Hello all,

I've been absent from posting for awhile. I've been focusing mostly on improving my musicianship and less on my recording on abilities. I come to you today with a question on recording interfaces. My current signal flow is Mic->Saffire Pro 40->Sonar 8.5. The only outboard gear I have is a Benchmark MPA1, and I do not utilize it because the Saffire does not have line level inputs that bypass the onboard preamps.

I'm looking at changing interfaces so that I can utilize the Benchmark preamp. I've finally realized I don't need 8 preamps from the interface. I use maybe 3 at the most, which is another reason for my decision to downsize. I am currently researching and considering the Sound Devices USB Pre2 and the FireFace 400. Portability is not a deciding issue for me. Either interface will be used in house only. I guess my curiosity is whether the FireFace sound quality and features justify the extra $$ over the Sound Devices.

I will be recording acoustic guitar and mic'ed electric guitars. The mics will be Neumann KM84, Shure KSM 32, SM57, 58 and Beta 57. I am not looking for my sound to be colored in any way. I want my preamp to be very transparent. In a perfect world what I hear going in, will be exactly what I hear coming out.

Thanks in advance for reading and replying. I apologize in advance if there is some other information you need that I may have omitted.

Jeremy