Which interface: Ultralite, Konnect, FW410, Firebox, Saffire

cosmosuave · Post by **cosmosuave** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:59 am

If you have the posisbility of renting one of deciding interfaces then I suggest you do... This way you can see how well it works with your hardware... I came to this brilliant idea after getting the FW410... Since then rented the BCR2000 and the UC33 and ended up buying the BCR...

Actuel · Post by **Actuel** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:36 am

dave999z wrote: The NRV10 looks very cool, but for me it'd be the worst of both worlds: i.e., it's not portable and it's not a control surface (does not send MIDI data).

understood. i like the Ultralite for portability and sheer amount of features for I/O, but if i were to have unlimited funds the Korg Zero series looks great. maybe not as slim as the ultralite and it's ilk but having effects, firewire, midi, etc in 1 unit...yummy!

dave999z · Post by **dave999z** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:51 am

Thanks everyone. I think I'm actually leaning toward the Fireface 400. I'm just digging the potential for extremely low latency and superb sound to my monitors for mixing.

Metric halo is interesting, but even MORE expensive than the Fireface, and I have to draw the line somewhere (can barely justify a fireface, but i will

).

llama_taboot · Post by **llama_taboot** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:16 am

Don't go Konnekt if you have a Mac...or a PC for that matter...check the threads over at Harmony Central. FWIW, I just got a new in the box Saffire (the white box with DSP 4 in/10 out) for $299 marked down from $399 starting a couple days ago at Guitar Center (was an even exchange for the Konnekt 8, which was a trade in for the Alesis MultiMix 12, which also didn't work worth a damn) and I couldn't be happier (okay, I could use like 6 ins and 6 outs instead of 4 ins and 8 outs) - latency is non-existent, even on a firstgen G5, it supports up to 24/196, has digital i/o, onboard DSP actually sounds great, and the preamps are really clean -- the control panel isn't quite as intuitive as I like, but the manual is more clear than most pro audio products so....

anyway, maybe I'm just overly excited now that I have a firewire i/o that actually works and obviously you can't go wrong with an RME, but I think that the Saffire is a steal at $400, much less $300....

quadrant6 · Post by **quadrant6** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:27 pm

Hey, just wondering what you thought of the onyx 400f and what made you pick the rme over it in the end?

I'm just in the same position and wondering whether i should fork out the extra for the FF400/FF800

From what i've read the sound quality on the 400f is as good and preamps are actually preferred by some. But I don't think it's flexible in terms of its mixer though its simplified/easier to use. The main issue i see is the driver problems on mac/pc but i think (have been assured by mackie) that these are sorted.... hmmm not sure....

huffcw · Post by **huffcw** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:43 pm

I would recommend the Saffire LE all the way. It has excellent preamps and no issues with bus powering (like some of the others on your list). It comes with some excellent sounding VST effects as well.

For my use, the original Saffire was too limited as far as inputs go, but the built in DSP for the effects would have been nice.

snakes and ladders · Post by **snakes and ladders** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:13 am

Dont get the saffire. It might as well be made by M-Audio.
Get the Metric of you can spring for it.
I've come from a firebox - pre's are decent. Converters are so-so. For the price its really good but I've outgrown it really quickly, in fact I'm about to sell it so PM if you want one in excellent conditon.
As someone said the selling point of the fireface isn's its pre's. Its that the pre's, converters and mix software are all very good - and thats the same with the Metric except all the above are better IMHO than the Fireface. The converters and mix software especially. And if you went with the UL-2 you get the added bonus of the pre's which are better than most dedicated pre's.

quadrant6 · Post by **quadrant6** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:38 am

And if you went with the UL-2 you get the added bonus of the pre's which are better than most dedicated pre's.

Are the pres in the UL-2 are better than those in the 2882?

llama_taboot · Post by **llama_taboot** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:54 am

snakes and ladders wrote:Dont get the saffire. It might as well be made by M-Audio.

