Hey guys,

So I've gone with a new Mac Pro (instead of a older G5) and will be using Logic. I had already bought a TC ELECTRONIC KONNEKT 24D for my studio but I did this when I was going PC.

Can you guys recommend a good interface that works well with this setup. I've heard Apogee Duet, but I know I might look at some hardware down the line and this would limit me.

Thanks!

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Originally posted by cammaxwell Hey guys, So I've gone with a new Mac Pro (instead of a older G5) and will be using Logic. I had already bought a TC ELECTRONIC KONNEKT 24D for my studio but I did this when I was going PC. Can you guys recommend a good interface that works well with this setup. I've heard Apogee Duet, but I know I might look at some hardware down the line and this would limit me. Thanks!

This all depends on your budget, but I'll offer some suggestions on the mid to high range.

MOTU stuff is excellent and their driver stability on a Mac is really good. The MOTU stuff is decent enough quality with enough variety in their product line to serve most of your needs.

RME stuff is a bit more expensive, but again, higher on the quality scale than most of the cheaper MOTU stuff. The Fireface line get a lot of good press from magazines and owners alike.

Metric Halo offers a couple of interfaces that straddle the line between RME and Apogee depending on who you talk to. They are a Mac only company, so that is a bonus as far as driver stability.

One step up from that is the Apogee stuff. I'm currently upgrading my MOTU 24 I/O (which'll be up for sale on eBay in a week or two) to an Apogee Ensemble. The Apogee stuff is really up there in terms of quality, but you're going to pay a premium for that. Where as a MOTU 828 will run you around $800, an Ensemble is going to run you $2000. There is a huge jump in quality there, but you're now getting into the realm of fewer features for more money. This is simply because the unit is of much higher quality, so its going to cost more for less features.

You can also get into Apogee's Symphony line, but thats getting up there in terms of price.

Finally we can get into Prism interfaces, but lets not go there unless you have the higher end of 4 figures to spend.

One other point on this: If you do not have good monitors, getting a higher end interface is going to be pointless. Most of the higher end interfaces are not going to have a discernible difference if you are listening to them on cheap studio monitors. SO, I would recommend that if you do not have good monitors, that you may want to also consider that as part of an overall purchase as well. A $2,000 interface going through $300 monitors isn't going to help much.

Hey Eric, so did you already get the apogee? (mini review please...... )

Not exactly a hijack as it's still in line with the topic, but I'm going to be buying an audio interface and haven't looked at what's available in a year or so and I don't trust the advice from audio retailers....having been one myself

I'm either going to be spending about $500 for something of good quality, or going lower ($200) to get a good value interface and here is my dilemma....

at the $500 mark, I'm going to get entry level soundcards from pro manufacturers (motu, rme etc.) but I'm not sure if lesser amount of money is better spent on getting a lower level manufacturer (M-audio, ES etc.), which offers better value.

I only need 4 in 4 out and 1 x midi in/out would be useful (but not a deal breaker). Quality is an issue but I'm not anal and frankly (as I've always said and well pointed out in your above post) my speakers won't take advantage of amazing DACs.

So my question is what is going to be the best way to go for a min 4in/out + midi interface?

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Hey Eric, so did you already get the apogee? (mini review please...... )

Not yet, I expect to get it in the next couple of weeks, but I'll be happy to review it after that. Gotta get the rest of my hardware sold on eBay first to fund it.

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Not exactly a hijack as it's still in line with the topic, but I'm going to be buying an audio interface and haven't looked at what's available in a year or so and I don't trust the advice from audio retailers....having been one myself I'm either going to be spending about $500 for something of good quality, or going lower ($200) to get a good value interface and here is my dilemma.... at the $500 mark, I'm going to get entry level soundcards from pro manufacturers (motu, rme etc.) but I'm not sure if lesser amount of money is better spent on getting a lower level manufacturer (M-audio, ES etc.), which offers better value. I only need 4 in 4 out and 1 x midi in/out would be useful (but not a deal breaker). Quality is an issue but I'm not anal and frankly (as I've always said and well pointed out in your above post) my speakers won't take advantage of amazing DACs. So my question is what is going to be the best way to go for a min 4in/out + midi interface?

Well, in my experience, its going to be better to get a high quality interface with less features. The reason I think this is that anytime I have bought anything in the lower range, it's always going more than a few disappointing facts and it always ends up getting replaced.

The problem in your situation is that I am not aware of your future expansion plans. If you knew that you'd always be in the box, all software with no need for hardware inputs, then something like the Apogee Duet would be perfect for that situation. At $495, you get a high quality interface from a reputable company. The disadvantage is that its only 2in 2out with no MIDI. In a pure software environment, this is not a problem because most MIDI controllers connect via USB. This type of interface is also limited because there is no possibility for expansion whatsoever, so if you do decide to get hardware in the future, you'll have to replace it anyway.

If you know you'll need expansion then a good option is something like a MOTU Ultralite, which is 10 in 14 out, but with no MIDI for $550. Small MIDI Interfaces are also cheap, so thats probably a good option worth exploring.

There are a lot of manufacturers who have interfaces that fall below the $500 mark, but I am personally always wary of anything that is in that sub-$500 range. Since you said that quality was an issue for you, you have to remember that when dealing with products in that range, even brand names don't mean a whole lot.

This is just my personal opinion, but there are certain manufacturers that I trust and some I wouldn't even consider buying from. M-Audio and Behringer are two companies that I will not buy ANYTHING from, based on my previous experience with their products. Presonus is also a bit shaky especially in that price range. MOTU, RME and FocusRite are products worth looking at in my opinion, based on their quality products in a higher price range.

