Looking for a good audio interface

[PhilipKapadia]

Hi All!

I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I'm looking for a good 16-channel audio interface - I have a budget of £2600
What are some options? Does anyone have any particular recommendations?

Focusrite? Zoom? Tascam?

Is £2600 enough/too much money for a 16 channel interface?

Thanks in advance.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by PhilipKapadia

Hi All!

I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I'm looking for a good 16-channel audio interface - I have a budget of £2600
What are some options? Does anyone have any particular recommendations?

16 x Mic preamps? 16 x Line inputs?

You need monitor control features? How many built in headphone outputs? How many line outputs? What digital I/O are needed? S/PDIF? AES/EBU? ADAT/SMUX? ...

How many lineouts do you need? Multiple pairs of stereo monitors? monitoring in surround? Analog line outs to headphone amps/cue mixers? etc. You want/need digital outputs to drive say a digital monitor controller etc.?

What computer do you have? What IO is on the computer USB 2? USB 3, Thunderbolt 3?

What sample rates do you record at? (affects # outboard ADAT etc. preamps available which you may need/want to use...).

What are you recording/doing with this? Recording high end vocals or say stringed instruments will be more demanding on a preamp than say tracking many drums.

Focusrite?

A vendor to consider, along with RME, UAD, Motu, Presonus, Apogee (for Mac), ...

Zoom? Tascam?

These vendors would not be on *my* list. Since you mention both of these and they also make live digital mixers, are you looking at digital mixers with interface support or "regular" interfaces?

Is £2600 enough/too much money for a 16 channel interface?

Don't know, until you provide more info.

[PhilipKapadia]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

16 x Mic preamps? 16 x Line inputs?

You need monitor control features? How many built in headphone outputs? How many line outputs? What digital I/O are needed? S/PDIF? AES/EBU? ADAT/SMUX? ...

How many lineouts do you need? Multiple pairs of stereo monitors? monitoring in surround? Analog line outs to headphone amps/cue mixers? etc. You want/need digital outputs to drive say a digital monitor controller etc.?

What computer do you have? What IO is on the computer USB 2? USB 3, Thunderbolt 3?

What sample rates do you record at? (affects # outboard ADAT etc. preamps available which you may need/want to use...).

What are you recording/doing with this? Recording high end vocals or say stringed instruments will be more demanding on a preamp than say tracking many drums.



A vendor to consider, along with RME, UAD, Motu, Presonus, Apogee (for Mac), ...



These vendors would not be on *my* list. Since you mention both of these and they also make live digital mixers, are you looking at digital mixers with interface support or "regular" interfaces?



Don't know, until you provide more info.

Hi there, thanks for responding.
Forgive me, I'm not the most knowledgeable about audio recording but I'll do my best to narrow this down...

I'm looking for 16 mic inputs, to plug in dynamic/condenser microphones and record into Pro tools. What's the difference between mic preamps and line in? My guess is mic inputs are XLR, and line in is via Jacks?

I don't particularly need monitor control features.. I just have a pair of KRK's that will need to be connected into the interface but other than that, I'm happy. the one pair of KRK's will be in stereo, no surround sound, atmos or anything like that.

Likewise regarding headphones, one stereo headphone output is fine.

Forgive me, I'm not familiar with digital i/o - I just need an 16 channel interface that can record into Pro Tools. Does 'AISO' answer your question?

Regarding computer IO, I'm looking for a USB 3 interface. I'll be using a Windows system for recording.

Not really sure about sample rate, as long as it sounds good I'm not to fussed about this. I can barely notice the difference...

I'm looking to mic up a salsa band... So Percussion instruments: conga, timbales, bongos, campana (cowbell), but likewise recording vox, bass, piano etc. I need an all-rounder.

To summarise, I need a 16 channel audio interface, with USB3 support, to use with two KRKs (stereo), to mic up a salsa band (various instruments), into Pro tools.

Hope that is enough info?

