Ableton Forum

jesso wrote:I wonder what you guys think out there in ableton land?
I currently have an mbox 2, and id like to make a jump up in terms of preamp quality. I record lots of vocals and guitars into live using the mbox as my soundcard.
I record mainly with sm57/58 mics and a nauman 103.
I want clear, loud and proud good quality audio.

I know a good preamp will work wonders (im thinking of the summit audio 2Ba 221)
, but i would still be left with my mbox converters which i have been told are not very good.

The alternative is somthing that has its own converters and preamps (motu ultralight)
Basically, would you rather have an mbox 2 with a nice preamp, or a motu ultralight with no other preamps?

appreciate any opinions.

first off, I would bypass the analog circuitry and A/D on all those sound cards. Meaning. keep the Mbox and get a great 2 channel converter and get a phat preamp with a built-in di. For example with an apogee rosetta 200 converter, plug a nice preamp/di into the rosetta, then out spdif into any sound card spdif and you have bypassed all the mediocre circuitry. At that point your signal is as good as any top studio in the world. Also having a nice outboard converter means you can go around the so so circuitry of any soundcard or setup you come across. It seems a redundant thing to do but the audio quality will improve dramatically no matter the setup and it will never get antiquated either. Everybody should have a superb dedicated a/d converter. Oh, and my fave mic pre/di is the UA 610 but there's a ton of good choices out there.

so i guess no, to the pro tools question

I dunno. If it's a PT plug, then most likely no. I love the PT platform but hate their exclusive tude.

I dont think you can use any of those programes without protools...
wow thanks knotkranky...
im going to look into that way of thinking, in fact, my girlfriend (who has no audio knowledge) suggested that i do just that when i explained my predicament in plain english..
Its common sense i suppose just cut out the middleman ( the interface )
Im looking into this route now.
Thats why i like this forum... you can really get some good info.

Jesse.

ok the rosetta is a bit rich for my blood...
im looking at 700 max... cos ill need some cash left over for a nice pre....
does that change things again or is it still a good route to go?

plus, if i get a 2 channel converter, will i have to get another one when i want to record more than 2 channels at a time? (which i will at some point)
Im now in a wilderness of converter land.... lost with no direction.
A pre amp is a way more simple decision.

I have heard good things about the Fireface. I have owned MOTU and would not buy another. I did not expect to hear a difference with the Mackie, so I was really surprised the preamps could make such a difference. You said you want "loud & proud" so I can speak for the Mackie, don't know about the Fireface except that I didn't buy it. But $900. is a lot! I did not know it was so much more in Ireland. That does change things. But if your considering Apogee the Mackie is still a deal and I just have to repeat the Onyx preamps are golden. It seems like a Neuman would be wasted through a MOUTU.

I don't know what KnotKrany is talking about but his ying-yang gif is the coolest thing I have ever seen...I can't stop staring at it...

Geraldo wrote:I don't know what KnotKrany is talking about but his ying-yang gif is the coolest thing I have ever seen...I can't stop staring at it...

haha looks cool


yea i guess its a PT thing thas how they keep their 'one-up' for themselves,
how bout the synchronic plug-in , straight ableton bite, please no one say 'ableton is a straight turntable/mixer bite' trying to be some hip hop aficionado

well,
truly, all the cards mentioned are junk.
but you can make them sound decent having them modded....

http://www.blacklionaudio.com

best of all... its CHEAP!!!!
they do all motus, digidesigns and a few more....

WOW![/url]

well, there you go jesso. Get your Mbox modded. I still love my Onyx just the way it is.

A modded mbox eh?
Them blacklion boys certainly talk the talk...
golly gee gosh, so many options...
295 bucks to have the mbox done... has anyone out there had this mod?

Whoever said go with a new interface does not know what they are talking about. A motu interface by itself is not going to sound as good as an mbox interface with a quality preamp.

fair enough.
At the moment im leaning towards a new interface plus a nice pre.
The Echo audiofire12 plus the summit audio 2BA.
A good comprimise i feel.

jesso wrote: I record mainly with sm57/58 mics and a nauman 103.
I want clear, loud and proud good quality audio.

You can get a "high quality" soundcard these days for $500-600. You will be spending that money on AD and DA converters, I/O, driver development, headphone amp and 2 or more preamps. You are probably paying at most $150 per channel for the preamps.

On the other hand, something that would be considered a "high quality" stand-alone preamp would start at around $450/channel range.
See what I'm getting at?

I love my Fireface 400, and the converters on it right now are completely meeting my needs. But I find the preamps to be a bit of an Achilles’ heel on this unit, but that's probably because right next to it I have my Great River preamp, which cost more than the FF and is 6 times its size.