Newb question - audio interfaces - advice pls

Hey all, new to making music in the uk and have got myself a tutorial guide to logic and just getting started...cant wait to start making music, it seems awesome...
have got myself a macbook pro and logic pro 8.
I have discovered i'll need a midi audio interface asap to play a midi keyboard into logic, could anyone give me advice, if theres any that aren't compatible with macs or any that are particularly good for my price range/beginner model?
I am not likely to record more than 2 instruments at a time for a long while, probably just a keyboard for the foreseeable future, as i will probably just dabble in hiphop/trip hop beats to begin with
(have tried to search the forum but get a bit bogged down with the terminology as am new to this!)
any advice would be welcome...I dont mind paying between 150-200 for this..
thx very much!!

I'm proud to say that i only regretted the purchase of my first guitar : ) every other piece of equipment has served its purpose wonderfully...
if you are going to buy something that only does one thing, make sure it does it well...for example, make sure that the guitar your using is comfortable and crafted well...
if you are going to buy something for various uses (i.e. audio interface) make sure that the features it possesses are applicable to your cause. Dont spend all that money on a audio interface with preamps if you can't sing, dont want to sing, and never ever will sing...much in the same sense that one wouldn't buy an iPhone if they already had a good phone, a good ipod, a good computer...the money pays for convenience sometimes...
in this particular situation concerning audio interfaces, the money you're paying only goes so far for features (preamps, inputs/outputs) the majority of the money after those features really goes for the sound quality. I bought my firepod on ebay for half price and it works like a charm...just know what you want to contribute to your songs by purchasing one
Message was edited by: dinkydkmgshred

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Seeking audio interface advice.

Hi,
I'm on a 2013 MacBook Pro running 10.9.2 and Logic 9.2. I currently own a firewire Apogee duet that does not play well with Mavericks. Yes, I have the latest drivers. It works OK with Logic but the firewire bus causes issues with the startup (black screen) and doesn't work well with iTunes (Movies, TV) and the Maestro software is pretty useless with mavericks so it time to upgrade. Apogee, by the way, is not interested in giving me support because the interface is off warranty. So I do not want to buy Apogee again. It was probably higher-end than I actually needed anyway because I'm a hobbiest.
What I'd like to find is a two channel usb audio interface with decent specs that is known to play well with mavericks. Almost every interface I've looked into seems to have issues with Mavericks or is VERY expensive. Advice?
Thanks
Greg

Just my 2 cents worth.. (and I have often harped on about this so forgive me if you have read this before...)
Why is it that users spend a couple of thousand on a Mac.. and couple of hundred on a DAW... more so on plugins and extras.. and then want to only spend a few bucks on their Audio interface?
Its like buying a 100K Ferrari... and then putting $50 tires on it... They will work.. but they limit the performance of the Ferrari to the point they might as well have bought a 20K salon car... and they will need to be replaced sooner rather than later... once you realize the limitations they impose on your enjoyment and full use of the Ferrari.
The reality is.. if you want everything to work and work well.. you have to buy a decent Audio/Midi interface that has well wrritten and well supported drivers.. and they do cost money.... There is simply no way around that.
A cheap USB2 audio interface simply isn't going to provide the quality and stability that is needed with a Pro bit of gear like Logic and a Mac.... It may work.. but don't expect anything great and be prepared for all kinds of issue to manifest themselves in the future.. like drivers not being updated in a timely manner for example..
Personally I use Motu gear.... mainly FW connected Ultralites.. because the Motu is well built.. has great quality drivers.. has been proven over time as reliable and stable..throughout the many changes and uypdates to OS X and Logic... and provides a reasonably high quality audio output for what Ive spent...
Just my opinion.. and others may vary!
Cheers..
Nigel

Will this setup run okay and audio interface advice please!

Okay, please forgive me any stupid comments. I am merely a humble musician been thrown into the deep end by some friends looking for a sound tech for their show.
Will all this play nice with each other in this setup?
2 x radio mics > 2 channel receiver > audio interface > macbook (mainstage)
1 x radio mic > receiver > (line-in) macbook (mainstage)
then....
macbook > audio interface > pa
I don't yet have an audio interface. Any reccomendations and suggestions welcome. USB preferred, nothing flashy just something that does the job.
Thank you!

mouseduckalien wrote:
2 x radio mics > 2 channel receiver > audio interface > macbook (mainstage)
1 x radio mic > receiver > (line-in) macbook (mainstage)
Hi
For this to work, you would need to set up an Aggregate device using Audio MIDI Setup, and then to set Mainstage audio preferences to use this aggregate as the audio input device.
You might do better to get an audio interface with more than 2 inputs?
CCT