Umm. No. Focusrite is kinda known for their preamps or something.

snakes and ladders · Post by **snakes and ladders** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:27 am

"Are the pres in the UL-2 are better than those in the 2882"
Yup -much much better. I went with the 2882 coz I need to mike my kit and the converters (A/D/A) are the same on both units but the 2882 has 8 mic pre's which I need. Specs for ULN_2 pre's : "gain (up to 72 dB) with an EIN of -129 dBu (wideband/unweighted), " - the 2882 has digital pots and gets noisy around 42db which is more than fine for recording drums.
People buy the metric halos for the converters alone.

snakes and ladders · Post by **snakes and ladders** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:40 am

snakes and ladders wrote:
Dont get the saffire. It might as well be made by M-Audio.

"Umm. No. Focusrite is kinda known for their preamps or something."

Sorry - I wasn't shitting on focusrite as a company -they have some amazing pre's and other gear in their history - no argument there. I was a shopper at one point last year for a Sapphire but got put off by the huge amount of noise from forum users (the best way to judge a product in my book) who were getting clicking and popping - either from crap drivers or problems in the design itself no-one knows - buffer setting made no difference. But there were people that had no problem at all - Sounds like M-Audio huh?

dave999z · Post by **dave999z** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:00 am

quadrant6 wrote:Hey, just wondering what you thought of the onyx 400f and what made you pick the rme over it in the end?

I'm just in the same position and wondering whether i should fork out the extra for the FF400/FF800

From what i've read the sound quality on the 400f is as good and preamps are actually preferred by some. But I don't think it's flexible in terms of its mixer though its simplified/easier to use. The main issue i see is the driver problems on mac/pc but i think (have been assured by mackie) that these are sorted.... hmmm not sure....

I did look a the onyx 400f. It is really attractive re: the specs of the mic pres and the pricepoint between $500 and $1000. But for me it just comes down to... the RME is proven (by the countless people who rave about it), whereas the Mackie is unproven (initial reported glitches, and no years of happy swearing customers like RME). Unrelated to the Onyx preamps, which I'm sure are nice, I for years have heard Mackie mixer owners bemoan the quality of the preamps on their boards. I actually like the controls and layout of the 400f way better than the Fireface400. (I don't like that the fireface only has one knob you have to use to control everything, as opposed to the 400f which has separate control room, input trim, and two headphone out knobs.) But I think I'm going to go with the proven track record of RME, and keep the price under $1000 by not going for the metric halo (haven't even looked into it really b/c of the price)

Fireface 400 is currently $895 with free shipping from audiomidi.com. They're having 10% off practically everything right now. 400f is only $529.

quadrant6 · Post by **quadrant6** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:01 pm

it just comes down to... the RME is proven

Yep, thats good enough reason. The mackie looks awesome but is it going to work.. not guaranteed 100%

People buy the metric halos for the converters alone.

Now you've got me considering the ULN2, only thing is the small amount of inputs. I currently have 2 hardware synths and plan to get a few more in the near future. I currently don't have any interface or mixer, would it be best to get a 10 channel mixer, plug all hardware into that and then hook up to the ULN2? - mixer will affect the sound? or just plug in 2 at a time to the ULN2 (I imagine that could be annoying)

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:54 pm

the girl next door wrote:I also had a Motu 828 which when recording our singers through the Mic inputs gave off a hissing sound which isn't the case with my RME Fireface 400 so it was deffo the MOTU and not the setup.

You could have just given MOTU a call and they would have had you send them the 828. They would have fixed it, or maybe even swapped it out for a new one for $50. They are well known for doing this for their products - even if your warranty had expired years beforehand.

Any of this gear can break. The question is how reliable is the manufacturer who takes care of these things...

dave999z · Post by **dave999z** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:47 am

dave999z wrote:Metric halo is interesting, but even MORE expensive than the Fireface, and I have to draw the line somewhere (can barely justify a fireface).

You know, with the sale at audiomidi, knocking about $100 off each, I'm now seriously considering the metric halo ULN-2. Hmmm. Anyone else using one? Anyone done head-to-head comparisons of the pres, the A/D, and D/A between the ULN-2 and the RME FF400?

I'm so fucking indecisive. But it's a lot of $ and I want to get the right one (for me).