Options to replace 003 as interface

[OneMadSon]

I have a Focusrite 428 with AD card, an Apogee Quartet and an Avalon preamp.

In the past I've connected the Focusrite to the 003 via light pipe, the Avalon on one of the 003 inputs and then used the 4 003 press.

I'm considering my options on how to use the Apogee, Avalon and Focusrite that wouldn't require the 003. I've never used the control surface aspect of the 003.

Also wondering what would be the best way to get the Avalon signal into my Mac. Are some 1-2 channel high quality interfaces?

thanks

[cwsand]

Originally Posted by OneMadSon

I have a Focusrite 428 with AD card, an Apogee Quartet and an Avalon preamp.

In the past I've connected the Focusrite to the 003 via light pipe, the Avalon on one of the 003 inputs and then used the 4 003 press.

I'm considering my options on how to use the Apogee, Avalon and Focusrite that wouldn't require the 003. I've never used the control surface aspect of the 003.

Also wondering what would be the best way to get the Avalon signal into my Mac. Are some 1-2 channel high quality interfaces?

thanks

You might check out the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 and Saffire Pro 40. I think they would allow you to use the rest of your gear.

[albee1952]

I think you should look at the newest Audient USB box as it has analog(to cover the Avalon), AND it has lightpipe for the ISA-428. In actuality, you don't need analog inputs as you can patch the Avalon into the ISA428 inputs(5 thru 8) and have it come in on the lightpipe stream(I use my ISA428 with 4 analog mic preamps in a lunchbox and it works dandy). In any case, I think you will be happiest with an interface that includes a lightpipe input(Focusrite Saffire Pro40 or LS56 are 2 other options)

[VRW]

Hi, IMO you should try to use the Quartet as the center and audio interface of your system as it offers by far the best performance sound quality-wise up to a price range of about €2000.-!
I replaced my 003R a year ago with a Quartet and was surprised as it was definitely one step up.
I also was told by successfully working professionals that, only sound quality-wise, the Quartet beats even the Apollo which is much more expensive and I would believe that in my experience.

What I was thinking of was that if you would want to retain the high quality level of the Focusrite/Avalon/Quartet gear, you should not go for a cheap audio interface.
So, if, for example, you would use the Quartet as the audio interface, you could use it´s 4 preamps+the 8 ADAT inputs coming from the Focusrite 428 simultaneously.

At the Focusrite there would be it´s 4 preamps+4 more analog inputs which could be fed by another 4 outputs from 4 external preamps.
1 of them could be the Avalon for example (as posted previously! ).

What could be an option to feed the four 428 analog inputs with 3 or 4 further mic preamp signals could be something like that for example:
http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_quadmic.php
About €550.-, professional quality though.

Finally there´s an option to build a so called "Aggregate Device" with a Quartet and an Apogee Duet 2 which would provide 2 more high quality
mic preamp inputs with Apogee A/D converting.
http://www.apogeedigital.com/knowled...-device-setup/
The Duet 2 would be about €500.- again (the simple Mac version, the iOS version
is nice but not necessary for that).

Probably you could get this amount of money from selling your 003 as I´m of course aware of that it would be lot´s of bucks actually.

Anyway, you would get 14 mic pre inputs all together (8 from the combination of the 428+the RME Quadmic/the Avalon via ADAT, 4 from the Quartet directly, 2 from the Duet directly).
It just would stay on the high quality level of the Avalon/Focusrite/Quartet gear and kinda make the most of it within this price range I guess.
As a "bonus" the Duet could additionally be used as a 2nd audio interface for mobile applications too.

But, you know, that´s all of course just a suggestion, "playing around with some ideas" and just 1 of many options.
Have a great time, have fun!
Best regards,

VRW



P.S.: you would have to connect the Quartet and the 428 via word clock (the Quartet as the master), otherwise the ADAT would not work.



MacMini i7Quad, 16GB Ram, MacOS 10.9.1, Apogee Quartet, Genelec Active, Yamaha NS10, Pro Tools 11.0.3, Logic 10.0.4, Waves, MCDSP, Duende Native, Softube, HOFA, IK Multimedia etc.

[nst7]

You actually don't need to connect the two via Wordclock. You can clock the Focusrite A/D card via Adat as well.


Also, it's important to know which Focusrite A/D card you have. For the past several years, the one that has been sold is actually the 8 channel card for the 828, which works with the 428. The benefit is that you have 4 extra channels of A/D conversion on the card, so you can use 1 or 2 of those channels for your Avalon as well. This way you can have the Quartet as your only interface, have access to its 4 built in preamps, plus the 428 preamps, plus your Avalon.

[VRW]

Originally Posted by nst7

You actually don't need to connect the two via Wordclock. You can clock the Focusrite A/D card via Adat as well.

Thanks a lot! Didn´t know that anymore. Just knew it has to be clocked to get it work.

Originally Posted by nst7

Also, it's important to know which Focusrite A/D card you have. For the past several years, the one that has been sold is actually the 8 channel card for the 828, which works with the 428. The benefit is that you have 4 extra channels of A/D conversion on the card, so you can use 1 or 2 of those channels for your Avalon as well. This way you can have the Quartet as your only interface, have access to its 4 built in preamps, plus the 428 preamps, plus your Avalon.

+1
As nst7 writes, you could of course use all your stuff instantly without buying new gear.
Just set up the Quartet as the audio interface and you will get
4 mic pre amp inputs directly on the Quartet,
4 mic pre amp inputs on your 428 routed via channels 1-4 of your ADAT Card to the Quartet,
1 or 2 (if it´s a stereo device) mic pre amp inputs on your Avalon which should then be connected to ADC inputs 5 (+6 if it´s a stereo device) on the back of your 428 (which will then be automatically routed through channel 5/6 of your 8-channel-ADAT Card straightly to the Quartet and right into your Mac).
The only thing with this version is that there only would be left 9 mic inputs compared to your prior system which provided you 13 (if i counted right ).
To compensate for that I "designed" that kinda fancy "system" in my 1st posting .
Anyway.

Wishing you good luck, best regards.
Happy holidays everyone!
Cheers.



MacMini i7Quad, 16GB Ram, MacOS 10.9.1, Apogee Quartet, Genelec Active, Yamaha NS10, Pro Tools 11.0.3, Logic 10.0.4, Waves, MCDSP, Duende Native, Softube, HOFA, IK Multimedia etc.

[albee1952]

The Audient piece I was referring to is the ID22
http://audient.com/products/specs
Nothing against the other options at all, but this might be more cost-effective. The ISA428 digital card works very nicely and has been the centerpiece of my "money" channels for 6 years running