Ok so here is the story i bought the M-Audio fast track pro audio interface like a year ago

i have had my good times but its not really the quality i want the sound is yet too .. " cheap "

and now i want a really good upgrade i am willing to spend $500-550

i looked on the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 Fire Wire Interface and i was gonna buy it but first i wanted to see if my laptop supported such thing (the fire wire port)

and yeah the sad thing is that it doesn't have a fire wire port...

so what now ??

i am looking on the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R USB Interface but also not sure about it ...

i was also looking into the Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 USB Audio Interface but also not sure .........

by the way i am running everything on FL Studio 10 and in windows 7 64 bit


i really want to invest in an audio interface that will give really good quality and not having to spend on a studio for like 70 dlls an hour ...

 

If your notebook has an ExpressCard slot, you could consider buying a FireWire controller fot this interface.
Looks like this:



Just make sure to get one with either Texas (TI) or NEC chipset.

If not, NI's Komplete Audio 6 and RME's Babyface are ranked among the best it their class.
Both are superior to the Scarlett 18i6.

 

thanks a lot
i was doing some research and i found another interface MOTU UltraLite-mk3
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UltraLite3Hy


and my laptop has SD.MMC slot, is that the express card slot ?

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c03015480&lc=en&product=5173083
it says here in the website

External Port : Digital Media Card Reader for Secure Digital and Multimedia cards

thanks again

 

No, thats a card reader.

It seems your HP doesn't have ExpressCard, so you have to stick with USB.

With the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid you pay pretty much for the ability to connect it to FireWire and USB (to use it with all your Macs and PCs). If you don't even have a machine with FireWire, it's not really useful. And besides the older "non-Hybrid" version (only for FireWire) wasn't that good, so I don't think this new one would do much better.

And like I said, the Komplete Audio 6 has a great AD section (-101,3 dB(A) dynamic range, -101,5 dB(A) noise level) and some of the best preamps here (-92,9 db(A) dynamic range). (All values are measured, not as specified by the manufacturer.) Btw it comes with Komplete Elements.

 

Greetings,

Your laptop does not have an ExpressCard slot. That's too bad, because Focusrite has (in my opinion) some of the best FireWire audio interfaces in the business. I wouldn't know what to recommend outside of Focusrite's sound quality and build.

MM

 

thanks a lot, ill research on the Komplete Audio 6

 

well with 500 your still going to get low to midl quality you have to spend at lest 1000 to start to get better quality and from 3000 to 5000 to get top notch sound

 

If I was you I would wait a little while longer because thunderbolt just come out and it is really expensive but blows both firewire and usb out of the water from what I have read have only tried with visual stuff not any audio. I personally prefer presonus out of all the ones you mentioned I have both the firebox and studio and they box work great and sound great too but I will be of course upgrading once the price drops on thunder in a few months or longer but what lyric8 said is a really good point that the more you spend the better quality you will end up with. I know the shitty part is that we wouldn't be here if we had that kind of money. What I usually do is buy soemthing from guitar center and test it for thirty days and if I do not like it I take it back and switch it out for something I think I will like more but idk where your from and if you have GC around. Out of all the lower priced boxes I have to say Presonus is the best to me for my ears maybe not yours or the next guy but for me I love their convertors. Good luck and see if they have any type of return policy where you shop and see if you can find any loop holes like I did here at guitar center. Good luck and just remember as someone always says to "trust your ears"!!!!

 

Steinberg \ Yamaha UR28M... Amazing AI, very well built.

Havent had a single issue with it... Win 7 X64 and Live 8.

Best looking USB interface out there too...

Here you go..

I would NOT advise buying an M-audio card.

 

If you don't need a lot of I/O, I suggest you the RME USB Babyface : low latency and ultra-stable drivers + great sound + small size = winner.
I love my baby.

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

That's right... if you're planning to impress some noobish customers in a big pro studio.
Don't get me wrong : to record a symphonic orchestra, I'm pretty sure that you will achieve a better result with $10.000 converters/preamps than with a cheap Soundblaster, but I'm far to be convinced that 95% of us (me included) will be able to differentiate a $500 card from a $5000 one by listening the result through our $300~$450 headphones and/or $1000~$2000 monitors, and even less when it comes to electronic/dance music...

 

Now.

A lot of fuss is made about audio interfaces.

when actually it's very simple.

What do you want to do?

For example, if you only use VSTIs and never record... and if you only output to soundcloud.. then a soundblaarter(tm) might do just fine.

If on the other hand you need lots of inputs to record a live band then that's a different scenario.

Is latency important to you? Multi-channel ADAT connectivity? Midi?

Meanwhile, you might want to record just one or two mic inputs really really well...

With your budget you are not going to be buying an Apogee Symphony... But you will get a very good compromise if... you first work out exactly what you want to use the damn thing for... and then buy something that does just exactly that.

of your m-audio you say the sound is yet too .. " cheap "

Is that the sound you are hearing on playback or the sound you are recording? Could we be in a new pre-amp scenario here? Or even a new mic?

You see, without knowing precisely what you are trying to achieve, it's difficult to offer any advice.

The good news is that there is now more choice in the USB audio interface arena than there was.

If I had your budget I'd prolly go for the MOTU hybrid thingy. It prefers to work with a mac but can be coerced into working ok with a PC, apparently.

Then again, I never believe anything I read on the internet, especially if I wrote it.

tB

 

thanks to all , i want a good audio interface that does well with Guitars , i use guitar rig and amplitude i would mostly use it for Industrial and Metal, all i am recording is just guitars nothing else

 

Then perhaps something from line 6?

http://anonym.to/?http://uk.line6.com/podstudiogx/

http://anonym.to/?http://uk.line6.com/podstudioux1/

http://anonym.to/?http://uk.line6.com/podstudioux2/

http://anonym.to/?http://uk.line6.com/podhd/pro/models.html

EDIT: I'm not a guitarist, but some of my six string'd cheese grater playing friends swear by these line six jobbies. And I really rate their new digital radio mic. Worth a look my friend, worth a look.

 

thanks sir ill research this fine line 6 product the HD PRO but i am thinking of getting the Steinberg UR824, i just want to invest in something with good quality so that i wont have to upgrade in a while that is in 7 years or so i am super glad with your guys advices

 

I use the M-audio profire 610. Everything about it is worth more than its pricetag. Preamps are good/clean. DAC is good/detailed/clear.
But you're gonna need firewire for this baby. (If I had more $$$ I would get a Babyface for the DAC.) It has the line-ins you need for recording guitars.

In regards to lyric8's opinion on DAC quality, I agree with Gaga. NO one is gonna be able to tell what you're using, past a certain point - eg if you're using some cheapo Behringer interface your sound's gonna suffer horribly.

Edit: ah didn't read your starting post. sorry, you don't have firewire ~ stupid me

 

You won't regret it.

 

i sure wont sir , like many people say always trust the German engineers

 

Jesus.. can't believe I forgot to say also... its a really pretty unit

 

hey that a really nice update on this... thanks for sharing the information..

 

No, that won't work, since it's for USB only. FireWire controllers require PCIe.