in baton rouge, la! hell i could drive to there hq!

i had no friggin idea..