My audio interface experiences so far PLUS my new problems HELP

Ok im new.
Ive been a Logic/ mainstage user for just about a year now to a fair amount o success.
Running endless tracks in Logic with multiple process going on and quite cpu hungry maintstage concerts
All using the Line 6 UX2 for desktop, UX1 for Live and Alesis io 26 for band recordings.
~Live, I have even been running the io 26 (firewire) and the UX 1 (usb ) at the same time. Taking advantage of the ux1's excellent guitar processing, taking this to an amp from one out and to an IN on the IO26, along with the rest of the band(drums etc), this Alesis is assigned in Logic. Meanwhile using Mainstage (assigned to UX1 )to power my keyboards and samples. MASSIVE/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstat ic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png
Anyway , I always some issues the odd glitchy business here and there but it was ok.
I then upgraded to Logic 9/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png
Wow I though how cool is flextime (turns out its little rough but nearly right)
Wow how cool is the Mainstage upgrades/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png
Wow how etcetc
After a few weeks (and a European tour using it live every night live/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png) I started to get annoyed at it's increasing erratic behavior (intermittent burst of white noise being the Line 6's favorite) so I look 'online; to see if there where any clues??
some folk said 'you should upgrade to snow leopard',
I listened and I appear to have opened a huge can of worms, not only is internet glitchy an slow but more importantly my sound devices are bizarre now.
Moving on to present day, I just recently purchased a MOTU Traveler MkIII in the vain attempt at solving my latency issues for live. However
a/ Initially it made bursts of high pitched noises then dropped the audio.
b/ After days of messing with advice found on sites such as this now my device is not even recognised.
Help in anyway possible please|????
should I go back to 10.5.8???
can i ever get rid of the renowned high pitched squeal from MOTU?
and one last question>> is it possible to trigger drumagog with an audio input at an acceptable latency (1-2)???

now, after a full wipe and reinstall to snow leopard i had the same issue. SOOOOoo
after a full 0 wipe and a reinstall of Leopard(10.5.8) I had the same problems.
Then> an odd thing happened all of a sudden its working, as is my IO ans is my Ux1. All working spiffingly. sing hosanna!!
here are the all important DNA results
mainstage
Alesis io 26
32 buffer- 10.3
64- 12.5
128- 16.9
Ux1
32 -9.6
64 -11.8
128 -16.1
Motu Mk3 traveller
32 -4.1
64 -6.3
128 -10.6
Logic
Alesis io 26
32 buffer- 9.6
64- 11.1
128- 14
Ux1
32 -8.9
64 -11.8
128 -16.1
Motu Mk3 traveller
32 -3.4
64 -4.8
128 -7.7
the Motu clearly wins and retails around £650
The Alesis holds its own with features and costs a small £180
and the UX1 is a beaty budget piece for £60
There is a lesson to be learned from this although im not sure what?

Similar Messages

Al iMac + FW800 HDD + FW400 Audio Interface

Hi All.
I need some technical advice.
I understand that if I connect a FW800 + FW400 at the same time that the FW800 will drop to FW400 speed (and I'm fine with that) as they use the same bus.
My question is... will both ports operate as inidividual FW400 ports (ie sharing 800Mb/s or will they be sharing 400Mb/s like if you normally have 2 x FW400 on the same bus.
What I want to do is attach a RAID (mirrored) Hard drive setup (Taurus RAID II) to the FW800 and a Firewire Audio Interface (such as a MOTU) to the FW400.
Most of the audio interfaces I've looked at say that they need their own FW400 port (which I take as meaning not sharing the 400Mb/s bandwith with any other devices).
I do have several work arounds if this setup is going to cause problems (ie using a USB audio interface or a ADDA converter attached to the iMac's optical in/out... but this limits my choice of interface).
I really wish now that I had saved a little longer and got an entry level MacPro instead... but am very happy with my iMac (and man does it run quiet... my PC friends are all very jealous!!)
Thanks for any advice you can give.

