kingmauri wrote:Hey!
Here some device newbie questions:
I have a TR8 drum machine and the Microbute (analog Synth) and as a audio interface NI Audio 10 (which is more a DJ interface in my opinion.
Because the NI Audio have no gain controI I want to buy a solid audio interface. Read many reviews about the Apollo Twin and all seems kind of happy about this product....but...I think I misunderstood some basic concepts
There are no inputs for connecting stuff like severals synths, drum machines ect. If I compare other audio interfaces there are so much more inputs - so someone can explain me that please? Do I need some kind of mixer connected to the audio interface and then connect to devices to the mixer? I see a lot of studio pictures with 5 synths, 10 drum machines and 342 effect devices. what is the best way to connect all that stuff together..
Thx a lot for answers...
EDIT: Just saw that the Apollo 8 or 16 Quad have more connecting possibilites...hmmm...more confused
It really depends on several things and there are pros and cons of each alternative. One thing to keep in mind though is that most interfaces with Line inputs have no gain control. Line levels are usually controlled from the source but here are the options:
1. Small analog mixer. You can connect the main output to the input of your soundcard. The advantage would be you could hook up many sources to a small soundcard and probably could be done cheaply (You would also have another control of gain). The disadvantage is the mixer might possibly introduce some artifacts such as noise/distortion/coloration. Some people though prefer this to a very clean/sterile sound. Most Analog mixers usually have built-in filters/rudimentary EQ as well.
2. Small digital mixer. Probably the same benefits as number one except if your interface has digital inputs, you can connect digitally and would have a cleaner audio path than the analog mixer (most likely). You would need to do your research though as an older mixer might use older mixing technology which could end up adding artifacts. A 32 bit floating point mixing engine or higher would be preferred. Other advantages is that some digital mixers can also double as control surfaces for Live and also have built-in effects, and sometimes these are great. This option could be costly as digital mixers vary greatly in price.
3. Mixer/Audio interface. I think Mackie makes a model of a mixer that is an audio interface. Behringer might as well. As long as it has decent ASIO drivers, this might be a good solution. This could be pricey depending on what you get. Some of these are also control surfaces as well.
4. Large Audio Interface with External AD converter using Adat I/O. This would ideally be a very clean setup, take up little space. Drawbacks is that this could cost some money as most audio interfaces with adat I/O start at around $500 and the cheapest A/D converter set is made by Behringer at about $200 (and the more expensive ones are drastically higher). Bigger drawbacks is that you might have to worry about clocking the converters together with wordclock for them to stay in sync (otherwise you could get nasty pops and clicks or no sound at all). Also the Behringer model iimits the sample rate to 44.1 and 48khz.
5. Large Audio interfaces that can be daisychained together. Many audio interfaces (Mostly Firewire and Thunderbolt) can be daisychained together without having to worry about clocking as the clocking will be handled over firewire or Thunderbolt. I don't think there are any USB interfaces that can do this (or I might be wrong). This could be a clean way as well but these interfaces tend to be the costly ones (such as UAD Apollos, Motus).