Audio Interface.

[legbear]

I have been looking at the Focusrite 18i20 or The Roland Studio Capture. Mainly the Studio Capture for the 12 on-board pres and individual phantom power control.

I need at least 8 inputs at once with a mix of phantom and non phantom going on at once.

What are you guys using? Any tips or opinions would be awesome.

[legbear]

Any opinions on the Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56?

[waltdogg]

I've used the Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and the M-Audio M-Track Eight. They both have issues getting information to and from your hard drive fast enough with more taxing DAWs (like Protools) but their preamps are very clean and have lots of headroom. They both have 8 in and 8 outs plus monitors and two headphone outs. The Saffire is a little more flexible with it's phantom power but you can still get 4 or 8 channels with phantom power at one time with the M-Audio. They're both the cheapest interfaces you can get with full features. Oh the M-Audio does NOT have any optical ports so you cannot expand your system like you can with the Focusrite interfaces.

[Decibill]

Whats your price range...? On a low to mid budget take a look a used MOTU 896 or their 8pre. The pre's are on par with other units in the price range, but the drivers are really solid and stable. On the mid-high end a Lynx Aurora 8 or RME OctaMic. On the higher end the RME ADI-8. RME drivers are great too.

[legbear]

I'm trying to stay under $1,000

[waltdogg]

M-Audio is $400 and the Focusrites are $500.

[Decibill]

Take a look at a used RME Fireface. Really good unit that can be had for under $1k used.

[jrmy]

Take a look at a used RME Fireface. Really good unit that can be had for under $1k used.

FWIW, I can vouch for Decibill as a total recording tech gearhead - he's recorded and mixed everything we've released for at least the last ten years, and mastered the last few to boot. We joke that he reads gear manuals for fun... but it's kind of not a joke.

[Disarm D'arcy]

I'm a tad more reserved about RME. Pricey over here, even used, especially considering that an used Apogee Ensemble wouldn't cost much more than a Fireface 800.

I've had the Focusrite 18i20 for a while now (maybe 2-3 years?). Well pretty much since when it came out. I also keep a Scarlett 2i4 around for mobile needs, in spite of sometimes thinking about flipping it considering how little use it gets - bought it for live use initially but we're moving away from the laptop paradigm right now. I couldn't be more pleased. They sound great for the money, are widely compatible and have been a 100% reliable.

[legbear]

Thank you guys. The RME stuff looks great. I actually just saw that a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 has popped up used for $550. It is in great condition it still has the box and all software and cabling. Is this a fair price for this interface used?

[Decibill]

Yeah, thats a better than fair price for the unit.

[legbear]

Thank you guys for all the info.

[D.o.S.]

Chiming in late: the Focusrites have a great sounding preamp.

[popvulture]

I have a 1st gen Apogee Ensemble that still works perfectly with a FW to TB adapter. Looks like someone already touched on it a little bit up above, but I was gonna throw it out there as well... fantastic sounding converters, should be all the I/O you need and you could probably find a used one pretty cheap now that the TB models have been released.

[legbear]

Those Apogee Ensembles look great.