Thanks to you both.
Some people seem to think its been fixed, others seem to report they are still having problems... but its hard to tell whether its the audio interfaces they are using or an actual problem with the firewire bus.
I think i'm going to use an ADDA converter and the optical ins and outs anyway now... so I'll probably never know the answer to my question... but thanks for the replies.

IChat AV doesn't work with M-Audio Firewire audio interface

I saw similar topics to this but none dealing with a Firewire audio interface and none with exactly the same problem.
Every other piece of software I use works with the M-Audio Firewire Solo, except for iChat AV. When it is the selected output device and I start a video chat with someone, I get just horrible, loud static when the person on the other end speaks.
Running 10.4.10 on a Macbook Pro (2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo).
Does anyone know of incompatibility issues with iChat and Firewire interfaces?

In Audio MIDI Setup (In applications/Utilities) the setting for my Mic is 44100khz 1Ch 16bit.
The Internal Audio connection also shows up at 44100Khz 2Ch 16bit
Are you looking in the same place or in the device itself ?
I would set it in the Audio MIDI Setup and then make sure it responds in System Preferences > Sound > Input tab.
Once the Blue bar moves to at least halfway there I would then check iChat > Preferences > Video Section to see if the green bar under the Vido pics is moving.
4:25 PM Friday; September 7, 2007

Guitar Plugged in Audio interface but no effect sound

is coming out.. I can see activity when I hit the strings but whatever setting I pick there is no change in my guitar sound.. I have changed the audio/midi prefer...to my audio interface but no luck...can someone help me...Im sure im leaving out a step..

Is the Master channel slider up?

Lexicon Lambda Audio Interface - newbie question

OK, not strictly a Logic Express question, but I am using a Lexicon lambda audio interface with LE.
I'm new to audio interfaces, having just bought my second synth, so I needed an interface in order to connect both synths to the Mac.
Both synths are stereo (2 quarter-inch outputs), and having played around with the Lexicon I'm forming the opinion that I actually need a 4-input interface, rather than a 2-input, in order to connect both synths in stereo. I was hoping I could use an adapter on the two quarter-inch plugs to convert to a single quarter-inch stereo but I still only get sound through one channel.
Can someone confirm that it is actually a 4-input interface I need?
Thanks in advance.

Hi.
I 've had a lexicon omega for a while and have tried it in a macbook (osx 10.5) and a mac mini (osx 10.6.2).
The interface works wonderfully for about 10mins and then it stops processing the playback signal. I can only hear sound on the direct.
I've returned the interface to the vendor and they say it's fine. I've contacted lexicon support and they responded: "If the clipping is only heard when the Monitor Mix knob is set to Playback, this may be a problem with your Mac's Core Audio. In this case you may want to contact Apple or try reinstalling the OS".
Since I've tried with 2 different Mac machines, and with different osx versions, i think I can rule out trying to "reinstall the OS".
Do you guys have any idea how I can mend this?
It has become really frustrating...
Thanks

Pops, latency, distortion. Can't record more than 2 secs. Audio interface?

As near as I can tell, all my software is up to date, I have the latest drivers for my audio interface, and Garageband has basically stopped working.
Firstly, whenever I start Garageband the first time, I get latency that is as much as a second or more. So I have to quit and restart Garageband every time to fix that.
If I leave Garageband running overnight, it completely forgets about my interface, and I'm forced to reboot in order to get any sound at all into Garageband. It sees my audio interface (a Tascam US-122), but I can play away and it won't get any sound at all from it until a reboot.
This means that pretty much every time I want to use Garageband I've first got to reboot the system to convince MacOSX to first listen to my Tascam. Then I've got to start Garageband, then quit and restart to get rid of the latency. This is quite a pain and I've been living with it for some time.
But now, it's gotten worse. Since upgrading everything, now I can only record a few seconds of music, before Garageband stops, creates crackling sounds and popping, and occasionally distorted versions of what I played, but stretched out and terrible sounding, and all between long gaps of dead air. This is pretty useless.
There are some people that believe there is an issue involving Garageband and Airport. And, one time I was able to record part of a track by turning off all effects and turning off my airport card. But this only worked one time.
From reading other posts, it's clear that are at least some others that are having at least some of these same problems.
So, here's what I'd like to know:
1. Has anyone had these problems and figured out a fix?
2. I'd really like to know if anyone is all caught up (10.5.2, latest Garageband, etc...) and is having no problems with Garageband?
3. If you are not having problems, what audio interface are you using?
4. I have a Tascam US-122. If you are also have this audio interface, I'd like to know if Garageband is working for you, or if you're having the same problems I'm having.
In case it's not obvious from the above questions, I'm suspecting that my problem might involve my audio interface and I'm hoping we can gather some info here to help resolve that question.
Thanks in advance for your help.

