Looking to upgrade/go legit

[Barnacle]

I've been talking to a few people at music stores here about upgrading my current setup.

I have a 2ch Lexicon Lamda, I really want something bigger and with nicer pre's. They suggested Cubase Essential 5 available for $95 for students, and also Full Version of Cubase 5 with the MR816 for around $1599. I have friends at uni with 2626's and they recommend them but they haven't tried other interfaces.

I did download the newest version of repear to trial, but I havn't installed it yet. I'm running a cracked Cubase 4 and want to go legit and start buying necessities and ditch the wares. I've started buying software lately and spent a few hundred on that. I'll be working alot over the next 4 months (Uni Break) and will have some money saved up.

So I'm looking at getting:
A: MR816 + Cubase 5 ($1599)
B: 2626 + Cubase Essential 5 ($1100)
C: Fastrack Ultra + Cubase Essential 5 ($800)
D: Presonus Firepod + Cubase Essential 5 ($1350)

Anyone got anything to say about these combos? thanks.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Try Reaper out and see if you like it. If you can get used to it, it's a good and cheap investment. For the interface, I can comfortably recommend you the 2626. I've used lots of USB/FW interfaces, including the usual suspects such as the Firepod and 003, and 2626 takes the first place hands down.

Good luck and thumbs up for the right decision!

 

[Barnacle]

Yeah, I've been seeing all the upgrades for reaper and it's starting to look like an awesome grab for the price. But I like Cubase and $95 for essential is cheap aswell. I've seen lots of people recommend the 2626 to. Thanks man.

 

[jipchen]

Yeah, +1 to the 2626. Stay away from the Firepod, it's got OK-pre's and conversion, but the lack of zero-latency routing and monitoring are a no-no.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Another +1 to the 2626. But you can get cubase 5 in the states for $300 (education discount). You can get studio for $200 (again education discount).

There is to much crap missing out of essential. I would at least spring for studio.

If you like/ are used to cubase I would do that.

 

[Barnacle]

I'll have to check if there is education discounts on the other versions then, or maybe buy from the US while the Aus dollar is still up.