What audio interface/soundcard to use with Garageband??? Budget = R2700

make-and-do

hi

Sooooo I know the question has been popped here a few times, I read most of the old posts re the subject matter.
But to be more specific:

1) What audio interface/soundcard should I consider with a budget of roughly R2700.
Needs: I want to be able to record a full album, at-home-roughing-it DIY-style. I'd still like the quality to be semi-decent,
but it will obviously not be as top notch as something recorded in a proper primed sound studio with an experienced recording engineer.
Just a little pet-midlife crisis goal I've set for myself for the next 2 years ?

2) The audio interface/soundcard needs to be compatible and work with Garageband on my Macbook, and Audacity (and or Cubase - which I might consider getting, have trial version)

3) Firewire or USB? I would think firewire is probably better for best data transfer?? Or are USB interfaces up to scratch these days?

4) Apart from the audio interface/soundcard, would I need a pre-amp as well? Or would the pre-amp be built into the audio interface?
I'm not exactly the most tech savvy one around...

I'll be recording with an SM57.

Input muchly appreciated, thanks!

shaundtsl

I used to have an m-audio fast track pro. Its sounds like that will fit your requirement at the moment.

I saw one yesterday on soundtraders website (I actually thought they stopped selling them), but the link is:

http://www.soundtrader.co.za/cgi-bin/soundtrader/search.pl?id:1215163593

As for compatibility with garage band, I am not sure, but I think the chances are good.

There might be better ones out there, but I was really happy with mine and it fits into your budget quite nicely.

Warren

+1 on the M-Audio Fast Track Pro. You can get one for less than your R2700, and it works just fine with Garageband.

I use my SM-57 with it and it works very nicely. I also plug my guitar directly into the interface and use Guitar Rig for certain bits. For vocals and acoustic stuff, I use a Behringer C1 mic which is pretty cheap but a decent entry level condenser mic. I'd highly recommend one if you plan to add vocals, I got mine for around R700.

The M-Audio offers two inputs which can be blended (I really like this feature for my Takamine acoustic: I can blend the C1 mic and the UST pickup output from the guitar which sounds great). Both inputs have their own adjustable pre-amps and there's a switch on the back for stuff that requires phantom power (like the C1). Also, USB works just fine for a device of this nature (recording single tracks at a time).

I've had no problems using mine with Garageband, though these days I'm using Reaper on Windows.

BluJu

TC electronics desktop Konnect 6. Not many inputs but has firewire and as with all TC products is built very well.

make-and-do

Thanks for the info guys, I'll look into the models mentioned.

@ Warren: Why did you move to PC and Reaper? More functionality in Reaper? (I'm not familiar with it)
I have a PC as well, which I might convert into an audio only workstation unit,
depending on what interface and software I end up going with.
You didn't find that the USB was giving latency issues?

At the moment I like Garageband's ease of use so far, although I know Cubase a bit better.
Garageband is bundled free with Mac, which is obviously a big bonus ? If I decide on Cubase, I'd have to buy that as well.

shaundtsl

If you got a pc, then try reaper out anyway. It is an unlimited free trial license. It is my daw of choice, although I haven't tried garage band or cubase before.

make-and-do

shaundtsl wrote: If you got a pc, then try reaper out anyway. It is an unlimited free trial license. It is my daw of choice, although I haven't tried garage band or cubase before.

Cool thanks, I'll definitely check it out. I looked at the soundtrader link, have you bought from them before?
Are they reliable? Some good prices there...

shaundtsl

make and do wrote:
shaundtsl wrote: If you got a pc, then try reaper out anyway. It is an unlimited free trial license. It is my daw of choice, although I haven't tried garage band or cubase before.
Cool thanks, I'll definitely check it out. I looked at the soundtrader link, have you bought from them before?
Are they reliable? Some good prices there...

Never used them, but also haven't heard anything bad about them. I think they have been discussed on here before and I have been browsing their site for quite sometime so it seems legit.