So, I tried recording into Sound Studio using my TASCAM, and I got some of the same intermittent problems I was having in Garageband. Sometimes there would be a long pause and then I'd hear what I had just played but sounding like it was in slow motion and underwater. This suggested either a systemic Apple problem or a TASCAM problem. Putting my bet on TASCAM, I decided to try a new audio interface.
Anyway, after some net searching, I decided on an Edirol FA-66, so I headed on down to my local Guitar Center to buy one.
Only they don't carry them. Apparently, they stopped carrying Edirol stuff a while ago. The guy asked me what I wanted one for and I told him I was recording my guitar on Garageband. His face lighted up and he said, oh, that's easy, you've got to get an Apogee Duet. Because you're a Mac guy, you can buy one. But, I had seen the price and thought that was too much.
So, I looked all over town, and no one had an Edirol. So, I headed home and got online and started reading about the Duet. Every single person that had one raved about it. I also realized that it was only for Macintosh, so if they don't get it right, no sales. I have to say, I liked that.
So, in the end, I went back to Guitar Center and I bought one.
I've had it now for a few hours, and all my latency, pop, and noise problems have, so far, gone away.
But even better, is that the sound quality is stunningly better. At the best of times with my TASCAM US-122, my guitar sound was "thin". It never really sounded anything close to good.
This is a whole new thing. Playing through Garageband is like playing through an amp.
And, it's so nice to have all that rebooting and restarting nonsense over with.
So far, my recommendation is, if you can afford one, go for the Apogee Duet. In fairness, I haven't tried anything but the Duet and my TASCAM, but people online that have agree that the sound quality of the Duet is as good as it gets in this price range.
So, I've seen a number of other posts in which various people complained about problems that sounded similar to mine. Currently, my experience says that it may be your audio interface (or its driver).

Windows and firewire audio interfaces

I have a new MBP I'm getting set up with windows, and everything has gone fine but I'm stuck trying to get my Presonus Firebox audio interface to work. I've been poking around and it seems to be a pretty wide spread problem, so I thought I would consolidate some information and hopefully get a few recommendations.
My basic problem is that the Firebox seems to install fine, but is not useable by any application (ASIO reports the error "No sound device is connected to the PC." when selecting the Firebox). I've done the usual tests, and the device works fine in OS X, in Windows on different computers, etc. Only issue is in Windows running under boot camp.
The problem doesn't seem confined to a specific windows version (personally tried XP SP2 and SP3, seen reports of Vista).
The problem doesn't seem confined to a specific audio interface. In addition to my Firebox, I've seen reports for
Edirol FA-101
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1528317&tstart=0
Presonus Firestudio
M-Audio ProFire 26
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7254908&#7254908
Tascam Fw1082
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7274776&#7274776
The problem does not seem to be about the firewire chipset (I've seen reports of problems with some chipsets, but my MBP is several days old with the TI chipset, which as far as I know has no known problems).
The primary app I use that's critical needs ASIO drivers, so I installed ASIO4ALL and that works fine -- it's not a long-term solution, but I can run with it for a little while. Right now I'm primarily interested in understanding what the variables are, i.e., are there any interfaces known to work with my config of hardware, or is there anyone using my config that's running one of these 'problem' interfaces without problems? I've got the 15" MBP at 2.6, with 4 GB of main memory and 512 MB of video.
thanks much,
eric

