Sweet interfaces under $500 USD or so?

[Uladyne]

First off Greg, call me Marcus And second, I know money is tight (and I feel ya), but the second part would be alleviated by investing in a DI box! (and the quality would almost certainly be better)

Ah, but Tastic just sounds so cool! Okay though, Marcus it is from now on!

I'm currently doing some more research on the Mackie, and trying to dig up some more opinions about the Focusrite. The things I've been reading about the Mackie's Pres are making my mouth water, and I suppose on the few occaisions where I might actually need more than four mic pres I can always use my mixer, (it won't be going anywhere anyway) and I would kind of rather have an actual stand alone DI box, and the things I've been reading about the Mackie's Pres are making my mouth water, and band's can go fuck themselves if I can't manage to get each dude his own seperate mix, (I can always force them to use a click and record scratch tracks prior to drums, which would probably be better anyway, and the Onyx Pre/drooling issue...

You might be twisting my arm, Marcus!

 

[guitarded88]

BTW "Marcus"...

Congrats on the recording review shootout contest

It was friggen close dude!

Oh well, SPL Transient Designer seems cool anyways, and you already use Addictive drums anyways right?

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Fucking shitballs dude, you won a Transient Designer? Congrats!

 

[Uladyne]

Shit, I'm diggin up some unsatisfactory reviews of the Mackie, some talking about a high pitched whine noise well above the noise floor. Lemons perhaps? Probably also due to the fact that it's been out a lot longer and has had more exposure to customers, and therefore a higher chance of recieving negative reviews. It also looks like it's been discontinued or something (can anybody confirm this?), which makes me a little nervous. Also since guitar center credit is my only means of purchase, I'm stuck with their price which is $550 for a B-stock item (compared to MF's $399, neither store has any new ones) which may be discontinued. It's kinda making me lose my boner for it.

As for the Focusrite, heres a little something I dug up from the Sweetwater forums where some dude was asking for a comparison between the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and the Presonus Firestudio Project. A sales engineer had this to say of the Focusrite:

The preamp circuitry in it is essentially the same as the rest of the Saffire line. The Big difference between this and the previous incarnations of the Saffire is the Jet PLL clock and DiceII chipset just like Presonus and TC Electronic so the the AD and DA will be identical for jitter specs and firewire stability. The difference will be in their analog components feeding those sections and the software they are using to make it work for you.

So I guess that begs the question of how sweet those Focusrite Saffire preamps really be?

 

[Metaltastic]

Ah, but Tastic just sounds so cool! Okay though, Marcus it is from now on!

I'm currently doing some more research on the Mackie, and trying to dig up some more opinions about the Focusrite. The things I've been reading about the Mackie's Pres are making my mouth water, and I suppose on the few occaisions where I might actually need more than four mic pres I can always use my mixer, (it won't be going anywhere anyway) and I would kind of rather have an actual stand alone DI box, and the things I've been reading about the Mackie's Pres are making my mouth water, and band's can go fuck themselves if I can't manage to get each dude his own seperate mix, (I can always force them to use a click and record scratch tracks prior to drums, which would probably be better anyway, and the Onyx Pre/drooling issue...

You might be twisting my arm, Marcus!

Hahah, sounds like your twisting your own arm Greg! But I think you're logic is sound, so if you can live with a maximum of 10 simultaneous inputs, the Onyx seems like the clear bet to me!

Guitarded and Jarkko, thanks guys! I was SO close to winning S2.0 (mintcheerios won that, and props to him - he had a 4.94, I was second with 4.9 ), which would've been nice, since I actually use a somewhat illicit drum solution right now (the original Battery with the original DFH samples loaded, so at least it's all ancient and outdated stuff I'm pirating ). Oh well, I'll manage, and with Slate offering his $100 package, it'll be pretty hard to pass that up!

 

[Uladyne]

Too true! I called GuitarCenter.com and they said an error on the website is showing the wrong price and that it is actually only $399.99. I might have to roll the dice and pull the trigger on that along with maybe a countryman DI box? Off to the reamp thread!

 

[Metaltastic]

Fuck yeahs, sounds like a winning combo to me! How's that DIY reamp box workin' out for ya, btw?

 

[Uladyne]

Pretty good, actually! I fucked up a couple times on the design (Tried to substitute certain parts and ordered wrong ones) and ended up with tons of noise but overall it was pretty easy and works great now. The impedence knob doesn't seem to do a damn thing, but maybe that's just my ears not being honed enough. I have yet to get down and dirty with tests and what not, but when I do I'll post a "review" of sorts with pics and live vs. reamp clips. Plus it's cute as fuck. I painted it white, but with the knobs looking like something off some old WWII era military electronic equipment, I'm thinking I should have gone with some sort of Big Muff style olive drab or something.

 

[Metaltastic]

PICS DAMMIT!!!

 

[Jaymz]

So I guess that begs the question of how sweet those Focusrite Saffire preamps really be?

I was tossing up between the Saffire Pro 40 and Mackie Onyx 400f only a few months ago, the sales men told me the Saffire was the way to go. I don't think you can go wrong with either one tbh, if you want the extra 4 pre's and don't mind the fact that the Pro 40 looks kinda odd then go for it. The pre's on that are the same *bar the Liquids* as the one ive ordered *Saffire 56*

 

[Uladyne]

Hrmmm... Decisions, decisions. I almost feel like a coin toss might be in order.

 

[Jaymz]

Hrmmm... Decisions, decisions. I almost feel like a coin toss might be in order.

Eeeep!

I must admit I was dead set on the Mackie right up until last minute where my order cocked up, been set on the Focusrite gear ever since.

 

[Uladyne]

I decided to roll the dice and ordered a B-Stock Mackie for $399.00. I have to admit time was a factor, and I should be able to get it in my hands by Friday, where the Focusrite wasn't even in stock yet. It comes with full warranty and satisfaction guarantees so I guess I'll just have to get busy with tests when I get it to make sure I made a good choice. I hate when things come so close!

 

[IronApe]

I'm looking for an interface too, for a little home studio I'm putting together. And I too am looking at the Mackie 400F, but what annoys me a bit about this unit (apart from the missing adat) is that phantom power isn't independent on each preamp. Actually that seems like a rare feature in mid-priced interfaces.
But damn, it apparently has great pres, good converters and goes for about 450 € on an online shop in UK! I think I'm sold as well, Focusrite and M-Audio... meh... just not sure....

 

[Uladyne]

I'm such a dweeb! After placing my order I sat there eating dinner and started to get this nervous sinking feeling like I fucked up. Then I remembered NO ADAT! I ended up calling back and cancelling the order and going with the Focusrite instead. I'm not normally a gut instinct kind of guy, but there was something seriously bothering me about the original order, and even though I'll have to wait a bit longer, I feel better now knowing it will be easier to expand with the Focusrite. Sheesh. I have to get away from my computer now.

 

[Metaltastic]

Haha, well you can be the guinea pig for it then, and if it works well and does what it's supposed to for that price, then I'm sure you'll have a lot of converts!

 

[Jaymz]

Saffire Pro 40 has loads of good reviews around.

 

[IronApe]

Right, now you're making ME go bezerk... Actually the Saffire Pro costs exactly the same as the Onyx 400f where I'm looking at. Shite!!!!