Warren

make and do wrote:
@ Warren: Why did you move to PC and Reaper? More functionality in Reaper? (I'm not familiar with it)
I have a PC as well, which I might convert into an audio only workstation unit,
depending on what interface and software I end up going with.
You didn't find that the USB was giving latency issues?

At the moment I like Garageband's ease of use so far, although I know Cubase a bit better.
Garageband is bundled free with Mac, which is obviously a big bonus ? If I decide on Cubase, I'd have to buy that as well.

A few reasons:

1) My Macbook Pro is a few years old and I recently bought a much more powerful PC laptop, and I don't have enough space in my house to have both set up all the time, so I wanted to use the PC for recording.
2) Reaper contains vastly more functionality, and I'm now at a point where I'm interested in the more detailed stuff. It's also relatively cheap.
3) I use Guitar Rig or my amp for electric stuff, so I don't use the amp models and whatnot in the current version of Garageband. I can use my current stuff in any compatible DAW, so no need to stick with Garageband from that point of view.

So, in short, Garageband is wonderful, but I've outgrown it now. I'd still recommend it as a fantastic tool for getting to grips with DAW and home-recording.

I have no latency issues on Windows 7 with the M-Audio interface.

Reaper runs on the Mac too, by the way, so no need to switch platforms to use it. I prefer Macs, personally, but their current line-up is over-priced compared to my older Macbook Pro (which I still feel offered good value for the money).

make-and-do

Thanks Warren! I'll give Reaper a try too. I don't really use any of the filters/effects/amp models/loops in Garageband anyways - want to keep things as organic as possible,
make my amp and pedals do the work. I have found that some things I could tweak in Cubase is not really possible in Garageband...I hear you on wanting to fine-tune things.
I guess from that perspective Garageband is more of a starter toy ?

Anyways, thanks for the input.

theantirockstar

make and do wrote: hi

Sooooo I know the question has been popped here a few times, I read most of the old posts re the subject matter.
But to be more specific:

1) What audio interface/soundcard should I consider with a budget of roughly R2700.
Needs: I want to be able to record a full album, at-home-roughing-it DIY-style. I'd still like the quality to be semi-decent,
but it will obviously not be as top notch as something recorded in a proper primed sound studio with an experienced recording engineer.
Just a little pet-midlife crisis goal I've set for myself for the next 2 years ?

2) The audio interface/soundcard needs to be compatible and work with Garageband on my Macbook, and Audacity (and or Cubase - which I might consider getting, have trial version)

3) Firewire or USB? I would think firewire is probably better for best data transfer?? Or are USB interfaces up to scratch these days?

4) Apart from the audio interface/soundcard, would I need a pre-amp as well? Or would the pre-amp be built into the audio interface?
I'm not exactly the most tech savvy one around...

I'll be recording with an SM57.

Input muchly appreciated, thanks!

I have the Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 great little piece of kit, that comes bundled with a nice software suite as well as Alberton live. I use it with Reaper and Garageband on my iMac. It is a USB 2.0 interface, and I am getting zero problems with it. The built in preamps are pretty decent. They retail for R3000 at Marshall Music. Here's a link. http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces/scarlett_18i6/

I think Reaper has been covered on other threads, but it's a free download and the evaluation doesnt expire. I did end up buying a licence cost me under R300, for a fully functioning DAW, that gets updated regulary.

make-and-do

theantirockstar wrote:
I have the Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 great little piece of kit, that comes bundled with a nice software suite as well as Alberton live. I use it with Reaper and Garageband on my iMac. It is a USB 2.0 interface, and I am getting zero problems with it. The built in preamps are pretty decent. They retail for R3000 at Marshall Music. Here's a link. http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces/scarlett_18i6/

I think Reaper has been covered on other threads, but it's a free download and the evaluation doesnt expire. I did end up buying a licence cost me under R300, for a fully functioning DAW, that gets updated regulary.

I ended up buying the Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 (the smaller model with fewer inputs) for R2400 from Marshall on monday...so far so good.
Although I haven't really had much time to test it properly. Now I need a decent monitor set-up, thought my computer speaker setup would do, but clearly it won't.
Sound is becoming an expensive hobby ?