Purchasing an I/O for 12" PB. HELP???

[sammyman]

I am looking to get something to help my recording situation here. I am loving garageband. Very cool.

The new mbox came out and I am considering this as an option. I need to record vocals and live guitars and the little 1/8 does not cut it. I need some kind of I/O box. I want to spend about $500 to upgrade my system.

I could get the new mbox or maybe

icontrol
logic
m-audio fast track

What should I do? I am a student so I get the cheap versions of logic. I really just want to use midi and be able to record good vocals and acoustic guitar. What do I need???

 

[faintember]

I am looking to get something to help my recording situation here. I am loving garageband. Very cool.

The new mbox came out and I am considering this as an option. I need to record vocals and live guitars and the little 1/8 does not cut it. I need some kind of I/O box. I want to spend about $500 to upgrade my system.

I could get the new mbox or maybe

icontrol
logic
m-audio fast track

What should I do? I am a student so I get the cheap versions of logic. I really just want to use midi and be able to record good vocals and acoustic guitar. What do I need???

NO MBOX!!! RUN AWAY SCREAMING!!!!!

Ok, now that my outburst is over...
I would look at the:
M-Audio Firewire 410 (nice unit that i have used myself; fair price)
Presonus Firebox (looks great, is small, Presonus makes great products, and comes with a copy of Cubase LE)
and the Focusrite Saffire (new product from a good/well known company; has the ability to do onboard DSP, such as Reverb without using your CPU)

If you want to use Logic, Logic Express (Academic Edition) will be plenty for your basic mixing needs. No reason to go Logic Pro unless you want to spend $500.

Also think about a nice mic for vocals. A condenser mic will be your best bet, so take a look at the Rode NT1-A. If you decide to get a condenser mic you will want a pop screen (about $30) or you can make one out of pantyhose and a coat-hanger. Condenser mics do require phantom power for them to work, and all of the interfaces listed above have phantom power. Condenser mics are perfect for vocals, but, generally speaking, are not so great (i.e. do not use them) on amps, drums, etc.

So i would go with the Firewire 410, the Rode NT1-A and stick with GB for now, then in a month or so buy Logic Express. Also depending on what Mac you have, an increase in RAM can help quite a bit when working with audio.

 

[sammyman]

I just bought a rode nt1-a, thanks to your advice. I am looking into the 410, the pro fast track and the fire thingy. Don't know if I can figure out cubase.

Thanks for the input.

 

[faintember]

No problem man. Oh, and Cubase is just as easy to work with as Logic. There will be a learning curve with both Logic and Cubase, though Logic may be a bit more familiar b/c of your use of GB. The 410 is a nice interface. That said i have the older Mbox, and it is, well ok. USB powered (which stinks) and the coreaudio drivers for Tiger are, well, limited. The FW 410 works really well in Tiger and its control panel is very nice, allowing you to view input/output levels, etc.

 

[WinterMute]

Go look at the M-powered Protools systems, you get to use Protools (IMO the best audio recorder) and you can choose a better IO than the truly suspect M-box (I have an M-box)...

I fancy an 1812, but the 410 FW is a good solid little interface.

Shame it doesn't have the Focusrite pre-amps is all...

 

[quigleybc]

NO MBOX!!! RUN AWAY SCREAMING!!!!!

And then keep running some more...I coudn't agree more..Whatever you do, Do not get one of those money pits. I had to sell mine and take a big loss, I'm still pissed about that, it's buggy, it's USB, it's bad news...Maybe the new one is better, but I don't care. Run...