Also please have some sympathy for the Apple programmers.
This has been an extremely frustrating experience, and it's started me off on the mac platform feeling pretty negatively toward apple. I get that boot camp is a collision of independent companies where no one really has full responsibility, and I don't fault apple for bad drivers (including some REALLY bad drivers, like the broadcom wireless, which I think is dubious to even claim that it works). I have two basic issues with apple: I wish they would have acknowledged the existing problems on the front page of the support, and provided links (making sure everyone knows up front you should try turning off wireless would resolve a number of complaints here). Also, for us laptop users, I have issues with being dependent on apple for drivers (i.e. for the nvidia card). Not knowing if a problem is fixed by a recent driver, and not having access to that driver, is very frustrating. There's the same problem with PC vendors, but at least they have market pressure to keep drivers up to date; Apple has a monopoly on machines that run OS X.
How do you like that Tascam unit?
Now that I've had it a little while, I'm very impressed. What I don't like:
* The largish form factor and ridiculous big knob and buttons that I find worthless.
What I'm ambivalent on:
* The sound quality -- at first I thought it wasn't very good, but I suspect I was being subtly influenced by the fact that I think it's hideously ugly. Now, with it at home and integrated, it sounds pretty good, the output at least is approaching the firebox/828mkII range. Don't know about the preamps, that's hard to say without A/Bing but they are at least decent. Overall I have no complaints at all with the sound quality, certainly not enough for me to pull out another device and really try and compare.
What I like:
* The drivers are multiclient, letting multiple audio apps run simultaneously -- not sure how common that is, half the interfaces I've owned can do that and half can't.
* Fully bus-powered. The firebox has a problem where, on the new MBP, you need to have the power supply plugged in when first starting up; it's nice to not deal with that.
* And then a couple small things that are obvious from the pictures: The knobs are reasonably spaced (the firebox and some motu's are way too close together); dual headphone jacks is nice; independent volume and gain controls on everything is nice (my old 828mkII had a single encoder for both volume and main outs, which drove me nuts).
Overall, for the price you can get them at now (US$135), I think it's a really, really good deal.

Recording Skype using Soundflower and usb audio interface as aggregate

I want to record Skype calls.
I installed Soundflower and Audacity records Skype far side audio fine when Soundflower is selected as the input. However, I want to record far side audio PLUS my microphone that runs through my Focusrite Forte usb audio interface (Audacity records my mic just fine with Forte selected as the input).
So I created an aggregate input device in OS 10.9 consisting of the Forte and Soundflower inputs. When I test out the aggregate audio input in the Mac audio settings, I see soundbars from both devices. However, when I choose the aggregate device as the input in Audacity, only the Forte device is recorded (not Skype).
Any ideas as to why only one of the two devices in the aggregate input is being recorded by Audacity?
Did I set up the aggregate incorrectly?
Many thanks!

The people over in the GarageBand forums are amazing at diagnosing and fixing these sorts of things. I recommend that you give it a try posting the question over there:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1308
Good luck!

My iPad Air 2 is no longer recognizing my audio interface when I connect.

Basically I am using the camera connection kit to connect to my korg kronos keyboard, which has an audio interface. The couple times that I did this before, it worked. Sound from the iPad was routed to my monitor via the Kronos interface. I don't know what happened but I didn't use it for a week and ever since then when I connect the sound only comes through my iPad. I used to be able to use the Kronos As midi device to control my music apps but even that functionality doesn't work anymore.
ive tried doing a hard reset several times and in several combinations with the Kronos...such as powering both on at the same time but no luck.
the kronos works perfectly when I connect it to my laptop, so I'm convinced it's an issue with the iPad. When I plug the iPad to my computer it is recognized...so it can't be the connection port that is faulty.
THe kronos is the only class compliant device I have to test it on and have been unlucky so far.
ANy help?

