Alright. I am selling my MOTU HD 192 because I am buying an electronic drum set and won't need near that many inputs- and also, i need money to afford the electric set with.
I need to buy a new interface with maybe 4 mic input preamps- maximum.
Since Im going to be doing mostly MIDI drums, I would like to maybe switch software as well. I feel like Sonar 8 is not holding up so well. especially with midi stuff.
Here is what would be perfect-
You can buy an Avid Mbox 3 Pro and Pro Tools 9 for around $900somethin'
BUT, dont get me wrong- i would still like to have the audio preamp quality of the HD 192. But in order to do that, I would need to get like a Mackie Onyx 400F-- but that would leave no room for new software, and I hear that the Mackie can have some latency issues when it comes to doing heavy midi work.
Do I really need new software?
I have about $775 to play around with.
OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS.
So yea, Im selling the MOTU HD core system on ebay for $1120
Comments
I have to agree with Boswell on a couple of points. The RME int
I have to agree with Boswell on a couple of points. The RME interface is probably one of the best on the market, I'm personally a big fan and their converters sound fantastic. That being said, you would have to expand your budget slightly to grab one of these guys. If you find one second-hand you'll probably be looking in the $850 to $900 range. But, it would be well worth the money.
I also have to agree with him on Reaper. It's a great program for relatively cheap. You can download a version to try out for 30 days or so for free to see if you feel comfortable with it. In my experience, Pro Tools is a great program for doing audio recording, but has a lot to be desired in the MIDI department. Something like Cubase 6 might work out better for that, but again, you would be talking about some additional cost involved for that software package as well.
I also wanted to point out that the new MBox Pro's are by far the best MBox interface that Avid has put out. Quality chassis construction, the knobs have a very nice feel, and the mic pre's actually don't sound half bad. I was never a big fan of the previous MBox line, but I have to admit that the new MBox Pro's are pretty good. It's amazing that once Avid opened up their software, they finally came out with a quality piece of hardware.
You should be able to find an MBox Pro in the $700 range (just the hardware) and go with Reaper, and be pretty close to your estimated budget.
There's not much around that would give good results with 4 or m
There's not much around that would give good results with 4 or more mic inputs at the sort of price that leaves you enough to buy PT9 from your $775 budget. My suggestion would be to go away from PT for tracking and instead consider something like Reaper. This maximizes what you can put into the hardware.
Personally, I would not be considering the Mbox, and instead looking at something like an RME FireFace 800. These are now starting to appear more often on the second-hand market now that the RME UFX is available. An FF800 would gobble your 4-mic input and MIDI requirement and give you high-quality pre-amps plus 6 further line inputs for expansion.