What's the best moderately priced audio interface?

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djfable32

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What's the best audio interface for a semi professional studio? Or home studio?
What are everyone's thoughts on the M-Box Pro? (The one that comes with Pro Tools)
 
"Best" is a bit hard to define - what kind of i/o do you need? Is the (computer) connection type important? Are you recording a lot of external sources? Are you going to be using external preamps? Do you need MIDI? Do you need expandability? And finally, "moderate pricing" can be a pretty different thing for different people - what's your budget? The MBoxes are decent, but they don't really have anything over the other contenders that'd make me recommend them specifically.
 
sorry, should have been more specific- yes I will be using external mic pres, but I won't be recording a whole lot of external sources, mainly vocals. MIDI- yes. as for price, I'm looking for one around the same price range as the Mbox, but I'd be willing to pay a little more.
 
The Focusrite Forte might be a good option (no MIDI though - what exactly do you need it for?), or the Apogee Duet if you're on a Mac. That is, if you don't need a lot of i/o. Both are quality products.
 
Focusrite Forte or MBox Pro both sport some of the highest quality D/A converters on the market. Unbeatable in that price range.
Invest in quality products. You need to check how many inputs / outputs you need and evaluate that.
 
What do you need it for? I got a Focusrite Saffire 2i2 for about 150 too, beautiful piece really pleased with how it's done. Had it for 6 months now no hiccups.
 
I use an RME Babyface ..you get a stereo input of professional grade quality "0" latency and its sturdy

best 500 bucks i spent
 
Ive been using a focusrite saffire 18i6. replaced my old mbox 2. really good for the money in my opinion
 
I heard theres problems running external preamps through the RME babyface is this true? I've been checking out the Forte, Duet 2, Babyface & Apollo twin as my next choices for interfaces, upgrading from a crappy tascam us800.

My main choice was Apollo twin solo but I heard a single chip isnt good enough to run most the plug ins & to go with the duo. Which is pretty pricey so i started lookin at the other 3. I dont have any experience with UAD plugz but everyone says once you start using them you wont stop.

Id mainly be using whichever interface i buy for hip hop production. 2 instruments recording at once max. My main concern is I can still use an external preamp. I like the fact apollo twin can run off thunderbolt & give me more usb space but I just worry about the single/double chip theories. Can anyone back up the Solo? Or shoot any other suggestions for that matter
 
Afaik there isn't a problem running ext preamps with the Babyface, it's just that there isn't a way to completely bypass the internal pres. Apparently turning the input gain to 0db kind of acts like a bypass, but it's still running through the pre. RME says it shouldn't affect the sound, but don't have any experience with it to confirm this.

There's a chart on UA's site showing how many plugin instances you can run with each card.
 
Is the usage of a DSP chip only effected by the UA plug ins or say plug ins from Logics?
I really dont see myself relying on the UA plug ins too much & am quite tempted to go with the solo as long as it cant handle pretty basic production.
 
The Apollo DSP only handles the UA plugins. Everything else just taxes your computer's CPU, as usual.
 
There's a lot of posts on quality AIs. Use the search function.

Here's a post where I have made a list out of online reviews:
https://www.futureproducers.com/for...are/recording-through-audio-interface-477329/ #3

Here's a commercial review list:
12 of the best budget USB audio interfaces | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 | Tech News | MusicRadar

At the 250 bucks price range, they come with some flaws. Flaws seem to disappear more at the 500 bucks price range. Like the Apogee, Motu or RME babyface.
Too bad the Mbox one that came with PT express isn't available anymore, as that one had pretty high reviews on the converters and preamps.
My preferences at this moment would be, in order of best to worst (what I deducted from online reviews, so, very subjective):
- RME, Motu, the one's around 500 bucks mentioned in this post
Then for half that price
- Mbox, if you can still find it, Steinberg (very good reviews on the converter and preamp, can have driver issues)
- Focusrite scarlett, mackie onyx, tc impact twin, NI komplete audio,

As I said, the list is very subjective. There's a lot of talk around that converters and preamps in the 250 bucks price range don't differ that much. They all come with their flaws. You get the better results in the 500 bucks price range.
 
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B Side Producer said:
There's a lot of posts on quality AIs. Use the search function.

Here's a post where I have made a list out of online reviews:
https://www.futureproducers.com/for...are/recording-through-audio-interface-477329/ #3

Here's a commercial review list:
12 of the best budget USB audio interfaces | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 | Tech News | MusicRadar

At the 250 bucks price range, they come with some flaws. Flaws seem to disappear more at the 500 bucks price range. Like the Apogee, Motu or RME babyface.
Too bad the Mbox one that came with PT express isn't available anymore, as that one had pretty high reviews on the converters and preamps.
My preferences at this moment would be, in order of best to worst (what I deducted from online reviews, so, very subjective):
- RME, Motu, the one's around 500 bucks mentioned in this post
Then for half that price
- Mbox, if you can still find it, Steinberg (very good reviews on the converter and preamp, can have driver issues)
- Focusrite scarlett, mackie onyx, tc impact twin, NI komplete audio,

As I said, the list is very subjective. There's a lot of talk around that converters and preamps in the 250 bucks price range don't differ that much. They all come with their flaws. You get the better results in the 500 bucks price range.
Click to expand...


much thanks 2 Krushing & Bside for answering. & i did use the search function thats how i found this thread :P I just had some questions I felt we're on topic & if i started a new thread someone wouldve said the same thing about the search function.

But yeah i definitely had my eye on the RME because a friend uses it & his house mixes are nice & clear, but i read on another forum about the bypass issue & was a bit confused on how it plays out as i would be using an external preamp for hip hop because i just dig that hardware feel. At a music store the sales person had me completely sold on the Apollo after I went in there looking for a Focusrite Scarlett. Told him I had a tascam US800 & needed a serious upgrade but he said I might as well keep it til it craps out or upgrade to apogee (only because i have a Mac) & apollo out of personal recommendation saying it would greatly improve everything. So i definitely think I'm going with the Solo.

For real though my tascam is awaiting its fate with a sledge hammer in the near by future lmao. Served me well for the past 2 years learning how to mix but damn this thing & I have a love hate relationship & Im ready for the breakup.
 
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