The Chetboard

keener wrote:Ron,

I appreciate the Musicians Friend link. I went ahead and ordered it, so if it's not any good, I'm coming after you.

Thanks for posting it.

Thanks to all in fact. Lots of good stuff in this thread.

Bruce

Bruce, I'm definitely in trouble now! If you don't like it Bruce, they have a good return policy, so if you don't like it, please return it before you come gunning for me.. LOL

Hey Roger, that Roland looks like the ultimate solution. Roland has some great stuff on the market. Now if they would only put that on the "stupid deal of the day" at MF..

I can't leave well enough alone.... As to the Roland Quadsound.. MF has them for the aforementioned price of $269, but they also have $30 off special... Free shipping as well..
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/roland-quad-capture-usb-2.0-audio-interface
NO I have no affiliation with MF. I like many people here suffer from GA (gear acquisition) and GAS (you know that one!).. I'm pretty satisfied with my M-Audio USB input device, but that Roland interface looks very appealing. Thanks for posting that Roger... just what I needed to know... Not really !!

No problem Ron. I still like M-Audio stuff. I still have a Delta 1010 that's over 12 years old and still works great and, M audio is still in business (very important for future driver support). I spent a fortune on a card once and the company went out of business before developing ASIO or WDM drivers for windows 2000 and XP. I am enjoying this Roland. I had seen several positive reviews on cakewalks user forums about the Quad-Capture, I finally broke down and bought one. I am happy with it.

I have been doing something a little different. I have an iPad 3. I bought the auria app. It is a 48 track daw. I use the Presonus audiobox 1818vsl. The audiobox can be used with a PC, or Mac by itself to record. It comes with studio one software. I was more into the iPad as a recording system. You have to use a camera connection kit, and a power USB hub to make it work, but it does a good job. It also has a firmware update to work with the newer USB 3.0. That can be a problem with some interfaces. They are only 2.0, and will not work with the newer 3.0. I wish I had a Mac. They seem to be the better computer for music.

Russ, I definitely agree with you about Macs. The only people I know personally who do a lot of recording own Macs. I know that some of you here on the board seem to be successful with PC's but I have yet to experience any success with any PC's that I've ever owned. I'll eventually be purchasing a Mac just for recording purposes.

Alesis has a sound interface for the ipad that offers a lot of flexibility with connections. I have never tried this but, it looks good.



Alesis iO Dock Pro

The reviews on Amazon for that iPad dock have not been very good (more 1 star ratings than 4 and 5 combined). I was looking at it a while back and then again today. Too bad, because it sure seems to have some great features. If only there weren't the problems to go with it.

Bill B.

I agree with Bill. Most of the bad reviews seem to be related to software compatibility. Alesis may not be doing a good job of keeping up with apple updates and I would say that is on Alesis. Apple is not going to slow down for Alesis. This is a common problem with a lot of audio interfaces and I would probably stay away from it too. The hardware is probably solid for the price. Perhaps down the road this will be a good alternative but I will stick to recording on a PC for now.

MOST software companies have FREEWARE EVALUATION DOWNLOADS, and if they don't there's usually a GOOD REASON WHY . . .

I'm relatively new to audio-to-computer interfaces, but I'd highly recommend the Focusrite Saffire 6 USB for those who'd like a high-quality interface for their PC.

I wound up in a pawn shop on a lark, and happened to walk out with an Audio Technica large-diaphragm condenser mic for $45, as an after-thought for what I actually intended to purchase there. My intent after that was to record my acoustic guitars using Audacity. I found (like probably everyone else) that almost all the good interfaces are firewaire, and meant for Macs. Well, I'm not gonna buy another computer right now, so...

I literally stumbled upon the Focusrite when I was about to settle for an el-cheapo model that seemed like the only PC-usable option in the store. The input jacks are combination XLR-1/4", and I initially tried them out with the AT 3035. The mic'd sound was pretty well accurate, dependent on mic placement and room-sound limitations.

Didn't even think to try it for direct-recording an electric guitar until seeing this thread. Tried the Saffire 6 on the Instrument setting, and the sound came across quite well for a direct-recorded electric. I *think* I can detect a tiny bit of digital noise under the sound, but if there was more than one instrument (or if I used a higher sampling rate), I think no one would notice it in the final product. The mic'd sound came across very clear with no trace of noise that I could tell.

A direct-recorded guitar will always sound different that your guitar and amp, so if you want the ultimate, you'll need to spring for a good mic and work on your skill at getting sounds with the guitar/amp/mic-placement combination.

I haven't used the full features of this interface (no messing with midi, and so far I've used the headphone-out from the computer instead on the onboard monitor mixer), but I'd think it will be hard to beat in a consumer-level interface for PC.