Is there a small, portable FW-interface that DOES sound great? (about 150€/220$)

[JoeJackson]

I don't need a lot of inputs, as I have my firepod at home. It's just something to track some guitars/vocals "on the road" with my macbook. It would be absolutely great if it's bus-powered and if all the inputs are on the front-panel (unlike the phonic firefly 302).

Any oppinions on the following interfaces?

Phonic Firefly 302
- sound cool, but only mic-input on the frontpanel

CME Matrix KFW
- sounds perfect, but I've never heard of "CME"

Alesis IO14
- it's a bit too big, a bit more expensive than I planned and I've heard of problems with mac os ... and if I consider the alesis, I could also spend 20 bucks more and get a mackie onyx satellite

and well ... it's usb, it's only 44.1/48kHz, I don't really need gearbox ... but it looks so sexy
Toneport UX 2

Which one should I buy? As I said, I have a firepod at home that I use for bigger projects. I need that small interface for tracking guitars, bass and vocals or for quick 2-mic demos in our rehearsal-space.

cheers

 

[MetalJonesy]

the alesis is a very nice piece of kit, i know you said it may be a bit too big and that you can get the mackie for a few quid more, but for those extra mic inputs and versitility, id go for the alesis. And like you said its only for your rehersal space to track stuff "on the road" as it were! Ive never had any issues with the reliability and quality of the alesis gear i have.

Off the top of me heed im trying to think of some other possible options, but in that price range i cant think of any atm

 

[greyskull]

mbox?

 

[Torniojaws]

How about a cheap DI box and then use a guitar preamp emulator (GuitarSuite, Dirthead, etc) + an impulse?

 

[JoeJackson]

Well, I also need an interfache with at least one mic-input. As stated above I want to track vocals, guitars and maybe quick rehearsal-demos.
If it were just for guitar-demos I could use my di-box and go directly into the soundcard and then use revalver.

 

[Metaltastic]

My vote would be MBOX, just so you could have Pro Tools (if you don't already) - otherwise, Toneport UX2

 

[garry666]

id say mbox but also check out the m audio jamlab its cheap and super portable

 

[JoeJackson]

What mbox costs about 150€?
Furthermore I'm Logic-user ...

Hmm... is the toneport worth it's money? The firewire-interfaces cost less and as I said - I don't really need gearbox. AAAND whats with that 96khz-support?
I read, that it only supports 44.1 and 48, on the line6-website they state, it's capable of 96khz, too...

 

[006]

For what you are asking I don't think 96kHz capability should even matter. 44.1 or 48 are plenty fine for what you will be doing with them...honestly I don't see a point in using 96kHz for even an album project...most people use 48 these days, Sneap and Murphy included AFAIK. If I were you I wouldn't concern myself with what rates the units can do, most anything nowadays can do 48, and at least 44.1.

Also....ProTools should also not be a concern. If he already has a FirePod, then why the hell would he want PTLE/MBox setup just for bullshitting ideas and/or recording basic rehearsal demos? And even after that, he stated later that he uses Logic...

~e.a

 

[JoeJackson]

Hey there ... yeah, sure. I always use 44.1 as I can't see a reason going to 48 (at least at the moment).
Well, then I think I'm going for the UX2... that vocal preamp-sims sound interesting.

AAAND it looks so damn sexy