I’m an old timer and I’d like to get back to mixing out of the box on my console. I’m looking for an interface that has a lot of outputs. Preferably a lot of line level i/o and preamps aren’t necessary (the idea being to connect it to my console and record that way... with my protools rig standing in place of a tape machine). Ideally I’d like at least 16 outputs. So I’ve been looking at the Cymatic utrack24 and the Allen and Heath ice 16. The Cymatic looks perfect, but the sound on sound article on it says the DACs leave some headroom to be desired. Can anyone comment on this? Or recommend something I haven’t thought of?
Comments
The UA Apollo line has a…
The UA Apollo line has a 16ch unit of all line level I/o. Motu has some units that may be of interest like the 16 channel 16a. It's lower cost than the Apollo and has thunderbolt and USB. Antelope has the Orion as well. There's also the apogee symphony which is user configurable I/o, and the burl mothership.
A used motu 2408 and pcie card setup fits the bill too.
If your on Mac, a used pair of Apogee Rosetta would be excellent.
Hi Jon, I fixed up the…
Hi Jon,
From one old timer to another... 😉
I'm not familiar with either unit but the Allen Heath ICE-16 "16 Channel Multitrack Recorder with USB/FireWire Interface" seems like the one I'd possibly go for out of the two. Big factor for me is I've had better track count stability with Firewire Interfaces over USB, so that might be an important consideration.
Regardless of what you choose I've also experienced interfaces work better on a dedicated pcie port. FW has always been more stable to me. USB with MADI however, even better! So that's more for thought.
Cymatic utrack24 looks like a cool unit. I like the 25-pin D-Sub connectors. The price (under $500 usd) is very reasonable too.I searched for pricing on the ICE-16 and it looked to be discontinued. Whats the price for that?
Both could be used for remote mobile recording so that's super cool. 👍🏼