Please Recommend Portable Audio Interface

Tohtruck · Post by **Tohtruck** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 5:59 am

Hi all.

I recently purchased a refurb Macbook Pro. It still has not come in yet so I'm not sure if the FW is Agere, Lucent, or Texas Instruments.

I'm currently in the market for an inexpensive... well cheap... ok dirt cheap audio interface to use with the MBP. I plan on using this for a portable set-up.

Basically I just need two stereo inputs for sampling, stero outputs (of course), headphones out, and MIDI I/O.

I'm open to either USB 2.0 or FW interface. I just want to be sure that I get an interface that will work fine (with the ole' MacBook Pro FW issue considered) with my laptop and Ableton Live.

My original plan was to get the Tascam US-122L but after searching this forum and reading through threads, I noticed people having issues using it with Live.

So now I'm kind of lost trying to find something relatively minimal that will work fine and still be within my budget. Btw, I would like to spend no more than $150.00.

Help me out guys.

six_o_clock_crow · Post by **six_o_clock_crow** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:12 am

It depends on what you need t do with the interface - e.g. do you need mic pre-amps etc. I use an M-Audio Transit which is small, cheap, works over USB, and is a simple 2 in 2 out interface. Don't know what the drivers are like for OSX though as I am on Vista.

Tohtruck · Post by **Tohtruck** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:25 am

mic pre's yes.

But I will only need one.

I plan on making this my extremely minimal set-up

Tohtruck · Post by **Tohtruck** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:37 pm

Any input at all would be appreciated.

Here are the interfaces that I am looking at right now:

Echo Audiofire 2 (i realize this doesn't have a mic pre, but that's ok as long as it works at the very least for recording line signals)

EDIROL UA-4FX I've been trying to find comments or issues with this on the forum but can't seem to find any info

Lexicon Lambda with the exception that it is just USB connectivity to the computer, this seems pretty ideal and its within my desired price range

Novation NIO also seems ideal

So if anyone can recommend one of these over the other(s) or offer any input that would be appreciated.

Again I'm plan on running this with a recently purchased MBP refurb running Leopard

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:48 pm

NI Audio Kontrol always wins these threads. It's $100 more than you want to spend but I wouldn't recommend anything at a lower price.

Tohtruck · Post by **Tohtruck** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:35 pm

^^ Yeah I kinda got that feeling after reading through a bunch of the threads.

I'll strongly consider it.

But I would still like to hear any input about the other interfaces that I mentioned. I'd still like to keep within my budget. Thanks for the reply tho.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:47 pm

I understand about budget but an audio interface isn't something you can just upgrade for a few bucks down the road and some people on here will say your interface is one of the most important pieces of gear you buy. They aren't sexy but they are important.

Kodama · Post by **Kodama** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:56 pm

Latency, dependability, and the I/O needed (ins/outs) counts also.

There are some nice USB options for cheap, but they might not have the latency or I/O that you want.

I ended up with an Ultralite ($550), it has way more I/O and features than I need and cost more than I wanted to spend, but I wanted reliability and lower latency.

Tohtruck · Post by **Tohtruck** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:19 pm

I understand and hear you guys loud and clear.

I completely agree.

However, I am making this a secondary set-up when I am away from the real studio (which runs a RME Fireface).

I am treating this as more of a scratch pad. It's not my primary set-up. I'm thinking of it as more of a time killer during empty time at the office. It's not going to be the workhorse at all.

I just got my laptop so I will probably even see if the onboard audio is ok and I might just scratch buying an audio interface for this all together.

Thanks for the input guys.

glamourboy · Post by **glamourboy** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:25 pm

[quote="Tohtruck"]I understand and hear you guys loud and clear.

I completely agree.

However, I am making this a secondary set-up when I am away from the real studio (which runs a RME Fireface).

I am treating this as more of a scratch pad. It's not my primary set-up. I'm thinking of it as more of a time killer during empty time at the office. It's not going to be the workhorse at all.

I just got my laptop so I will probably even see if the onboard audio is ok and I might just scratch buying an audio interface for this all together.

Thanks for the input guys.[/quote]

for office use the mbp onboard is more than adequate. it's quite good really.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:25 pm

beats me wrote:NI Audio Kontrol always wins these threads. It's $100 more than you want to spend but I wouldn't recommend anything at a lower price.

+1! really great sounding sound card, it blew away m-audio solo FW by a lot.
Very flexible, midi assigns, etc...
I own it

raw · Post by **raw** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 1:45 am

Hi,

Yes NI Audio Kontrol, very good !

Mr Mowgli · Post by **Mr Mowgli** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 2:23 am

Yep...MOTU Traveller is a good one, I have the MOTU 828MKII but the Traveller is great too!