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

Newbie needs advice on audio interface

just purchased iMac 27" with Lion...have nice sounding Taylor 810 accoustic...want to record guitar and vocals, strictly a hobby. need advice on audio interfaces...willing to spend $600 on the Duet 2.0 if it's as good as the web reviews say it is but???... will I hear a difference with a $250 interface like a presonus firestudio mobile (vs. $600 Duet 2)?... want something that sounds great and works well with GB/Lion....thanks

To be honest, if using mics, you will get more out of picking up the FireStudio Mobile and spending the difference (or more) on treating the room you will be recording and mixing in.
As far as Lion is concerned, just check with Presonus about compatibility.
If you pick up the FireStudioMobile, it ships with Studio One Artist. It has a better comping feature than GB does...
TBH, if this is strictly hobby stuff, by the time you treat your recording environment, pick up decent mics, a second hard drive, stands, cables, monitors, headphones, a handful of plugins, another DAW or two, furniture etc, etc, you will not be too concerned about ownng the FireStudio... Its a great little unit that is very reliable and has a solid build.

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-

Advice on audio interface and monitors for I-Mac

My setup is a basement studio. Mac pro, logic pro, Mackie control, motu 896, unitor 8 channel midi, line 6 pod xt pro, lexicon mx 400. Allen & heath board 16.2 wizard, Amps, Drums, Mics. The list goes on. Networked with my I-Mac in my office 2 floors up. So I copy My project folders to my I-Mac. Im very comfortable in my office so I thought I would do my final mix and master in my office. So my question is what would be a decent 2 channel audio interface no midi, and near field monitors maybe 3 to 4 feet away to mix and master. Reasonable. Thanks Bill

I'm quite impressed by Apogee Duet. 2-channel & no MIDI (still does provide some control function with its single knob) which sounds like it suits what you're looking for. Very simple & elegant design, the sound quality is supreme considering its cost.
Near field monitor of my choice is KRK V8's. Nice natural sounding set of monitors. In comparison to competitors at the price range, these sets 'breathe' & provide a bit more air in sound production without exaggerating any particular freq.
When it comes down to choosing monitor speakers, go to a local pro audio shop & try out a bunch so you can compare. Just remember to bring test CD that you know well what it should sound like.
Good luck!

Question about working with an audio interface

Hi
I just bought an audio interface (tascam us-122l) and i have logic express 8 installed, so i've connected my guitar and my keyboard (via MIDI) to the audio interface, and i've read the user's manual but i still don't know how things work...
Is it possible to use the built-in speakers on my imac as a sort of "amplifier". So when i play on my guitar or keyboard, i can hear what i'm playing trough my imac.
This is what i did so far;
- installed the drivers and updated the firmware
- system preferences > sound > input and clicked on my audio interface (US-122L)
- LE8 > preferences > audio > devices > and i selected the US-122L as device
This might be a stupid question but i just want to record songs.
Thnx anyway.

Logic audio preferences assumes you want to use your interface as an output for monitor speakers - the standard way and the best way given that your internal spekers will be neither loud enough or good enough to act as great monitors. If you don't have speakers you will be able to hear what you have recorded through headphones connected to your interface. If you want to listen from imac speakers or audio out you do indeed need to change to "built in input" - this is just a name logic uses to refer to your imacs internal sound card (including input and output).
To separate the input and output for different devices you need to set up your aggregate device, which you should be able to do, though you say you can't.

Audio interface/mixer advice

Hi All
I've got a first gen macbook (the black one). I've got a USB external harddrive (about an extra 100 GB).
I have Logic Studio installed and i'm going to be doing some recording of my band in January.
I'm going to be buying an audio interface/mixer with a budget of between £300 - £400 UK pounds.
I will be requiring it to be a firewire connection that can stream the channels simultaneously (for recording drums tracks etc).
Recording the drums i know is the important part when it comes to channels etc so i think 8 or 10 will be absolutely fine.
Can anyone recommend an audio interface/mixer that they think is good, will work fine with my macbook and logic pro and achieve good quality home studio audio.
I've checked out M audios NRV-10 but dont think it has QUITE enough channels for drums etc
Is this Alesis Multimix 16 Firewire Mixer + Audio Interface any better?
Any other suggestions
Thanks in advance
Adam
Element
www.myspace.com/elementsound