Try doing a hard reset on the iPad. You can also check if your iPad needs to be updated too.
To update go to Settings - General - Software Update
To do a hard reset, i would suggest you do a back up first, either on iCloud or via iTunes.
First try shutting down the device off and on, if that does not help, then you can go ahead and do the hard reset.
Hard Resetting your device.
On your iPad, press and hold both the SLEEP/WAKE button and the HOME button for about ten (10) seconds. After ten seconds you should see the Apple logo showing up, you can then release your fingers from those buttons. Wait for your iPad to turn up completely, then try connecting your projector again to see if it works. I hope it does. Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Windows 7 no longer recognizes or allows ASIO drivers for my usb audio interfaces

Hello All, last year I purchased a new version of Propellerheads Reason and the Balance digital audio interface that came with the bundle.
Everything was fine it all worked well, especially when I added asio4all drivers. (The Balance comes with its own asio driver).
Super low latency on my keyboard and midi guitar. I was using my midi guitar and set up at jams for several months last year and it was great!
One day I was getting ready for the jam session and I noticed that the latency on my midi guitar became so bad that I could not play in time with the other musicians.
I checked out the preference/audio page in Reason and saw that my asio drivers were missing! I immediately went and down loaded asio4all again and installed it. It would show up in any of my music software. I have tried removing and re-installing
the stock ASIO driver that came with Balance and no luck.
I suspect that shortly before this huge problem ( my music software is basically useless without asio drivers) I allowed a windows update to my system.
I think that somehow during one of these "updates" something changed and windows 7 no longer allows asio drivers on my computer. This really sucks!
Is there some way to get rid of the offending "update" that ruined my music system?
Thanks in advance!
Don

Thank you for your response FangZhou Chen, unfortunately this problem started last fast, possible early November so I can't do a restore that far back.
my best,
Don

Error message: "the previously selected audio interface is not available"

HELP?!?!?!?!?
I'm stuck, and I can't go forward. Here's my issue:
I've bought a Focusrite Saffire LE, a simple firewire audio interface, for use with my Logic Express 7 (with all the latest updates). I run the setup assistant and select my saffire as the audio interface to use, and then when logic runs I get the message "the previously selected audio interface is not available" and it defaults to my Macbook Pro's internal microphone and speakers.
Just for sanity I've tested the audio interface with garageband and it's fine. My other audio apps aso run fine using the saffire as the audio interface. The setup assistant for logic has no problem finding the saffire, so why does it get rejected as soon as logic starts?!?!?
Please - this is driving me crazy.

I asked Focusrite for some help, and they said it should work (which I knew) and made some suggestions. Here's their email:
"Saffire LE should work fine in Logic Express.
Try resetting your logic preferences. Go to Logic > preferences > initialise all except key commands.
Do you still have the same problem?
Do you have any other firewire devices attached?
Have you had any other interfaces installed in the past?"
All good suggestions, but so far no luck.
Has someone else got the same config as me? (15" Macbook Pro and focusrite saffire le)?

Hard-drive and audio interface set-up - Advice please

Hello,
Please offer me some advice if you can. I have the new 13" macbook pro 2.26Ghz with Logic Studio. I am going to get a hard-drive that has both usb and firewire 800 interfaces and need to decide whether to get a usb or firewire audio interface. The crux of my problem is in what configuration to use the devices, which will determine which audio interface I choose. E.g.
1. Firewire 800 hard-drive to record tracks onto and back-up + usb audio interface; or
2. Firewire 800 hard-drive as above + firewire 400 audio interface daisy-chained; or
3. Record onto the internal hard-drive and use a usb audio interface; or
4. Record onto the internal hard-drive and use a firewire 400 interface.
FYI, the audio interfaces I'm looking at are the E-Mu 0404 USB or Focusrite Saffire LE, both of which have had excellent reviews.
Questions to consider, please, are: Which configuration will offer the best performance and least latency? Is it worth recording onto external hard-drive (7,200) or will the internal drive (5,200) be faster/as fast? Will daisy-chaining cause a significant drop in performance? Do you have any alternative configuration suggestions? Plus any other comments you can think of.
Thank you in advance
Jamie

