FW 4 pin or 6 pin doesn't really matter when the interface has its own power supply. 8 channels on a USB device would also be possible. The two extra pins are for power.

If you work with a laptop you will need an external HDD to track audio. If you are looking for an external housing the ICY BOX are quite good.

With a USB interface you might want a FW HDD or vice versa. FW is wide enough though to carry 32 channels up and down. So in theory you could even connect both on the FW port.

I'll let others recommend on choices of the interface.

Ha, Nederlanders boven alles

But your story does confuse me a bit :/. HDD means harddrive in my book and I have a 250GB SATA drive externally but hooking it up to a piece of hardware that, well, turns it into USb 2.0. It should be able to transfer 384Mbit/s if I remember correclty. That should be enough?

Are there perhaps mixers that allow for all channels to be eported individually to USB or Firewire?

Go with a firewire HDD and converter, 'nuff said.

...a firewire converter? Does that enable me to record 8 mics to 8 tracks on my PC simultaneously? :/

Depends on which one you buy.

Look for an audio interface for your laptop....

I would look at the FireStudio Project... (http://www.presonus.com/firestudio_project.html)

I have the FirePod, an older version of the Firestudio, ...it works well for me, and is relatively inexpensive for 8 XLR in's. So, you can record 8 mics at the same time to different tracks.

That's just a start though... There are a TON of different audio interfaces. Just go to musiciansfriend.com or sweetwater.com and look in the recording section for audio interfaces.

Ok thanks, checking out the Firepod

http://www.feedback.nl/?id=55&b=FIREPOD

So they aren't very clear, right - I hook this baby up to my laptop and all 8 input channels will be saved as, say, a .WAV on my harddrive?

(and all my mics are three-pin XLR. Wow I should know this but what's the input on the Firepod? (and the others))

(Dead Link Removed)

$399?? What's wrong with it?? If nothing is I'm getting it aye ^^

edit: screw me, it's discontinued -_-

the firepod will let you record 8 xlr inputs at one time into the software of your choice. from there, you can do what you want with each channel. it comes with cubase le, which should let you do what you want if you don't already have recording software that will let you track 8 inputs at once.

But those are not XLR ports now are they? Buying 8 converters for XLR to.. (what is it anyway? It looks like a ports on a poweramp?) seems a bit, well, you know.

The inputs on the Firepod are combination XLR/TRS phono inputs. They're pretty common now on most interfaces. Regarding the Alesis mixers: they are mediocre. At any rate, the mixer is pointless since it doesn't serve as a control surface and I'm not sure the the eq goes to print. (That may be a good thing). Don't cheap out one your interface. As long as it has decent line level inputs, it's one thing you don't want to have to be upgrading constantly.

Thanks :)

So getting the Firepod would be best? For my purpose of drumrecording I mean. I can see how the mixer would be kindof pointless since I plan on doing everything on the laptop anyway. I won't be using it live. And how would I connect my XLR mics to the XLR/TRS phono inputs?

EDIT: harmony-central shows veeeery mixed opinions. Anyone have personal experiences or other suggestions?

"Best"? There is no "best". Best for you right now? Maybe. There are many other choices. Some plenty more expensive. Some around the same price range. There are a lot of Firepod users out there though. I'd say they probably make up a good portion of the home hobbyists.

Hmwell. I'll do some research. Any info about converting the XLR to the TRS phono inputs?

The inputs on the Firestudio are COMBO XLR/TRS. You don't need a converter. Just plug your XLR cable right in there or if you have to, plug your 1/4" phono plug in there. They will accept both.

Ok. So the FirePod is of acceptable quality? Will my 2.4ghz/512MB ram laptop be able to handle it? (external harddrive via usb2.0)

512 mb kinda scary... but otherwise CPU speed is fine.

Ok, thanks :)

Or is a multitracking device perhaps an option as well? It does record all channels seperately right after which you can put them on your computer?

The computer is the multitracking device, the Firepod (et.al.) is merely the way you get the signal into it.

