Hello, I have managed to get a (very) little desk in the living room of our flat (tough Wife Acceptance Factor here), to have some fun doing some music on my rare spare time.

I'm currently planning the 2026-2027 budget, and this includes tiny monitors, and audio-interface upgrade.

There's absolutely no chance to ever get the room treated, so I'm left with Headphones mixing which I'm doing on the recently acquired DT 900 Pro X with Headphone Lab. Next on the list are Adam D3V (white to respect the WAF) which I'm about to order, as sometimes it's nice to listen to music not through headphones only.



Now as you can see on the picture, the audio interface is the Behringer UMC204HD, and I'm considering a move to :
- Golden Age PRE-73 Premier + RME Digiface USB + Ferrofish Pulse8 AE
or
- Neve 88M + Ferrofish Pulse8 AE

The main "externally" recorded materials are my voice via a SM57 and the Behringer Pro-1 via line input. Also I have some pedals that are daisy chained. Everything else is software based.

The goal is, despite the untreated room, to have a vocal recording with very little to no EQ needed, and multiple converters for the pedals as I/O in Logic Pro.

My musical style is in between New Order, D Train, Harold Faltermeyer, Kashif and Wham!

Maybe you'd think why would I need to upgrade to pro level gear, well it's a hobby, a passion...

Thanks for reading

 

I would just get one of the appropriately sized (for your needs) Audient ID interfaces and call it a day. Doesn't get any better than that and everything else is just a sidegrade for more money.

 

Hi @lePureStyle, this device helps you make reasonably usable vocal recordings in an untreated room.
The t.bone Micscreen XL can be mounted on any standard microphone stand using a simple thread.

the t.bone Micscreen XL - €79 --> www.thomann.de/de/the_t.bone_micscreen_xl.htm?offid=1&affid=1571

Absorber and diffuser for microphones

• Reduces the transmission of unwanted room influences such as reflections, background noise, and echoes through the microphone
• Portable and equally suitable for studio and live applications, vocals, and instrument recording
• The screen's 5 segments can be folded and unfolded in various positions, allowing it to be easily adapted to the recording situation
• Can be mounted on any standard microphone stand or placed directly on a tabletop without a stand
• Width: 16 - 80 cm (each segment is 16 cm wide)
• Height: 32 cm
• Weight: approx. 2.70 kg

 

Yeah, a decade or so ago I got a Reflexion Filter Pro or whatever they call it, and it absolutely helped in recording vocals in untreated rooms, in addition to acoustic guitars and other things.

They don't solve all, but solve some.

(and I'm sure @lePureStyle 's wife isn't going to go for full room treatment or a Whisper Room installation!)

But cool little working setup you got going on there.

At least you can probably sell the missus on the Adam's as she can enjoy listening to music etc on them as well (not yours all the time!)).

Re: the RME, it's a great unit, but with a Mac, and it's drivers, if you are trying to stay on a budget, I honestly don't think you will notice any sonic difference or discernible latency with, say, a Mark of the Unicorn M4 (motu supports their drivers forever, it's a solid unit, good for the external inputs and loopback you want for your pedals and has 5 pin din for your synths, and I'd imagine 1/2 or more the price)... If you were using a windows setup, I would stick with your rme plan, (and again, they are great, certainly not disparaging them at all), just saying that due to macOS and what you are trying to do, and on a budget, I can't imagine much difference in either quality or longevity.

 

yes this is the step up in the right direction
of course you'll need some nice mic preamp for the vocal mic - that Golden Age Pre-73 looks decent (kinda expensive for my taste), maybe I'd rather pick something like DBX 286 S for the features, but that's always something you can do in post

PS: also if you'll go RME route, do consider ARC USB to control it (especially if you use headphones or monitors without additional volume/mute control), it costs extra, but it's way more comfortable than clicking in TotalMix

 

I would consider just about any other option you can figure out than buying additional convertors or interface with more I/O to connect individual pedals. Patchbay, small analog line mixer or any other options like that. Additional physical I/O is always much more expensive. That can be subject to your planned workflow though, like using each pedal on a different channels simultaneously, tweaking them realtime vs stem printing them using the Logic I/O plugin, etc.

Audio interfaces with additional i/o get pricey quite quickly. Meanwhile, these are under 200$, 48 point Samson S-Patch+, switchable on the front panel with Normal, Half-Normal, and Thru (open), 1 rack unit in space, and you have tons of routing options:

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2026 at 11:48 PM

I recommend Fender Quantum ES2 for budget and quality. Works for me...
And a Pyle PHA40 Headphone preamp. Very affodable!

 

RME Digiface USB + 2 Ferrofish Pulse 16s here, not a single complaint since day 1.

 

Thanks for your anwsers !

I'm afraid I don't have enough room left to accomodate a rack unit. As you can see on the picture, the D3Vs will go on each spare sides of the yellow Ikea monitor stand. So it's going to be underneath aside to the Mac Mini, if Digiface + Pulse8 one on top of the other, then I could move the upper pedals to the left on the monitor's foot to leave space for the Pre-73. Or 88M + Pulse8 one on top of the other instead of where the UMC204HD is.

I will also consider the micsreen if it's easy to store or if a removable alternative exists

 

then maybe consider investing in a rack on wheels, it's pricey but very versatile and can save you desk space (you can mount shelves in it too, for non-rack devices)

 

Nice little setup. I think what you'd need most is closed-back headphones for tracking, as your open DT 900 Pro X's leak into the mic. (Can't really see what the headphones underneath those Beyers are, perhaps they're good enough for tracking). For instance the €99 Sony MDR-7506's. Of course the RME is a lot better than the Behringer, but do you really need it?