If you can give me a bit more information, such as your potential expansion plans and maybe your computing platform I can reccommend some specific products.

RME has the most stable drivers out there. The RME Fireface and Apogee Ensemble are arguably the two best interface choices to use with Logic. If I really had to pick one though, it would be the RME Fireface.

MOTU and Metric Halo are also good if you're on a tighter budget, but if you can, I would highly recommend you go with RME or Apogee. You will not be dissapointed.

Stay away from M-Audio interfaces.

Edit- I think the Apogee Duet would probably be the best thing thing to consider for your budget
A MOTU 828mkii might be worth looking into as well.

Got MOTU Ultralite, great, stable, brilliant mic preamp. Only thing is that you can get DC offset on some outputs (like headphones :-/). Its no big deal, but then again, its suppose to be professional ... and DC offset is UNPROFESSIONAL as hell. Other than that its a great interface (theres no DC off course on the inputs ).

But tbh, I would swap my MOTU for a RME Fireface some day and try RME out. It may be even better than Ultralite and hopefully it doesnt suffer from DC.

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Thanks guys for the considered responses.

I was along the lines of thought that you suggested, and I don't need much in the way I/O so I will be aiming at higher quality interfaces.

The duet doesn't work for me as I need more than just 2in/2out and at $500 for that I'm sure it sounds great but it's just not value for my requirements.

The Traveller is an option but I can't help thinking about the money I'll be wasting on all that extra I/O that I'll never use.

I'm nearly completely in the box now, apart from my electribe so a less function, higher quality should be the solution but I'm just not sure what?

Why stay away from M-audio? I know they are very consumer, but in my (considerable) experience with M-audio products, they have always been quite stable and decent sounding. This is going back a bit so maybe things have changed since....

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Why stay away from M-audio? I know they are very consumer, but in my (considerable) experience with M-audio products, they have always been quite stable and decent sounding. This is going back a bit so maybe things have changed since....

ADC/DAC and clocking isn't comparable to RME etc.

personally, i haven't had a fun time with the audiofires (absolute pieceo of shit: tested on two computers, got a replacement, problems still happened) and i've seen others experiencing the same problems.

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Originally posted by DJ RANN The duet doesn't work for me as I need more than just 2in/2out and at $500 for that I'm sure it sounds great but it's just not value for my requirements.

The problem is that right now this interface is probably top of the line in its price range in terms of DAC quality. There is just a pretty big gap at this price point and this unit will definitely give you the highest quality converters you'll be able to find for that amount of money. Don't be fooled, its not going to be an Ensemble or a Rosetta (even Apogee will tell you that), but its definitely high quality.

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Originally posted by DJ RANN The Traveller is an option but I can't help thinking about the money I'll be wasting on all that extra I/O that I'll never use.

You'd be surprised how handy extra I/O can be. I never consider extra I/O a waste.

However, considering your situation, this or the Ultralite is probably going to be your best bet in terms of value versus need.

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Why stay away from M-audio? I know they are very consumer, but in my (considerable) experience with M-audio products, they have always been quite stable and decent sounding. This is going back a bit so maybe things have changed since....

If you have never really worked with anything else, then I can see how it might seem that way, but once you have heard anything of higher quality you start to realize how much the M-Audio stuff sucks. I'll use it for mobile DJing and stuff like that, but I'd never use it as a primary audio interface on a DAW.

The thing is, its easy for your judgement to get clouded if you cant A/B the two interfaces because your brain gets used to the sound rather quickly. Trust me, I can A/B the M-Audio with my current audio interface (MOTU 24 I/O) and there is a clear difference in quality...as there should be considering the differing price points.

However, even at the lower price points, I think you can get much better quality interfaces that the M-Audio stuff with better software drivers. Never underestimate the stability of the drivers. Without that, the quality of the hardware is meaningless.

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Originally posted by echosystm ADC/DAC and clocking isn't comparable to RME etc.

I have seen this personally. I have an M-Audio interface on a second computer that I use for spectrum analysis, and you can plainly see the noise on the spectrum analyzer when there is nothing coming through the inputs. There is a huge spike a around 150 Hz that I can actually see getting bigger or smaller depending on what I have turned on in the room. If I turn on the fan or the TV in my studio, the spike gets bigger. This seems to me that the unit in not very well shielded against interference as well.

If you can't afford anything else, then M-Audio is definitely going to be superior to something like an onboard sound card, but if you can, look at other manufacturers.

Last edited by Eric J on Sep-06-2008 at 04:57

External M-audio interfaces (especially the cheaper ones are a piece of crap !), once bought Mobile Pre to check it out for recording with my laptop on the go ... I almost threw it out the window after 5 minutes, noise, hiss, rumble, you name it, this shi* has it all ! and loads of it Its pointless to have this kind of crap as your studio interface, you can get better quality from an integrated sound card not to mention an old soundblaster

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i noticed you guys didn't mentioned any of focusrites' products, i bought the Saffire pro 10 i/o and its stable and reliabe so far, has 8 preamps, 2 instrument dedicated inputs, phantom power, etc. it really is a great thing for its price.

i recommend looking into one of these, i bought it because of the name focusrite have regarding their top notch pre-amps and converters...

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quote:

Originally posted by cammaxwell Hey guys, So I've gone with a new Mac Pro (instead of a older G5) and will be using Logic. I had already bought a TC ELECTRONIC KONNEKT 24D for my studio but I did this when I was going PC. Can you guys recommend a good interface that works well with this setup. I've heard Apogee Duet, but I know I might look at some hardware down the line and this would limit me. Thanks!

why don't you just keep using your konnekt interface? TC's good.

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