Recommendation for new audio interface

[georgepeter]

My M-Audio C600 died today. A great unit that handled 5.1 flawlessly. Oh well.

I need a recommendation for a replacement. I am willing to spend more for a more robust unit. I am currently running PT10HD (upgrading from CPTK) and will soon migrate to 11HD. There seems to be many options and I'm not that up to date on audio hardware.

Also, I plan to upgrade to the new MacPro when released.

Can someone point me in a solid direction to an interface that will meet my current and future needs?

Thanks - really appreciate it.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by georgepeter

Can someone point me in a solid direction to an interface that will meet my current and future needs?

Nope. Not without any clue at all what those current and future needs are...

To start with, preferences for Firewire, USB, Thunderbolt? What are you recording? How many channels of IO, need mic preamps? Need what digital IO? Support what sample rates? Want MIDI in the box? How many outputs and/or cue mixes are needed? How do you handle latency? What in-box mixer features do you want? Budget?

OTOH even without knowing anything its really hard not to recommended an UAD Apollo...

[georgepeter]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. All I do is sound effect editing for film (video). No live recording. What I need is an audio interface that has 6 outputs and play nicely with ProTools. I don'd believe the new MacPros have firewire but do have USB so my guess is that's what I am looking for - perhaps USB 3.0. I don't currently have Thunderbolt but will in the future but any unit with Thunderbolt would also need USB.

[Darryl Ramm]

Mmm. You could potentially use nothing but the new MacPro built-in audio over HDMI (to an outboard HDMI decoder of course, capable of 6 channel PCM, you may already have a surround sound processor/preamp capable/suitable for this?). We'll have to see how well that works in practice.

I am assuming you do not need/want 5.1 monitor control or anything else funky? Or have that in an outboard controller now.

If you are tied to the Mac, them maybe look at the Apogee Quartet http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/quartet.php. But you are paying for preamps and inputs you don't need. That recommendation is partly prompted by how nice a lot of Apogee stuff sounds and them doing a good job (most of the time) with driver support etc. No Windows compatibility with Apogee, in case that is ever an issue.

There are lots and lots of low-price USB interfaces that have 6 or more outputs. e.g. http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-in...s/scarlett-8i6. I give Focusrite kudos for good customer support, arguably better online/forum support than when than buying an Avid interface.

All the Firewire interfaces should work on the Mac Pro will work with Apple's low-cost Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter.

BTW one reservation with the Apollo is its console app does not directly support 5.1, but that would not be relevant since you won't be using it. It seems far too much if you are not even tracking.

[nst7]

The C600 has assignable volume/monitor control for up to 5.1, so I assume that's what you're using, and would like an interface with similar capability.

I would also recommend Focusrite. The Scarlett 18i20 seems like a good fit. It's a USB version of the Saffire Pro 40, which is firewire. But the Scarlett is newer, and people seem to like it.

HDMI multichannel audio out from the Mac works very well, and would be an option if you wanted to use a home theater system for monitoring. But I'm guessing you already have proper studio monitors, so an interface would be the way to go.

[DonaldM]

A Focusright Scarlette 8i6 might work too. 6 outputs: 4 Analog, 2 Digital (S/PDIF). $250 or so. Really clear sound.

[drumzalicious]

I'd say the Quartet. MBox 3 Pro is supposed to sound just as good however I have not heard them both side by side.

[Eric Seaberg]

I found an MBox 3 Pro on eBay for $500 and sent it to Black Lion Audio for the full hotrod upgrade. INCREDIBLE SOUND!! I'd put it up against our $500k SSL C200 console any day!!

Black Lion info at http://blacklionaudio.com/product/mbox-3-pro/