Ad2706 wrote:
Hi All
I've got a first gen macbook (the black one). I've got a USB external harddrive (about an extra 100 GB).
I have Logic Studio installed and i'm going to be doing some recording of my band in January.
I'm going to be buying an audio interface/mixer with a budget of between £300 - £400 UK pounds.
I will be requiring it to be a firewire connection that can stream the channels simultaneously (for recording drums tracks etc).
Recording the drums i know is the important part when it comes to channels etc so i think 8 or 10 will be absolutely fine.
Can anyone recommend an audio interface/mixer that they think is good, will work fine with my macbook and logic pro and achieve good quality home studio audio.
I've checked out M audios NRV-10 but dont think it has QUITE enough channels for drums etc
Is this Alesis Multimix 16 Firewire Mixer + Audio Interface any better?
Any other suggestions
Thanks in advance
Adam
Element
www.myspace.com/elementsound
Try :
Motu 8pre, no mixer though
Digidesgn digi003 (the controller mixer version)
Cheers

Need advice on an Audio Interface for guitar, bass and vocals

I have a G4 Dual Processor 500.
For now I'm using a Griffin 1/4" to 1/8" adapter cable. I plug one end into my guitar and the other into my Microphone jack on the back of my computer. I even tried using a splitter to share my microphone port. This allowed me to share the stereo signal with Guitar and bass ( by setting guitar to left mono and bass to right mono in GB). This doesn't work well at all!!!
My goal is to have my friend come over so we can record live into GB using a custom software drum track with two real instrument tracks, guitar (me) and bass (him).
So, what is a good multi track audio interface (mixer) to do this with. Hopefully one that doesn't have latency problems. I think a four track would be enough, right.
Is firewire better than USB?
What mixers do most GB muscians use?
thanks,
Haifarm

Sorry to highjack this discussion. I'm new to the boards and couldn't figure out how to post a new message.
Does anyone know when M-Audio might be updating their drivers to support Leopard? I've been monitoring the M-Audio site, but they're not being very specific with a time estimate. Does anyone remember how long it took them when Tiger was released? I really miss being able to use my Firewire 410 interface and 88es Keystation.
Thanks in advance,
Chris

Simple mixer/audio interface question

Alesis Multimix 12 Firewire, or Edirol M-16DX ?
For use with Logic, Reason and Live along with 3 stereo output synths, a drum machine and various mono out circuit bent type stuff. Most stuff will be done on the Mac, but I want flexibility to combine the hardware and software as well as mess with the hardware with no Mac connected.
All comments appreciated.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, but I have to admit they are a bit dissappointing (not in quality!) in so much as I'd pretty much decided that the Edirol was probably perfect for my needs - a decent audio interface with plenty of connections, a mixer and (with the version 2 software) a control surface as a (non essential) bonus. I appreciate it's USB2 rather than Firewire, so accept there may be some limitation on input compared to the manufacturers claims (ie independant recording of up to 16 channels onto seperate tracks in Logic) but in truth I'll probably only ever use maybe 4 at the same time. Plus I've seen some decent reviews of it and it fits into the budget I've set myself (this is just home recording for fun, not some hopeful star in the making)
I know budget gear has it's limits and accept those limitations, but they could well be limits that I'll never actually reach anyway!
So, I'm still listening - tell me your set ups, give me food for thought please as my head is spinning at the moment and it needs to stop.
To recap - 3 stereo synths, drum machine and a few circuit bent toys into and out of Logic.
Keep helping please!

Question for music producers ! MacBook Pro and my audio interface from Virus Ti doesn't seem to work properly after I updated 10.9.4 Mavericks

Hello
Few days ago I upgraded my Macbook Pro to 10.9.4 Mavericks And I’m using the sound card from the Virus Ti for all audio in/out and when I’m not producing music , I usually close my Logic and I use the Virus Ti as a sound card for listening to Soundcloud or iTunes on my Mac and the audio usually come out of my studio monitors , but right now even when everything is connected , the sounds from the web site is coming out from my Macbook speaker instead of my studio monitors ? and I already checked the “Output/Input” in preference and is already say Access Virus Ti and I already repair disc too ! ,
Right now when I’m using Logic to produced with Virus sound card everything is working fine and the audio is coming out of my monitors but as soon as I turn off Logic to use Youtube or other web site, the audio automatic switch back to laptop speakers ?
If anyone had this problems with their audio interface and OS 10.9.4 , please advise !
Your help is much appreciated : )

@michelle929 don't feel so bad, i too which i never would have upgrade to ff4, OMG, so piss., worse is they deleted the old version from my computer, how dare them..lol... but most of the thing i use now don't wanna work.. i want my 3.6.15 well i think that was the last one i had.. piss piss,,and Michelle your not whining , just stating the fact's.. give me back the old version Mozilla... can't even find it on here,, any one knows where i can find it... if not gonna have to go to a server an get it,,
thanks Lotta firefox. great job, not tell us first hand what won't work....:(

Recording using an audio interface or audio cable?

