Seeking advice on an audio interface

[Diodes]

Hello! I need to get a new audio interface and wanted some advice or opinions, hopefully sometime today. I plan to buy this by tomorrow morning with Guitar Center's 15% off Black Friday coupon (must be morning because I will be out all day), and I guess it didn't occur to me until last night that I would be buying this. Yay procrastination.

Here are the features I care about:

* Quality (obviously), particularly sound quality.

* Physical durability and portable. I plan to someday take this to shows. So, no cheap knobs and also can't be a giant behemoth, not that an audio interface really would be, but I guess you never know.

* In general, I plan to use this both for home recording and live performance. For home recording, my primary project at the moment is recording an acoustic album with live instruments such as vocals, guitar, and piano. For live performance, I plan to hook up the computer and sound interface into a mixer to blend live instruments (vocal and guitar) with synth elements and backing tracks. I may also hook up a microphone into the sound interface to do live processing, if I ever figure out how to do that. I don't think it matters, but the computer I will use this with is running Windows (on a Macbook).

* Must have at least 3 XLR inputs, and of course, I need line inputs as well. 8ish inputs total would be good, I think.

* I'd prefer FireWire.

* Price/value. This isn't a huge deal to me because I want to make sure I get the right equipment first and foremost, but obviously if something is a better value, that would be preferrable.

Anyway, I had asked somebody at GC for their recommendations and they suggested the PreSonus FireStudio: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/computer-audio-interfaces-convertors/presonus-firestudio-project-recording-interface

It looks pretty good to me, but I'm not that familiar with all the audio interfaces out there, and I'd rather not just buy a product blindly without having others to compare it to. So I would welcome thoughts from those who are more experienced/knowledgable in what's out there.

Thanks in advance and a Happy Thanksgiving to you (where applicable)!

[zircon]

I have a Firestudio Project and it seems like that would fit the bill here. The only thing that I can't really speak to is its durability, since it's anchored to my desk. Though before we moved, Tucker knocked it over a few times with no ill effect. It's not exactly small though (it's like two octaves and a half long when put next to my MIDI keyboard.)

I guess something to consider is whether you have additional road/gig gear that you would be bringing. eg. How would you be setting stuff up on stage? If you have a lot of gear, you might consider some kind of portable rack case. I bet you could get one used for a good price.

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/live-sound/racks-cases/buying-guide.php

There are a lot of sizes, including ones that are basically just bigger than a briefcase. But I don't know how much you'd need to bring, so it might not be worth it.

[theshaggyfreak]

I have a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and I'm pretty happy with it. It's got 8 really nice preamps, FireWire and it won't break the bank. I would go for this or the one Zircon mentioned. Both are good.

Here's the one I have:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SaffirePro40

There are two XLR connections on the front and six on the back.

[dannthr]

If price is not a true objection, then I would seeriously consider an interface from RME--excellent D/A conversion and highly flexible inputs outputs, etc.

Also, Totalmix, which is their input/ouput management software is far more flexible than Saffire's MixControl software.

This is how we roll at Pinnacle:

We've got a couple of these:

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_800.php

and one of these:

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_octamic_2.php

We have the Octamic going into one of the ADATs on one of the Firefaces.

Then we have one of these when we want some really nice quality mic-pres (the RMEs have great pres, but when you want really solid presence and great analog warmth--you've got to get a stand-alone mic pre--obviously these are optional, something you work toward acquiring over time):

http://adesignsaudio.com/pacifica.html

It's hard to see, but each channel has an XLR input and output on the back and a hi-Z input on the front-side with phase inversion on each channel if needed, a pad, standard phantom power switch, but also enough gain to power a ribbon mic--which is great!

It's GREAT as a mic pre, it's GREAT as a direct input on a guitar.

My boss recently did an updated recording with the Commadores (Yes, these Commadores:

), 2 sessions, one for drums, one for guitar/bass, (another session is pending with keys and vox). He mic'd the drums through the octamic and the pacifica--killer sound--and he recorded the guitar direct into the pacifica and the bass was split between direct input and we also re-amped it through a bass amp in our live room. Great session! Great sound! Great players! But that direct sound, I personally liked the direct input on the pacifica over the re-amp--just spectacular.

Now, keeping in mind that firewire is on its way out, and USB is still around, I would actually recommend this USB 2.0 interface:

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_ufx.php

[Diodes]

Thanks for the input, guys.

dannthr, that all sounds awesome and all but is waaaay out of my price range ; Maybe someday.

Vinnie has a Saffire so I'm familiar with it and we've been happy with it. It's a smaller one with only 2 XLR inputs though. Between the Saffire and the FireStudio, they both seem fine to me, and the FireStudio is $100 cheaper. So I was all ready to go and order that on Guitar Center's website just now, but the 15% black friday coupon won't apply, I think because PreSonus is one of the brands that is excluded. Boo .( So... I'll hold off for now, to see if I can find another way to get the price down at all. Maybe I'll look for a used one.

[dannthr]

Thanks for the input, guys.

dannthr, that all sounds awesome and all but is waaaay out of my price range ; Maybe someday.

Vinnie has a Saffire so I'm familiar with it and we've been happy with it. It's a smaller one with only 2 XLR inputs though. Between the Saffire and the FireStudio, they both seem fine to me, and the FireStudio is $100 cheaper. So I was all ready to go and order that on Guitar Center's website just now, but the 15% black friday coupon won't apply, I think because PreSonus is one of the brands that is excluded. Boo .( So... I'll hold off for now, to see if I can find another way to get the price down at all. Maybe I'll look for a used one.

I would personally go with the Focusrite solution over the PreSonus--Focusrite has a long and steady tradition of excellent mic pres.

[GallenWolf]

Hey there,

If you are alright with just two inputs, also check out the Mackie Onyx Blackjack. Build quality is definitely very good and solid. I'm using it on osx/garageband, ubuntu/audacity and it works great for recording. The headphone amps on it sound pretty darn good too.

[Scrap McNapps]

Steinberg MR816 series.

Echo Audiofirepre8

Though this is a USB interface, the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra8R is actually a good interface.