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BassJumper 23 October 2012

I currently have a 21" iMac and an [="http://apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php"]Apogee Duet2[/]="http://apogeedigita…"]Apogee Duet2[/] audio interface. I'd like to expand to have at least two more audio channels (e.g. Glyn Johns acoustic drum recording, etc).

I also have an older [URL="http://www.m-audio… FireWire Solo interface (never had much luck with it though). I could try to aggregate the Duet2 and Solo interfaces to end up with 4 channels.

My question is: if I decide to ditch the aging Solo and buy another interface to pick up two additional channels, is there an advantage to mixing both USB and FireWire interfaces? If not, I was thinking along the lines of something like a PreSonus AudioBox 22VSL or even the http://www.PreSonus…"]PreSonus AudioBox 44VSL[/]="http://www.PreSonus…"]PreSonus AudioBox 44VSL[/]. Any ideas appreciated.

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Comments

KurtFoster Tue, 10/23/2012 - 18:00

it seems like fire wire is a dying format.

Macs are moving to Thunderbolt and usb 2 usb3 seem to dominating the PC sector.

Go for the Pre Sonus ... reasonable pre amps and able to do 4 tracks at once. better yot just take the leap to an 1818. that way you will have more pres available as i assure you once you have 4 ins you will want 8 and so on.

Pre Sonus includes some very usable software to track and mix i might add. maybe the best value in the industry at the moment and very affordable under 600 bucks.

BassJumper Tue, 10/23/2012 - 18:09

Thanks Kurt. My iMac has a FW800 interface, so I just wanted to see if it was something worth considering. I know lots of folks rave about FW, but I certainly don't want this thread to get into a rehash on that topic. The Duet2 has been a pleasure to work with, just wanting at least a few more channels. I'll definitely check out the Presonus USB interfaces.

KurtFoster Tue, 10/23/2012 - 20:13

BassJumper, post: 395110 wrote: Thanks Kurt. My iMac has a FW800 interface, so I just wanted to see if it was something worth considering. I know lots of folks rave about FW, but I certainly don't want this thread to get into a rehash on that topic. The Duet2 has been a pleasure to work with, just wanting at least a few more channels. I'll definitely check out the Presonus USB interfaces.

while your present Mac is Fire Wire it won't be long until you will be forced to look at an upgrade. Mac is phasing out Fire Wire in favor of Thunderbolt. in light of that it may be time to look to an upgrade to a new system rather than throwing more bucks at a machine that you won't be able to get upgrades and support for in the near future.

if this isn't an option then keep it cheap and look for a used fire wire interface that has more inputs. CraigsList is a great resource for this kind of thing. I assure there are lots of used Fire Wire devices up for sale right now for the reasons i sited.

audiokid Tue, 10/23/2012 - 20:23

Firewire to Thunderbolt

hey, there is hope. firewire > thunderbolt is possible:
[="http://www.prismsound.com/music_recording/studio_news.php?story=0259"]Prism Sound News: Thunderbolt solution for Prism Sound Orpheus and ADA-8XR interfaces[/]="http://www.prismsou…"]Prism Sound News: Thunderbolt solution for Prism Sound Orpheus and ADA-8XR interfaces[/]

[[url=http://="http://www.sonnette…"]Sonnet - Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter[/]="http://www.sonnette…"]Sonnet - Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter[/]

timshel Wed, 10/24/2012 - 00:20

Mixing firewire and usb in conjunction with the Apogee Maestro software is bad ju-ju. The aggregate device will lock into a deadly embrace with Maestro. Even if you do get it to work there will be times when the internal clocks start drifting away from each other and the entire system will jitter. It drove me insane for about two weeks, and I was using firewire on firewire. Check out the Apogee Quad if you're really set on specifically four channels.

BassJumper Wed, 10/24/2012 - 07:24

timshel, post: 395127 wrote: Mixing firewire and usb in conjunction with the Apogee Maestro software is bad ju-ju. The aggregate device will lock into a deadly embrace with Maestro. Even if you do get it to work there will be times when the internal clocks start drifting away from each other and the entire system will jitter. It drove me insane for about two weeks, and I was using firewire on firewire. Check out the Apogee Quad if you're really set on specifically four channels.

Thanks for the heads up, and I'll certainly avoid the aggregation. But I'm sure hoping that I can get my Duet2 to coexist and be simultaneously usable for recording alongside, say, a non-aggregated Presonus 44VSL or some other similar USB interface. Although 99% of the time I'm just recording one/two channels at a time whereby the Duet2 suffices. The reason I'm looking to expand the channel count is to record an acoustic drum set, so I was thinking that a 4-channel 44VSL would be a reasonable starting point for that task, with the Duet2 giving me an extra 2 drum channels if needed.

BassJumper Wed, 10/24/2012 - 07:28

audiokid, post: 395119 wrote: hey, there is hope. firewire > thunderbolt is possible:
[="http://www.prismsound.com/music_recording/studio_news.php?story=0259"]Prism Sound News: Thunderbolt solution for Prism Sound Orpheus and ADA-8XR interfaces[/]="http://www.prismsou…"]Prism Sound News: Thunderbolt solution for Prism Sound Orpheus and ADA-8XR interfaces[/]

[[url=http://="http://www.sonnette…"]Sonnet - Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter[/]="http://www.sonnette…"]Sonnet - Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter[/]

My iMac is a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://support.appl…"]21.5" mid-2011[/]="http://support.appl…"]21.5" mid-2011[/] which does have a single 10Gbps Thunderbolt port. Also has one FW800 and 4 USB 2.0 ports.

kmetal Thu, 10/25/2012 - 05:09

you could also just use a kick overhead setup for drums, until the smoke clears as far as the relavancey of the current state of the art. there's no thunderbolt interfaces yet, although the UA apollo does have the capability as of late. firewire probably will dissappear, espceially w/ the specs, of usb 3.0, and it's more established nature. the only fw 800 interface i['m aware of is from RME and is not cheap, even used. i've been waiting for like 3 or 4 years w/ my personal firewire interface, to see how the new technology unfolds. i think we're at the end of the 2000's tech, and moving into another decade, so i'd say keep it modest on cpu stuff, cuz it's another beginning.

gdoubleyou Fri, 10/26/2012 - 12:19

The apogee drivers don't currently support aggregate devices.

Thunderbolt supports multiple protocols and will extend the life of firewire devices.

For your machine there are plenty of multichannel firewire device available today, get what suits your needs today, worry about the future,...in the future.

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