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Author: proj on June 12 2008 Viewed 1861 times. 6 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
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I have been looking at audio interfaces that will be stable and usable for live but also allow me to record multiple audio tracks simultaneously when jamming in the studio.
For interfaces I looked at the RMEs for some time as they have a reputation for writing the highest quality and lowest latency drivers out there. However the price on a multiface2 is a bit much for my current budget when you throw in an interface card. This lead me to look at the M-Audio 410 which a lot of people who play live highly recommend for it's stability and features.
After spending some time looking at audio interfaces it lead me in the direction of looking at the new breed of mixer/interfaces which seemed really gimmicky at first but the more I thought about it the more I began to realize the benefits in such a setup. You don't have to patch your mixer to your sound card, you have some nice faders and multiple mic-pre amps right on the unit.
The first unit I looked at was the Mackie Onyx as I'm a big fan of their mixers. The main problem with the Onyx is that their firewire support does not take advantage of their mic-pre amps or EQ. Most people I've talked to recommend I stay away from the Onyx as a firewire interface.
Right now I'm looking at the M-Audio NRV10. The M-Audio has a number of very cool features. The input can be routed in a number of very useful ways for both recording and live play (you can create a cue mix off of muted tracks). It even comes with a piece of software that allows you to drop in VSTs (and supposedly soon VSTi) on the insert of every mixer channel. Being able to hook reaktor to a channel on my mixer just sounds too good to be true.
Here's the SoS review of the unit: link
Anyone have any experience with this unit or anything similar?
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06/12/08
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cloudburst
+1 for an RME ff400, for what it's worth..
06/12/08
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ignatius
i wouldn't buy anything m-audio makes. drivers are mostly crap from what i've read and there are too many good options out there. if RME is out of your budget check out motu, apogee duet, echo audio, presonus, TCelectronic.. buy a separate mixer. more flexible anyways.
06/12/08
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mapmap
the presonus firebox has treated me very well for a while now.
you can find em for a couple hundred bucks used.
06/12/08
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proj
ignatius said: "i wouldn't buy anything m-audio makes. drivers are mostly crap from what i've read and there are too many good options out there. if RME is out of your budget check out motu, apogee duet, echo audio, presonus, TCelectronic.. buy a separate mixer. more flexible anyways."
Having just a single cable that represents my computer I/O and mixer patching seems pretty attractive even if it comes at a loss of flexibility.
I use a 12 channel mackie ATM and a line6 pod xt for my audio input. I'm not too unhappy with this setup but I don't have a way of getting separate audio signals for each piece of hardware that is running. I don't enjoy the part where I have to stop jamming to solo out a particularly good bit.. kinda loses the whole point 
M-Audio seriously pissed me off by not providing drivers for my old 2044 on XP. I have read a lot of good things about people using the audiophile and fw410 in live situations due to their reliability. The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired apparently.
06/12/08
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eyesnine
i've had bad luck with a couple of m audio products (transit and an oxygen 49 i sent in to get fixed), but their pci audiophile card worked great for me for years. i think that part of their bad reputation simply comes from them being a consumer grade manufacturer, rather than professional. some of their higher end stuff seems like its really well made though. hopefully since they've been bought by avid they'll get a little better quality wise. this product definitely seems like a step in that direction.
still, i'd stay away from buying any kind of equipment unless its been on the market for at least a year, and they've had a chance to work out all the bugs. also after people having been using it for a while the reviews tend to be better educated.
06/13/08
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Per
hmm, my m-audio pruducts (410) havent caused me any issues or restraints..
06/13/08
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elronhubbard
have you ever looked into getting a mixer with a spdif output? much more handy than patching 16 cables over to the back of your soundcard.
i highly recommend the motu ultralite. you can hook up a mackie control to it and its just like having a real mixer, only better.
06/13/08
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packetst0rm
I'm using a Lexicon Omega, I've not had any trouble with mine! Drivers available can be a problem but if you running osx or xp you'll be fine! They are cheap as chips on thoman now as well...
06/13/08
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sohcahtoa
As far the mixer/interface combo units go I think the Yamaha n series is the best of the bunch so far. People really seem to dig on the pres and the quality of the converters, and the AI (Advanced Integration) features seem really well done. The n12 is pretty pricey, but the n8 can be had for less than an RME FF400 or Multiface2.
There's lots of info and some little demo movies here: link
If you check the gearslutz forums there's a MASSIVE thread about these machines with lots of info from Yamaha themselves.
06/13/08
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DongleKong
I guess I'm in kind of the same boat as you. After 8 years of rock-solidness, my motu 828 mkI finally has sputtered to a halt. The mixer/interface combos are seeming appealing...
I say you just purchase a NRV10 from guitar center and proceed to test the crap out of it for as much of the return policy period (like 2 wks? not sure).
I'm also curious about the mackie onyx. I tend to eq using a daw anyhow, so as long as the sound and stability are good, these seem nice.
The plug-in-on-the-inserts thing on the NRV10 does seem really cool, too. But although I don't really have any personal experience with m-audio's interfaces, it's hard to ignore the internet trash talk that about them that usually occurs when someone asks questions like your's.
Ohh, I'd forgotten about the Yamaha n series...hmm
06/14/08
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proj
DongleKong said: "I say you just purchase a NRV10 from guitar center and proceed to test the crap out of it for as much of the return policy period (like 2 wks? not sure).
...
Ohh, I'd forgotten about the Yamaha n series...hmm"
Guitar center doesn't carry the NRV10 at the store where I live but they have it online. It might be worth trying out. I think that M-Audio will actually do a better job on the drivers than Yamaha. The NRV10 is based on the FW410 which has been used by a lot of people who play live. The Mackie will be a much better analog mixer but once you aren't getting all the nice sound that you're paying for. Also the Mackie is not as flexible as the NRV for routing.
07/31/08
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kidgamma
i've learned to hate m-audio. and for some reason i have quite a fondness for alesis now (my photon used to be shit but with the updates they've given it it's become my main controller) and i love my airfx and so on. maybe check out their fw mixers (thinking about getting one myself)
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