Ableton Forum

maybe this is an extremely stupid question, but who cares:
what do i need an audio-interface for? i own a new titanium powerbook and programs like live or reason are working fine on it. so what is this audiointerface good for? better sound quality? faster system?

fangs a lot im voraus,
newcomer

On Macs it's not as necessary as on non-apple systems. I mainly use sound manager and that is fine for most apps. However if you are a Cubase user using external hardware gives much lower latency than sound manager (~5ms vs ~11ms respectively) which can make a significant difference if you use VST instruments. Hope this helps.

an interface like the emi 2-6 is useful if you want to use a separate pair of outputs connected to headphones to preview clips, or if you just want to send multiple outputs to a mixer for effects, etc. if you don't need that, i would just go with the built in powerbook sound.

or if you want to record instruments, vocals...etc.

I just bought a Titanium yesterday (800Mhz) and without an interface you cannot get audio or midi in or out of the computer. I will probably try the Maudio Quatro 1st as it has an OSX driver.
However if you are only interested in using the internal sound files or loading sample libraries then sound manager should work fine.
It just depends on how much you want to do.
Are you using a USB keyboard controller?

the new titaniums should have stereo audio in and out on minijacks. i don't have one, so you know better than me, but apple's web site claims they do.

for midi you definitely need an external interface.

The new powerbooks have sound in and out, the in port is in the back next to the phone line socket, the out is the headphone jack, which also doubles as line out.

Midi requires another box.

You people know more about my laptop than I do!
I just flipped through my manual to see if there was something I didn't know (is that possible?)and what do I see but a stereo mic input. Well I've only had it one day so I guess have an excuse.
I guess its the iBook that lacks a mic input.
I will still get an interface so I can have more robust input ability. It may be stereo but I doubt if its phantom powered...but I have been wrong before.
Cheers.

INcidentally, I went to the Warp Magic Bus night here last night, and what do all these DSP wizards use? Emagic's USB audio box! So I guess USB audio is better than its reputation!

FORMAT

I know that I posted this before, but I think that its very important. I use live in combination with hardware gear. So it has to sync. I bought the emi 2|6 with great expectations. It was a disaster. As soon as the proccessor hits 50% on all of the applications that I tried on a mac and pc, live, reason, fruity, I got horrible repeated drop outs. I got the drop outs even if I took the buffer size to its maximum and only used stereo in and outs. Even if the tracks were kept minimal and buffer size at its lowest. When you record from an external source there is still latency in the recording. I saw Adult play the other night and noticed that they were using an 828 so I asked them about it. They said that they just got it, because they were using a 2|6 and at a gig in Germany it just quit working, constant drop outs. I saw another duo playing some IDM stuff, on TiBooks not even syncing to each other with emi's. One of them had to practicly quit playing because of drop outs. I'm only making a big deal out of this because I dont want someone else to waste their hard earned money on claims that WON'T be fufilled. It straight up sucks.

Luke

newcome,

I've had similar issues with the 2|6 and XP - what OS are you using?

after reading your replys, i think it's not necessary to use an audio-interface on my powerbook. it's a new one (667), runnung live under osx. it has audio in and the speed is fine.

I would agree, I try not to use my Quattro except for live shows where it's necessary to have a stereo pair. The only thing I really needed it for was Cubase but I am going to buy Muzys to replace it.

I apparently do a lot of assuming. Having owned an Maudio Omni Studio, assumed the Quattro would have headphone outs. Wrong! I returned it this afternoon in exchange for a MOTU 828. At least I get a free copy of Audio Desk instead of another useless disk of Delta Logic.

powerbook will work