Studio Gear.

Natima

Natima

Natima

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28 May 2008
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847
I'll be building a studio PC rather soon and I've been looking into what gear to get.
My problem is the market is bloated with really similar interfaces and the likes, and I'm a bit of a newb when it comes to this.
I was wondering if any of you are more experienced and could give me a helping hand!

I've so far been looking at building a basic Quad-core computer, which I'll overclock and stick with a load of audio gear.

In terms of what gear I'm looking at, these have caught my eye so far... but they're all too similar to my uneducated eyes to make a choice!

MOTU 8pre,
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40,
M-Audio Profire 2626,
and a few more that I cant think of right now.

I like that the MOTU had individual phantom power for each channel.
Does anybody know which has the best preamps out of these?
And could somebody explain how the ADAT ports work? (e.g. what do I plug into the MOTU to make use of the extra 8 channels? A digital mixer?)

My total budget for PC, PC Monitor, Interface, Mics, and MIDI controller, is around 1.6k
I already have Studio monitors and an amp.
 
Top tip, when building your PC make it as quiet as you can as there's nothing worse than a load of fan noise when you're trying to do your mixdowns. :)
 
Are you definitely set on a rack mounted interface? Or have you considered something like the Tascam FW-1082 or the M-Audio ProjectMix?

I'm biased towards the ProjectMix because I have one sitting next to me and love it. Also it's simple to use, pretty much plug n play and works with the major DAW softwares. Have you considered software into your budget too?
 
I'd absolutely love something like the project mix but its rather over-budget. It's deffinatly a consideration though. A while back I was looking for a second hand 01X but never got far.
The only thing is the Phantom Power appears to be global.

What mics? That depends on how much spare cash I have.
Preferably 2 or 3 SM57's and a condenser. But I dont think I'll be able to afford that anyway.

EDIT: with the project mix, IF (big 'if' there) I had two sm57's and a condenser, could I leave the sm57's on line and the condenser on mic and just power the condenser? whats the deal with the global phantom power basically?
 
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It's global Phantom power, but it will only send it down the line and be used if the connected mic needs it. It's very common for control surfaces to have this and won't cause any damage.
I bought my ProjectMix off the bay for £500 second hand and has a few scuffs, but works perfectly.
 
Any properly designed mic can deal with phantom power being applied to it (even if it's not needed), phantom is only applied to XLRs (its very very rare to see it on anything else) so you don't have to worry about using any jack connections at the same time.

Basically stick to XLRs for mics, jacks for line level.
 
The M-Audio ProFire2626 has the best converters and preamps in this price range, unless you're spending over a grand. Most recommend that it is as good as, if not better, than RME Fireface 400/800 for conversion. Pre's are clean and uncoloured.

Whilst it's true that most mic's can operate fine with 48v being put through them, there are exceptions, most obviously ribbon microphones.

Do you need two 57's? Dont get me wrong, everyone needs to own one, but i'd much rather get a 58 to add to the collection instead of two 57's.

As for the PC spec, looks great apart from i'd ditch the expensive GPU (look in b-grade for something cheap). I'd also go for a more silent & effecient branded PSU. You dont need over 450W. You'll also want a second SATA hard drive. You'll get much better performance recording onto a seperate hard drive than the one you're using for windows. Partitioning a single hard drive doesnt do anything at all, as youre still using the same write head. Just get a cheap 320gb 16mb or similar for OS and software. The sammy f1 is perfect for audio due to its large cache. (32mb is always recommended for audio) I'd also go for a cheaper P45 mobo to save a little extra, as you could get something slightly cheaper thats just as good.
 
PC P&C are supposed to be one of the best PSU manufacturers out there!
Either way, I've modified the PC spec to include two hard disks, and a much cheaper GPU; still passively cooled.

You sure about the Profire2626?
Its cheaper than the 8Pre and I've heard good things about the 8Pre and MOTU in general.
Also the Profire lacks MIDI, would any old cheap MIDI interface do? Or is there some dicsernable difference between MIDI interfaces other than the number of ports?

EDIT: It does have midi, I was being stupid and not noticing the breakout cable connection!

I was just going for the two SM57's as they come with the stands and cables!
Whats the real difference between 57's and 58's?
Also, spec me one bass amp mic for about £100!
 
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Check out this thread:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-product-alert/170276-profire-2626-a.html

Loads of information about the profire2626 here. MOTU don't have a great reputation in all honesty. They are ok, but you can get much better for the price.

The 2626 is also Pro Tools M-Powered compatible, so you can purchase this if you want to get into Pro Tools without having to use LE hardware. You can pretty much use any DAW software you want with this. You've got DSP hardware monitoring for latency free tracking, plus two ADAT ports, for up to 16 extra I/O.

The differences between a 57 + 58 are very small. A slightly different frequency response and design makes a 58 slightly more suited towards vocals, whereas the 57's more so for instruments, although you can mix and match to find what you prefer. :)
 
OzZie said:
Check out this thread:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-product-alert/170276-profire-2626-a.html

Loads of information about the profire2626 here. MOTU don't have a great reputation in all honesty. They are ok, but you can get much better for the price.

The 2626 is also Pro Tools M-Powered compatible, so you can purchase this if you want to get into Pro Tools without having to use LE hardware. You can pretty much use any DAW software you want with this. You've got DSP hardware monitoring for latency free tracking, plus two ADAT ports, for up to 16 extra I/O.

The differences between a 57 + 58 are very small. A slightly different frequency response and design makes a 58 slightly more suited towards vocals, whereas the 57's more so for instruments, although you can mix and match to find what you prefer. :)
Click to expand...

Ahh k! I'll give that a read!
Mind telling me how ADAT works? If (for example) in the future I wanted to expand, would I just get another Profire and connect it to the first one via ADAT?
 
Basically yeah. With a single ADAT option you have an input and output. Each can carry 8 channels of digital audio. You can then transfer audio signals into the input of another device (profire2626) for 8 extra inputs/outputs, although they have to be converted into digital before hand. In other words, you can use any standalone converter (ADA8000 is the cheapest i can think of) for more inputs, and link them via ADAT. In thoery you could have two more profire2626's linked up.
 
Ahh cool! I understand!
A little question about mixers now! :P
I have much to learn so I cant help but ask so many questions, sorry!

Is there any way to hook up each individual channel on the profire to a mixing console, and then back to the soundcard?
So if I have 8 mics going into the profire, out through a mixer so I can adjust levels and EQ's etc, then back into the interface, and finally into my PC.
Would it have to be a digital mixer connected via ADAT? And would it provide any benefits over the much simper '1.into mixer - 2.into soundcard - 3.into pc' approach?
 
If you were to go for an analog mixer, it all depends how many features it has for routing. If you spend the best part of £500 on something like an Allan & Heath, then the answer to your question is yes, you can route all 8 i/o's of the Profire into the mixer. If you go for a cheaper mixer that does have direct outs or sends etc, then you'll find you're self on a one way highway. By all means go for an analog mixer if you can afford it, but realistically, you get what you pay for.

Personally, i'd concentrate on the basics first, then look at getting a mixer afterwards, since it isn't vital to the operation of a digital studio like it once was.
 
Thanks for all the answers! Much appreciated!
Yeah, I was just thinking about future expansion possibilities really, at the moment its mostly out of my price range, but I gotta learn about this stuff anyway!
 
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