Macbookpro suitable soundcards

[mrvinyl]

Looking to buy a soundcard for my macbookpro and just thought I'd hit you guys up for your views
everyone seems to recommend the apogee duet to me? (seems a bit pricey for such a small unit)

I need two outs at minimum as I'll be taking my laptop out on the road to DJ and when I'm at home I'd like to be able to record in as well, just one stereo in or/and an XLR would be fine

I want maximum audio quality and high quality low latency drivers

[Nick Shepherd]

it depends on the budged of course - but RME or MOTU make great interfaces aswell, with rock-solid mac drivers. Apogee´s are slick but id prefer RME or MOTU´s - except if we would talk about a Apogee Ensemble of course

The RME´s are a bit more pricey but they really sound awesome, the quality of the 800 Fireface from a colleague of mine amazes me every time i am at his studio.

The cheaper (but still very good) solution would be a MOTU interface. I really like my Ultralite, never had any issues with it, super stable and sounds great to me - they are known for good performance on Macs ^^

[Tarekith]

Duet won't get you two stereo outs, so that's not an option. Ultralite is probably the best bang for the buck, very stable card too. If that's too expensive, I've been pretty happy with the NI Audio4DJ I just got for playing out. Got sick of unplugging everything from my RME FF400 everytime I DJ'd or did a live set, picked this up to keep in my laptop bag.

[glitchrock-buddha]

RME is good if you can afford it. I can recommend the fireface, but maybe you want something more compact. You might want to check out the babyface. Depends on what you need your outputs for though. Do you need two stereo outs to split into your own mixer? Or for monitors?

The babyface advertises 4 analog outs, but I think that might really equate to 1 stereo output with another L/R for phones. Sometimes the marketing is tricky like that. I'm not totally sure. But if it's got enough I/O for you, it seems like a good way to go.

For something cheaper presonus firebox isn't bad at all and has enough I/O.

[v0ins315]

Duet won't get you two stereo outs, so that's not an option. Ultralite is probably the best bang for the buck, very stable card too. If that's too expensive, I've been pretty happy with the NI Audio4DJ I just got for playing out. Got sick of unplugging everything from my RME FF400 everytime I DJ'd or did a live set, picked this up to keep in my laptop bag.

Yea don't get the Duet if you plan on DJing with it. No cue =(

[drumrak]

For something cheaper presonus firebox isn't bad at all and has enough I/O.

ive had nothing but problems from presonus gear, nothing major but lots of little things. not just my experience but some of my experience but also from others i have worked with.

[Heiko]

Presonus firebox here, very very happy. totally no issues, plug and play. firewire powered, no extra cables, lovely pre-amps, plenty ins and outs on such a small machine, great price. Perfect with my macbook pro.
enjoy!

[Akshara]

I want maximum audio quality and high quality low latency drivers

That's probably why the Apogee Duet keeps getting recommended, and is why it costs so much.

The Apogee Duet can be placed in an Aggregate Device with the MBP's built-in output for a cuemix.

[subconshis]

i have been using the tascam US-144 mkii for a while, and i am quite satisfied for it only costing 160$

[Carl Lofgren]

Was eyeing the RME UC monster and was quite close to hunt one down and buy it - until I went to the RME Forum. It seems the new UC is not working optimal yet. Now I'm considering a MOTU.