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USB Audio Interfaces

BenOz

BenOz

Jun 10, 2010
37
0
#1
Hi all

I'm pretty new to the music world and I got myself a bass a few months ago and want to record myself for practice and review.
I realize the PC sound card is just not adequate to do the job.
So I would appreciate some suggestions on a good USB Audio Interface for under $300. One with good software.

At the moment I got

1 X Yamaha BEX-4
1 X PJ Bass Buddy
1 X KORG Pandora PX4D

I'm also thinking of getting Band-in-a-box, but this is on hold at the moment till I research it a bit more. The selections are crazy and expensive at first glance. :eyebrow:

Anyway your help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Ben
 
#5
Ben, I am interested in more info on this as well. I see the sticky threads above are at least five years old and I know things have changed alot. I recently bought the M-Audio Fast Track USB and tried to get it to work for three days with no luck, so I am back to square one. Looking forward to hearing some of your responses in this thread.
 
#6
My Theory on this: if you want to record your album, go to a professional studio. For anything else, it can/should be easy, simple and cheap. I also wanted some effects software so I narrowed it down to:

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and went with guitar rig.

If I had a macbook I'd just use that and record straight into Garage Band.

For actual recording I use "Reaper", which is free and which I found even easier to use than Audacity.

Everyone seems to recommend Firewire, but if your computer doesn't already have firewire go wtih USB the free ASIO drivers and you're fine.
 
#7
Tascam US-122MKII - USB 2.0 Computer Audio Interface

* High-Speed USB 2.0 Audio Interface
* 1/4" Guitar Input, XLR Mic Inputs
* MIDI I/O
* Phantom Power for Condenser Mics
* Sturdy Aluminum Construction
* Includes Cubase LE4 Audio Software
* Mac & Windows Compatible

less than $100.00.

Used it with both a laptop running Win7 and my towers running Xp pro. Never a problem.

For live recording I use a Mackie Mixer into the Tascam when I need more than Two mikes or inputs.

I use it with headphones at night and run it through Guitar Rig 4 on my laptop with amp simulations for practice along with music tracks. Its really handy and portable that way.

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Great, simple, quiet.
For Software:
Reaper for a good start for software, ridiculous cheep for what you get. Ableton Live is not bad, Cubase has a long learning curve.
 
#9
first, someone mentioned tracktion software, which i love, but it is rather obsolete with Mackie dropping support for it years ago... I would recommend REAPER DAW software.

i have a few of these for recording and home theater:

E-mu 0404 USB

they are about 110 on ebay or 150-200 new.

good drivers for XP, i've heard win 7 too.

midi in/out
spdif in/out (coax and optical)
+ 2x audio in/out

above average mic pre-amps, hi-z and live TRS 1/4" ins+XLR

good drivers, i can get 3-4ms latency.
 
#12
Hey guys, i just wanted to chime in here. I got a Line6 Toneport GX and its served me well for a year now but i have some issues with it and am looking to upgrade to something with alittle more versatility. why hasn't anyone recommend cheap usb mixers, same thing as a audio interface and gives you alot more control.

i've been wanting to purchase: Behringer XENYX 1204USB 12-Input 2/2 Bus Mixer w/USB
cheap and gives me alot of control for recording, and i also promote the REAPER daw, its great and free.
 
#13
Mikata said:
Hey guys, i just wanted to chime in here. I got a Line6 Toneport GX and its served me well for a year now but i have some issues with it and am looking to upgrade to something with alittle more versatility. why hasn't anyone recommend cheap usb mixers, same thing as a audio interface and gives you alot more control.

i've been wanting to purchase: Behringer XENYX 1204USB 12-Input 2/2 Bus Mixer w/USB
cheap and gives me alot of control for recording, and i also promote the REAPER daw, its great and free.
Click to expand...


I don't think XENYX has individual ASIO tracks in to the DAW like the Alesis Multimix 8/16 USB 2.0 do... u might want to check that.
 
#16
magickbass said:
I just googled Tascam US-122mkII and got a long list of displeased customers complaining about noise. And on musiciansfriend.com the reviews were the same.
Click to expand...


well the LONG list on MF is.. what.. FOUR?? out of how many purchase it?

Man I been using mine for about 8 months on both a good XP system and on my laptop with Win7. I have had NO problem with noise. or dropouts.

I notice they are the same reviews on Amazon as MF. All I know is it has been dead quiet and no dropouts in tracking OR mix-down. Then again, I know what I'm doing, I free up system resources and don't leave 25 programs running in the task bar. As to the MAC OS problems, I have no idea. Wouldn't own one.
 

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