The good thing about #2, if the drive enclosure also has a USB 2.0 interface you have the option of using/trying that configuration as well. I know a few that get away with using USB drives for recording.
Make sure the audio drive is formatted Mac OS Extended, with Journaling OFF.
Don't trust the drive formatting as it's delivered.
pancenter-

Problem running a FW 400 audio interface at same time as FW 800 drives

I recently installed snow leopard (10.6.2) on a macbook pro 2.4 core duo. I have a couple firewire 800 drives connected. I ran into problems when I hooked up my audio interface to the firewire 400 port. I have the same problem with 2 different audio interfaces - Presonus Firebox and M-Audio Firewire Solo. Basically they refuse to work unless i unplug the firewire 800 drives. I found this information on M-Audio's website:
"Computers that have both a FireWire 400 and a FireWire 800 port may be sharing the same FireWire bus internally. When using both, the 400 and the 800 port at the same time, you may experience problems like audio drop outs or loss of connection to the M-Audio FireWire interface. There's a variety of possible reasons for this including but not limited to bandwidth limitations, clocking issues (400/800) and bus master problems with the devices connected to both ports. M-Audio recommends using the M-Audio FireWire audio interface on the computers original FireWire port while adding a separate FireWire interface card (with a Texas Instruments chipset) to the system (PCI, PCIe, ExpressCard, or PCMCIA). Connect any third party FireWire 800 devices to the added FireWire interface card. If your computer does not have expansion slots for a separate FireWire interface card there are 2 possible alternatives: If your external hard drive has FW400 connectivity, you can daisy chain the hard drive to the 2nd FireWire port* (if available) on your M-Audio Device. If your external hard drive has USB 2.0 connectivity, you can connect the hard drive to a USB 2.0 port on the computer"
This is exactly my problem. The audio interfaces work fine when hooked up to FW 400 port as long as no FW 800 devices are connected. It appears that my only solution is to buy a secondary FW interface card. However, I would like to know if there is a fix on the Apple side of this.
(note: I did not have this issue on my G5 running OS 10.4x, which is what I was on before I switched to this new laptop setup - the laptop is a 2007)
Anyone else have this issue, or know about a fix for it from Apple?

Thanks for that info, but that is not the problem. Obviously the first thing I did was check the FW cables and connections and shut down my computer and rebooted. And like I said, the FW 800 drives work fine when no FW 400 device is connected, and the FW 400 audio interface works fine when no FW 800 devices are connected.
The problem is that when the FW 800 drives are connected AND the FW 400 audio interface is also connected on the same bus (as this is a laptop there is only one bus with both 400 and 800 ports). The drives still seem to work fine, but the audio interface does not work. It's connection lights flash and will not hold a connection or process sound (there is either no sound, or clicks and dropouts). The flashing lights indicated a failed clock sync. M-Audio is aware of this issue as is apparent from my quote on the original post, but the only work around seems to add a secondary FW bus via an adapter card.
This problems seems to be a MAC issue with FW 400 and 800 and the internal clock sync.

Audio interface for 24" iMac - conflict between firewire 400 and 800?