[albee1952]

Adding to Darryl's advice:
The only interface I know of with 16 preamps is the Antelope Goliath, but its double your budget, so I would skip that. Here are 2 examples of 16 preamp setups:
1-Audient EVO($499) with Behringer ADA8200($225) connected to the digital IO(more info at the bottom). This gives you 16 preamps in 2 rack spaces for less than half of your budget(maybe you need to add a great mic to your setup?). This would be a good-sounding rig that would serve you for many years(my opinion).
2-Focusrite Clarrett 8-Pre($1K) with a Midas XL48($1K-used) connected to the digital input. This gives you 16 excellent preamps(still under budget) that will serve even longer. While the XL48 is no longer in production, it is absolutely killer on drums.(several listed on reverb.com right now)

Another great 8-channel lightpipe preamp is the Audient ASP800 or 880. There are many other options for this, but I would pass and stick with those I mention(I have used many, so I know most of them well)

Now to the digital IO, Many interfaces have digital ins and outs. These are usually lightpipe(aka ADAT) that handle 8 channels, and sometimes SPDIF(2 channels) on what looks like the old RCA plugs on your old receiver or cassette player. These digital ports are very compact connectors so they fit on the back of a 1-space interface for easy expansion. The only important thing with using these digital connections has to do with clocking and the manuals for all of these units will explain that in great detail. Lightpipe cables are available most anywhere(amazon, home depot, sweetwater, etc)

[The Weed]

With VAT, this will put you slightly over your budget:

RME FF 802 and two Audient ASP 880.

I've dealt with KMR - yes I'm in Canada - and they were very helpful.

[GoButtonGuy]

The budget isn’t realistic for tracking 16 simultaneous inputs with Focusrite or RME level gear. It’s more in the realm of prosumer/MI type gear.

You can easily get 8 good preamps on a pro caliber interface for that budget. It doesn’t sound like you’re to the point where you can make the most out of a pro caliber interface based on the questions. You are at the point in your learning curve where you need to keep the configs as basic as possible and focus on printing clean tracks. Equipment is secondary to employing solid workflow and techniques.

Given the budget and experience level you’d be better served with something like a Midas M18 or Behringer X32 Producer. It’s not a Focusrite or UAD but it’s solid for the money. I’ve used them both, as an interface only I’d go with the M18. It will get you started with minimal learning curve. Plug the interface into the DAW with a single cable, use ASIO and you’re good to go. It will hold value well enough so you can sell it once you gain a bit more experience and upgrade to something higher end.

[JingleDjango]

How many sessions do you need this for? Do you need to capture this band once for use in a media project or will you make recording an ongoing hobby? You might get a better return for your money hiring a studio with an engineer for the day. I mean no offence but it sounds as though you could go through with this and still end up frustrated and disappointed with the result. Don't expect to make very good recordings your first time out.

Have you factored the necessary cabling and stands into your budget? The microphones?

[Obsidian Dragon]

Just to add to the discussion. Are you tracking all 16 inputs simultaneously of the salsa band? If so, how are you planning to isolate each input to avoid crosstalk between the inputs? A common technique for studio recording is to record one or just a few inputs and then "dub" or record more tracks using the same inputs and mics. This helps to minimize crosstalk. It gives you much more options when you mix because something out of tune or out of rhythm or simply a mistake can be edited or moved. With crosstalk between tracks, you don't have that flexibility as the errant material will be on other tracks as well and editing or moving it will often make it worse. Keep in mind dubbing will require individual headphones for the musician to hear and monitor the recorded tracks to play along. I get it, the band likes to play live and together at the same time. Performing live and recording tracks are not necessarily the same skill set. If the salsa band is willing to record parts separately, the finished results can potentially be better. It all depends on the skills of everyone including you. If the salsa band insist on playing together at the same time. Perhaps using a few overhead mics to pick up everybody and one or two solo mics for the main parts will yield better results. That's what works best for me, but your situation may be different.

[EGS]

Audient Evo 16 ($499)
or, if you want 8 physical gain knobs,
Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen ($549)
+
Behringer ADA8200 8-channel Microphone Preamp ($219)
Spend the rest of your unused budget on excellent mics. Plus a 2-ch Neve:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...rophone-preamp

[albee1952]

A little more to chew on: Even with the budget system I suggested, it will be capable of very good results that can be played on the radio or sold via any on-line service, provided on 3 things-good recording techniques, good performances and good tunes. Without these 3 things, a million-dollar rig is going to make crappy recordings(remember when Bruce Springsteen did an entire record with a Porta-studio? I do. Or how many hits were recorded on black-faced ADAT machines?). I also give a +1 to getting some very good mics and, 1 or 2 "money" channels(great preamps) is another good idea(but AFTER the mics) Spending bigger money on gear makes more sense when you know WHY you want it, as opposed to someone else telling you you need it