Hi everyone,
I am a newbie with Garageband and home recording in general and I just wanted some advice about the best way to record songs I have written on my Korg Triton Extreme synthesizer onto Garageband 09.
So far I have been using a basic audio cable which is connected to my apple Imac from my Korg Triton Extreme synthesizer to copy the songs I have written on my Korg Triton Extreme synthesizer to Garageband and it sounds ok but I just wondered whether I should buy an audio interface and connect that to my Korg Triton Extreme synthersizer and my apple imac and Garageband and whether this would give me a significantly better quality recording of each song?
All advice is welcome.
Many thanks.

You can record audio with a cheap cable for a few bucks or use an Audio Interface worth a couple of thousand bucks.
Do you get a better quality for you money ... definately yes.
Do you hear the difference ... it depends
At the end, it comes down to your needs.
In your case, you use a synthesizer that outputs line level. If you setup your level correctly (sending and receiving), then you might be ok and maybe not hear a difference with an expesive device. Even if you would hear a better sound in an A/B comparison, at the end it comes down to the following question: If you could hear only one solution (cheap or expensive) and you can't hear if it was recorded with the cheap or the expensive equipment then it doesn't matter.
At the end, your money might be better spent on better speakers (that let you judge what you hear) or thrid party plugins that give you more production value.
Recording a guitar signal or microphone - that is a completely different story.
Hope that helps
Edgar Rothermich
http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/
'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'

Help with M-Audio interface and GB

First time with any kind of audio interface and GB. I just got a M-Audio Mobile Pre USB and am a little confused by the monitor settings. Been to the web site and read the manual and they said turn the monitoring off in garageband so I don't hear double monitoring. My question is, is it possible to record and hear the effect I have chosen as well. With monitor off all I can hear is the dry signal.I never had to worry about this before since I was going directly into the Mac, no interface. Is there a FAQ or web site that can help a newb like me with these most basic questions?

Sounds like good advice Christoph. I have been only recording bass thus far, very few effects and no latency yet. I was puzzled by the M-Audio manual that says to turn off the software monitor but on the M-Audio web site forum an expert says to turn on the monitoring in garageband. This will all makes sense to me soon I hope.

Help setting up my audio interface with logic pro x

Hi everyone,
I am a newbie with regards to home recording and using Logic Pro X and I need some help and advice about setting up my home recording set up for the first time. I want to connect my synthesizer Korg Triton Extreme to my Audio Interface Steinberg UR22 to my Apple Imac computer.
What I would like is if I can create backing tracks or use pre-set sounds or drum patterns from my Korg Triton Extreme synthesizer and then transfer them onto Logic Pro X to help me compose songs.
How should I go about doing this? And what settings should be applied to Logic Pro X so that I can hear the songs as they are being played and recorded?
So far I have connected my synthesizer's two outputs to the two inputs on my Steinberg UR22 Audio Interface. I have also connected the USB point on the audio interface to my Apple Imac computer. But when I have tried to add a drum track from the Korg Triton Extreme synthesizer I cannot seem to add any of the drum sounds. Nothing appears to be recorded despite me trying several times. I cannot hear any sound coming from the audio interface either despite having a pair of headphones plugged into it.
I would also like to find a way to synchronise the drum tracks I want to record from my Korg Triton Extreme synthesizer to Logic Pro X. So that when I click on the record button on Logic Pro X the synthesizer track automatically starts playing and recording on Logic Pro X. Whats the best way to do this? And will I need a Midi cable for any of the things I want to do?
Many thanks,
James.

Hi James
I just got myself a macbook pro and logic pro X, and I also have a Triton Extreme and the UR22. So I know what the learning curve can be like - it's been a long time since I've used a sequencer in a computer.
I assume you are aware of the difference between audio and midi? With your current setup, all you can do is play your Triton and record the sounds as audio loops - you should be able to hear the Triton through headphones plugged into the UR22, and (assuming you have installed the UR22 driver) you can also hear the Triton through your computer speakers (or headphone output) once you tell Logic there is sound coming in from the UR22.
If you want to be able to play the sounds in logic pro, or transfer drum patterns (which are in midi format), you will definitely need midi cables (you may be able to use midi by connecting the Triton's USB out to your computer, but having not tried that, I don't know if it will work - it does on more recent synths)
paul

Newb question - audio interfaces - advice pls

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