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  #1  
Old 06-19-2014, 04:19 AM
paganskins paganskins is offline
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Question Which 8 mic pre interface

Hi,

I'm hoping for some guitarist-centric advice on interfaces hence asking here first rather than sound on sound and other recording forums.

I'm looking for an interface to be the centre of a portable and home studio setup, which would you recommend based on the following:
  • 8 mic pres to allow maximum flexibilty for live recording
  • I'm on Mac so USB, firewire or thunderbolt all OK
  • I'll be recording voice, guitar, octave mandolin, mandolin, banjo, percussion – generally reall acoustic instruments
  • Not interested in midi, virtual instruments, programming drums etc

I was looking at the firestudio project which seems well regarded and covers everything I need but the focusrite liquid saffire 56 with the liquid preamps, extensive routing options and expandability also looks good.

The saffire 56 is pretty much the top end of my budget.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 06-19-2014, 06:19 AM
StratLes StratLes is offline
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Posts: 193
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paganskins View Post
Hi,

I'm hoping for some guitarist-centric advice on interfaces hence asking here first rather than sound on sound and other recording forums.

I'm looking for an interface to be the centre of a portable and home studio setup, which would you recommend based on the following:
  • 8 mic pres to allow maximum flexibilty for live recording
  • I'm on Mac so USB, firewire or thunderbolt all OK
  • I'll be recording voice, guitar, octave mandolin, mandolin, banjo, percussion – generally reall acoustic instruments
  • Not interested in midi, virtual instruments, programming drums etc

I was looking at the firestudio project which seems well regarded and covers everything I need but the focusrite liquid saffire 56 with the liquid preamps, extensive routing options and expandability also looks good.

The saffire 56 is pretty much the top end of my budget.

Thanks
We had the Firestudio hooked up to an Imac...Worked great....
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  #3  
Old 06-19-2014, 06:56 AM
paganskins paganskins is offline
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We had the Firestudio hooked up to an Imac...Worked great....
That's good to hear I'll mainly be using it with a macbook pro but also have an iMac
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  #4  
Old 06-19-2014, 07:02 AM
philjs philjs is offline
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Location: Halifax, NS, Canada
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Do you already have an AD/DA interface with an ADAT optical in? For example, I have a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (4 mic pres plus 4 line ins) but I can add the Focusrite OctoPre via ADAT and add an additional 8 mic pres without changing my interface. There are a number of other 8 mic pre/channel ADAT output devices that would also do the job. Just a thought...

Phil
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  #5  
Old 06-19-2014, 07:27 AM
paganskins paganskins is offline
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Originally Posted by philjs View Post
Do you already have an AD/DA interface with an ADAT optical in? For example, I have a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (4 mic pres plus 4 line ins) but I can add the Focusrite OctoPre via ADAT and add an additional 8 mic pres without changing my interface. There are a number of other 8 mic pre/channel ADAT output devices that would also do the job. Just a thought...

Phil
Good point Phil, but no the only interface I have currently is an old tapco usb one
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  #6  
Old 06-24-2014, 12:04 PM
7thbassbA 7thbassbA is offline
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Default Onyx Blackbird

good preamps. Sounds great to me.
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  #7  
Old 06-24-2014, 03:45 PM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Location: wyoming
Posts: 42,556
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paganskins View Post
Hi,

I'm hoping for some guitarist-centric advice on interfaces hence asking here first rather than sound on sound and other recording forums.

I'm looking for an interface to be the centre of a portable and home studio setup, which would you recommend based on the following:
  • 8 mic pres to allow maximum flexibilty for live recording
  • I'm on Mac so USB, firewire or thunderbolt all OK
  • I'll be recording voice, guitar, octave mandolin, mandolin, banjo, percussion – generally reall acoustic instruments
  • Not interested in midi, virtual instruments, programming drums etc

I was looking at the firestudio project which seems well regarded and covers everything I need but the focusrite liquid saffire 56 with the liquid preamps, extensive routing options and expandability also looks good.

The saffire 56 is pretty much the top end of my budget.

Thanks
Hi ps...

For years I've used interfaces with line in (TRS inserts) and used a stack of two channel tube type preamps. Owned various ones, and always preferred the results from the tube preamps to the digital ones. I also liked the 'hands on' adjusting of their levels too...

If that's not feasible, then any high end interface should have decent preamps in them. Presonus, MOTU (Mark of the Unicorn), etc.



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