I love Pro Tools, but.......

[bilco]

I have been thinking of cheating .....

All I want is 8 decent mic/line/instrument preamps, (10 would be better) that interfaces through firewire with my ibook, that works with Pro Tools.......

I DON'T want:

* to have to patch in other preamps via ADAT
* to have to patch in other analog preamp front ends like my RNP to line inputs
* to carry a rack that contains the "Digi00X" + all of the stuff listed above

Why is it so hard to get the 8 mic inputs and Pro Tools LE?

I divorced Cakewalk products and married Pro Tools about 5 years ago and I'll never go back to Cakewalk/Sonar, but I have to admit I am restless with this second marriage, thinking of cheating with "the other woman," the sexy one who shall remain nameless, who actually puts out 8 mic preamps + other input options in 1 SINGLE SPACE RACK MOUNT UNIT.

She...... just ...... doesn't...... have....... Pro Tools......... must ...... remain.....faithful....

bilco

[bilco]

Well, I have been out reading reviews and the competition is not looking so good........ why does it all have to be made in China now......

[c.evans]

The Presonus Firepod for $399 looks pretty darn good, and it comes with Cubase LE. This would give you the ability to record live with eight pres and you could then import your audio to Protools for editing and mixing bliss.

On the other hand I have done a gig with the presonus digimax into the ADAT of the 002 and it worked great. You would then have 12 mic inputs and four line ins as well.

Good luck!

Chad

[floridah2o]

I love my Alesis HD24. It seems to be the perfect recorder (adat style with 24 simultaneous tracks, and stand-alone). I just fly all of the files into protools for editing.

[bilco]

The Presonus Firepod for $399 looks pretty darn good, and it comes with Cubase LE. This would give you the ability to record live with eight pres and you could then import your audio to Protools for editing and mixing bliss.

This is exactly what I have been looking at and what I wish Digi would design! Either this or the Firestudio...... but then I got to looking at reviews and there are a lot of unhappy campers, so I dunno..... For the price of the Firestudio, I may as well exchange my Digi001 for the Digi003R and patch in my Behringer ADA8000 and RNP.......

On the other hand I have done a gig with the presonus digimax into the ADAT of the 002 and it worked great. You would then have 12 mic inputs and four line ins as well.

Good luck!

Chad

I have done exactly what you mention here, except I used my Digi001 and the Behringer ADA8000, a cheaper 8 channel preamp alternative. It really all worked just fine, just a big pain to lug around everything including the G4 tower and the monitor and keyboard.

On a positive note, I upgraded to Tiger yesterday and downloaded PT LE 7.3 to use on my ibook with my Mbox1. It installed in minutes and works great. I got a Davec test of 12 channels out of it, which is more than I got with 6.4 and pretty good for a USB interface. I can't wait to experiment with it later tonight.

bilco

[jc335]

I feel your pain. I recently broke-off a four year relationship with a Roland VS and purcahsed the 03. Don't get me wrong, Protools is is way cool, but I'm not all that impressed with the interface. Adding four, or six more pres would have been a logical, inexpensive bone to throw our way. Why, why, why... Sure, the Roland wasn't all that cool, pretty, or sexy, just a functional, practical, workhorse waiting to please... kinda like an old Volvo with eight on-board preamps.

Oh well, time to suck it up and move on. It is what it is!

[Sonny in London]

Word.

The 003 should have had eight pres, this much is for sure. The biggest mistake they made with that unit.

They need to design an eight pre, 1U interface that will integrate with their hardware, ala the Presonus stuff. No brainer really.


Peace


Sonny

[PookaStew]

I wish the 003RF had the phantom power and pad buttons on the front and a hardware midi thru.

And a phantom power button per pre would have been nice.

Other than that, I love it. I've been dogged by the buffer error as well, but only for midi, not for audio (knock on wood), so I can work around it ok. But there's no denying that the software -- PT -- is outstanding.

[jc335]

you mentioned your ADA8000. What's your opinion of the preamps? Behringer makes a lot of components, some good - some crap. I'm tired of spending top $$ on high-end gear just to find I need "one more" item. It would be nice to save a couple hundred dollars and go with the ADA800, if it's of decent quality.

I don't expect a means to an end, but it would be nice to have eight pres - Although the "one more" thing never stops.

[bilco]

you mentioned your ADA8000. What's your opinion of the preamps? Behringer makes a lot of components, some good - some crap. I'm tired of spending top $$ on high-end gear just to find I need "one more" item. It would be nice to save a couple hundred dollars and go with the ADA800, if it's of decent quality.

I don't expect a means to an end, but it would be nice to have eight pres - Although the "one more" thing never stops.

I think it works fine, but you need to take what I say with a grain (or block) of salt. I have 52 year old ears and I have spent 35 years or so right next to a snare drum with a bass rig cranked up to 11. I have tinnitus and high end hearing loss.

I also think the preamps in my original Mbox are fine and I actually prefer them to my RNP for acoustic guitar and bass DI. So, keep that in mind as you read my response ..........:)

But, I think it is a great, cost effective way to get 8 more channels into my Digi001, hopefully soon to be upgraded to a Digi003 Rack.

I have only used it a few times, < 10, recording our band at gigs and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. The preamps are clean and kind of sterile, but better than the 2 mic preamps on the front of the Digi001. It records 4 hour gigs and stays locked in with Pro Tools as the Master just fine.

There are a lot of threads out there from folks bashing this unit along with other Behringer gear, but most of their stuff I have used does what it is supposed to and sounds pretty good to me. I have not had any problem with dying channels like some people report. Even the salesman at GC warned me about dying preamp channels; it works great for me.

I CAN hear a difference when my voice gets recorded through a $2,500 Lawson mic and a $1,500 Great River preamp, but I don't think I can ever justify that expense for a home studio that is always going to be limited by my engineering skills. I am a songwriter first, bassist second, acoustic guitarist third and engineer dead last. My SM7b vocal mic, SM81s for stereo acoustic guitar and the Mbox with Pro Tools 7.3.1 is a pretty solid setup for a songwriter, (sure beats the high impedance mic and 4 track Portastudio I had 20 years ago!). The only reason I really need/WANT some kind of interface with 8 mic preamps in that is portable is to record our band without having to drag the G4 tower, monitor, Digi001 and Behringer around to gigs. I can actually get by with the Digi001 setup for recording the band live in the living room...... I just WANT the new improved, shiny , bells and whistles Digi003 Rack......just because...... hey, I gave up drugs and alcohol!! I have to have SOME kind of addiction...... at least this one is legal!!

bilco