Ya I mean, as an alternative for the Firepod. I want to consider all the options right. A friend of mine once had this device to which he recorded 6 tracks at once and all the tracks were saved onto the device and afterwards he put the tracks on the computer via USB. Maybe workstation is nog the right name for it but I hope you see what I mean.
Maybe they've got better mic preamps because the Firepod ones seem not to be good, and I've heard of alot of people who had it break down on them. So I'm sortof caught up in the choices here :/

What, like one of those Roland or Tascam portable deals?

I don't know. If they are able to translate 8 mics into 8 channels on my PC then, yes please :p

(ofc unless they are bullcrap quality)

I was talking about what your friend had, sorry.

I don't have a Firepod, so I can't really give you any pro's or con's. Presonus, however, is a reputable company (as long as you stay away from the Bluetube :evil: ).

In reading many other posts on the subject of converters, a large number of folks here agree that it's what you use at the front end - before the ADC - and how you manipulate the signal after the fact, that really matters.

Well, when I was reading Tweaks articles I was under the impression the preamp is one of the most important links in the chain in terms of sound quality. :?

A preamp and an ADC are two different things that often end up in the same box.

Gear like the Firepod, M-Audio Fastrack, and Digi003 are preamp / ADC combos.

Units like the Digi888, Apogee AD8000, and MOTU24I/O are purely A/D converters.

Others, like the Earthworks 1022, Groovetubes Vipre, and the Focusrite 428 are dedicated preamps.

There are many, many more models and many different variations...

Hm, that brings me to another point, I was also looking for and A/D converter to use my current mixer with the laptop (because obviously no matter how much I'd like it I can't fit PCI in there) and if the A/D is not that important, this little Behringer pet would do? It's got both balanced and unbalanced inputs and it supports 24-bits/96khz, right. So :p

Because with the christmas holidays coming up I'm planning on making a simple album using a few acoustic stringed instruments, an electric organ and a few parts of the drumset. For which I won't need multitracking to the PC yet, so, something like this would suffice.

Oh, a lot of talking but the question is basically, what's wrong with it that it's so cheap? :p

bornfidelity wrote: ......if the A/D is not that important, this little Behringer pet would do? It's got both balanced and unbalanced inputs and it supports 24-bits/96khz, right.

That just bugs me. Why do they add this spec? It's idiotic. Are they telling us that this little mixer converts the signal to digital then back to analog again. Another layer of conversion for what? Does the mixer have an SPDIF output? No? Then that little spec is likely just a load of crap.

What little behringer? I don't see a model or link...

They have that spec on virtually all of their mixers. Whether they connect via usb, firewire or not. Their analog mixers have that spec.

Hahaha!

Ya know, I rarely look at the specs - especially on their gear - and that is the funniest damn thing!
I copied the following from their 1002 Specs .pdf:

2 new state-of-the-art, studio-grade IMP Invisible Mic Preamps with:
- 130 dB dynamic range for 24-bit, 192 kHz sampling rate inputs
- Ultra-wide 60 dB gain range
- Lowest possible distortion 0.0007% (20 Hz - 20 kHz)

And down at the bottom, this statement made me laugh even more:

Conceived and designed by BEHRINGER Germany

:lol:

Ok. So I'll just use the laptop's onboard line in.

130 dB dynamic range for 24-bit, 192 kHz sampling rate inputs

That's purely a marketing scheme aimed at the casual fader pusher (I hope that doesn't sound egotistical...).

Ok. So I'll just use the laptop's onboard line in.

What? Instead of an outboard ADC?

Ya. That was the idea. However, I don't have my mixer anymore (I borrowed it from a friend years ago and suddenly he wanted it back. So perhaps it'd be a solid solution to et a cheap mixer with a USB output. I'll check it out. Any ideas?

Ya. That was the idea.

With a mixer or without, that's not a good idea. Most onboard soundcards are noisy beyond belief.

Do yourself a favor and watch for sales on the combo boxes like the M-Audio's, Presonus, or the Lexicon.

Ok, I'm going to get a Firepod and record directly into my laptop for this holiday using the laptop's mic preamp which will probably suck but it's only a weird organ-fueled acoustic album I'm planning on doing anyway.