So, what I have now:
2.8ghz iMac, latest model, newest firmware, running OS 10.4.11, connected to an M-Audio Ozonic Firewire 400 interface, and I was hoping to run said interface while ALSO connecting a firewire 800 hard drive for samples, or for recording to.
Alas, as soon as I turn on the firewire 800 drive, a model sold by Other World Computing and containing an Oxford chipset, all audio stops on the Ozonic keyboard and is replaced by clicks and pops. The only way I've found to get the audio back is with a complete restart of the system, with the firewire 800 drive OFF.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the M-Audio device, it's a small keyboard and firewire audio interface in one unit. Perhaps not the highest quality, but my Powerbook G4 1.67 with firewire 800 CAN run both the Ozonic and the firewire 800 drive at the same time. With no interruption in sound playback.
I did some research and discovered that in the iMac I bought, the two firewire channels, 400 and 800, appear to be on the same PCI E bus, and perhaps will NEVER work together.
Is that right? I thought the whole point of firewire was how it's able to negotiate such communications and work seamlessly with other firewire devices. I know, I know, I'm living in dreamland, it's just sad that a much older Apple product (my PPC notebook), can do something a brand new model cannot. Sigh.
Any advice? Any chance 10.5 fixes this?
If not, should my next audio interface be USB 2.0? Any thoughts from the Audio pros out there (besides 'you bought the wrong machine) would be great.

Sorry I can't help with your specific query as I have never used that Audio hardware.
I am a video man myself and went for the 24" 2.8Ghz iMac as i believe the Firewire 400 and 800 Buses are seperate. I know on older iMacs and even the MacPro the FW800 and 400 buses were on the same bus and when connecting a firewire video camera to the FW400 bus, the 800 would lower it's speed to 400 to accomodate or in some cases would lose the connection all together.
I currently have a FW800 Hard drive connected to the FW800 port and a video deck in the FW400 port and they both run at full speed 800/400 respectively.
This leads me to believe Apple have fixed the Firewire sharing problem.
I know it's no help but just though I would share my experience with the Firewire on the new iMac.

Which Audio Interface for Me?

Okay, I have decided to make the switch from my iMic and a mixer to an audio interface that has two inputs so I can record two channels at once. I may be using external pre's at times so it must have line-in's. Also, right now I am using a Rev. A Mac Mini, but soon I will be upgrading to a Mac Intel Book to be named later. I will mainly use this to record acoustic guitar, vocals, bass, and ocassionally drums (using a mixer to sub mix and then into the audio interface). I will do everything for my own home enjoyment so my standards are real high. Here are the possibilities I have come up with from the Sweetwater catalog in my price range ($150 - $300):
1.)Lexicon Alpha (this is a new model) or Lambda - both are USB
2.)Tapco Link.USB
3.)Makie Spike (USB)
4.)Alesis io I 14 (what is this thing USB or Firewire?)
5.)M-Audio Firewire 410
6.)Presonus Firebox
It doesn't matter to me if it is USB or Firewire, I guess my biggest requirement is the ability to use the line-in for external pre's. Thanks for any help!

I guess you guys mean that I could pan channel one
left and two right and then into the iMic?
That's correct
There are two jacks on the iMic I see,
No, one of those is the input, one of those is the output (you could plug headphoines into that one)
but I guess I don't
understand how I can have those on two seperate
channels in garageband.
That's the easy part. Create a New Basic Track and click the "I"nfo button, then set the input popUp menu to "Channel 1 (Mono)". Create a second New Basic Track and set it's Input popUp menu to "Channel 2 (mono)". Make sure the little red Record Enable buttons are on for both track and hit record. You'll be recording 2 tracks.
Also, I think one thing for
me as that my mixer didn't have in/outs on each
channel so I can use external pre's.
Okay, like I said, I would never dissuade someone from getting a better interface, and the iMic is nowhere near the Top Of The Line...
I use PreSonus' FirePod and for the year+ that I've had it I've been thrilled with it. I have no person al experience with the FireBox, but PreSonus has an excellent reputation so if it has the features you want, I'd expect it to be a great product.
Finally, I guess I should say that I'm using
Garageband now, but had thought about Logic Express
in the future. Thanks for the help
Any of the interfaces you listed should work fine with whatever software you want to use (the compatibility question is not really with the software, but rather the hardware. If the interface works on your Mac then it will work with GB and Logic).
Hope that helps --HangTime [Will Compute for Food] B-|>

My audio interface experiences so far PLUS my new problems HELP

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