Audio interfaces!! Time to upgrade.

[slyym]

Thinking of upgrading my old M Audio fast track ultra even though it works flawlessly. Well its not supported anymore and if I upgrade widows to anything past 7 I wont be able to get a driver. Those UA Apollo's look nice. I like the idea of the mic preamps working with the plugins. That's my main interest as well as the converter upgrade of course. What do you guys think? What interfaces do you use and why? Thanks.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Audient.. because bang for my buck and quality of audient converters and preamps for what they are, made it worth my while and budget. ID14 with an ASP 880 is what I have. Gives me 10 combined channels and I have an external preamp that bypasses the ASP 880 preamp and goes right to converter. I guess it all depends how many mic pre you need from your interface? Start there... Then maybe you want to go Apollo. I just needed at least 8 for drums. Checkout Audient reviews, lots of very satisfied customers.

 

[slyym]

Audient.. because bang for my buck and quality of audient converters and preamps for what they are, made it worth my while and budget. ID14 with an ASP 880 is what I have. Gives me 10 combined channels and I have an external preamp that bypasses the ASP 880 preamp and goes right to converter. I guess it all depends how many mic pre you need from your interface? Start there... Then maybe you want to go Apollo. I just needed at least 8 for drums. Checkout Audient reviews, lots of very satisfied customers.

There is an ID22 on my local Craigslist for $450.00 . There is soooo many choices these days which makes it hard to pick one.

 

[slyym]

If your on PC go the extra mile and get the UAD unit, the plugins are the best and you can get the Be-100 simulation

That is what my heart is set on. Supposed to compete with the really high end stuff.

 

[diocide]

I've had a Presonus unit for years now and it has never let me down. Their support is great when I needed it and I would endorse them with on reservations.

 

[maggotspawn]

You may be able to use an earlier driver for your M-Audio with Windows 10. Worked for me with my Firewire 1814.

 

[slyym]

If your on PC go the extra mile and get the UAD unit, the plugins are the best and you can get the Be-100 simulation

That is what my heart is set on. Supposed to compete with the really high end stuff.

its a "Great" unit. Its no Apogee But it will do.

That's what all the threads on gearslutz say but with my abilities right now I wouldn't be able to tell the deference and neither would most people. I'm sold on the mic pre emulations though.

 

[slyym]

You may be able to use an earlier driver for your M-Audio with Windows 10. Worked for me with my Firewire 1814.

Good to know. Guess I will keep it for a while as a back up. Or better yet, If I buy the Apollo I can do an A B test and see what all that extra money went to.

 

[Spaceboy]

If you're a bedroom player writing and recording yourself, there's really no need for Apogee and UAD plugin. The quality is there but there is a major gap in how much quality you are getting for your dollar when going from typical home recording ranges of equipment to what you might consider "pro". The Audient stuff mentioned earlier is by far the best you can get without spending thousands. "Pro" converters and clean preamps, you can get API, SS, whatever flavor preamps you want down the road if needed, which still, is completely unnecessary for a home musicians. Get some something decent and clean, and spend your money on microphones. An SM57 is not the end all be all. You will get more tonal manipulation and character from a microphone than any preamp or plugin.

 

[brianiac5150]

All three of my interfaces are in excellent condition, however, drivers simply aren't being kept up with. I've been extremely close on the Apollo Twin USB, however, simply am struggling with the price tag - especially considering how much I have wrapped up in interfaces and software. I went crazy several years ago thinking I was gonna become a studio owner, however, life changed and I have mountains of cash sitting, which I almost could not give away.

That said; I've been looking around for a good two input interface and decided the iD14 is a good way to go. I can still use my 002R with it and it gives me all I need to track.

Having gone through the entire modeling and emulation purchasing phase (craze) to sell it all off and get back to tube amps and an SM57 has me wondering what the hell was wrong with me, however, it was fun. The one thing really attractive about the Apollo was definitely the Friedman suite, however...there I go again...right back to the emulation stuff. Ugh!!! I've played around with the Friedman stuff at a friend's studio and it definitely sounds great.

All that said: $800+ for an interface which will ultimately force (hehe) me to buy more software versus -$300 for all I really need (and expand-ability with existing hardware) made my decision.

Edit note: the Audient product is cross-platform compatible, whereas (here are drivers bringing things down again) the Apollo USB is Windows only. Being able to grab and go with my Macbook and sit down at my WinPC with the same interface is a big plus.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Yeah the ID14 is like 300$ and check the 81 reviews on it for starters on Sweetwater.. I would go the ID22 route if you wanted to use an external preamp with it down the line. Something like a GAP or Warm Audio Pre. With that setup you won't be able to blame your interface for shitty sounding recordings anyway. I personally feel Apollo sucks you in for more cashola once you get your foot in the door. It does sound great but I think I prefer hardware for resale over software.

 

[brianiac5150]

...I prefer hardware for resale over software.

Man...if I could simply sell the software I've purchased for what I have in it, I could...ah...man...I'm not even going there...

Interesting how software - something which never "wears out" like hardware can - completely loses value post purchase. Sad really.

 

[aftec]

Get the UAD Apollo Twin USB, wait for some nice promotion. It's simply amazing.

 

[slyym]

Get the UAD Apollo Twin USB, wait for some nice promotion. It's simply amazing.

Thats what I want to hear!!!!

 

[spguitar]

Get the UAD Apollo Twin USB, wait for some nice promotion. It's simply amazing.

Thats what I want to hear!!!!

Neve and Fairchild plugins with Oxide Tape Deck free through tomorrow. I got it on this promo and those plugs are beastly.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ApolloTDusb/

 

[aftec]

The Neve 1073 preamp is a must. It's worth more than any 1000 buck upgrade to your signal chain.
Get a emt140 plate reverb and a nice amp simulation. I struggled with the Friedman pack at first, the be100 needed a lot of tweaking to sound decent, but the shirley is great out of the box. I found the jubilee easy to work with. Unfortunately there is no stand alone IR loader plugin, I wish I can use my ownhammer impulses in the console app. You have a 14 day trial on any of the plugins. Dont buy anything on full price, almost every month they have a promotion, 25 bucks, 50 bucks, 20-30-50% discounts, if you are patient yo can get amazing deals. Just get it, you will not regret it.

 

[slyym]

The Neve 1073 preamp is a must. It's worth more than any 1000 buck upgrade to your signal chain.
Get a emt140 plate reverb and a nice amp simulation. I struggled with the Friedman pack at first, the be100 needed a lot of tweaking to sound decent, but the shirley is great out of the box. I found the jubilee easy to work with. Unfortunately there is no stand alone IR loader plugin, I wish I can use my ownhammer impulses in the console app. You have a 14 day trial on any of the plugins. Dont buy anything on full price, almost every month they have a promotion, 25 bucks, 50 bucks, 20-30-50% discounts, if you are patient yo can get amazing deals. Just get it, you will not regret it.

The No IR loader is a bummer. I found that out a few weeks back. Are you at least able to turn of the amp and just use the cab with a load box?

 

[aftec]

You can't completely turn the amp off, but you can run the preamp off an poweramp clean, that way you can use it like that. Although I would recommend to use one of the simulations, record the direct signal too and reamp to taste.

 

[CEG85]

Ive been using the Audient ID22 for a while.
Very nice unit, also some of the best AD/DA conversion in its price range.

The ID22 bypasses the on board pre amps and goes straight into the converters when using external mic pres.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

man

the id22 looks great

i wonder if they have an updated version coming out