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Jeff
 
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Default USB Audio/Midi Interface

Hi

I want to buy a USB Audio/Midi Interface to connect my laptop (XP Pro), a
synth (Yamaha CS2x) and a mic for recording guitar & vocals. I am using
Sonar software.

I'm considering these:

M-Audio USB Audiophile - I'm concerned that it only uses USB1. Is this
reliable for recording and playing back audio?

Behringer BCA 2000 - Uses USB2, but some people have told me that Behringers
do not sound good and have usability issues.

Can anyone recommend which of these, or any others which would be good?

Also, is there anything else I would need in my simple set up to get some
basic home recording going?

Thanks a lot!

Jeff

PS My laptop has USB2 but not firewire.



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Sven
 
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Jeff wrote:

Can anyone recommend which of these, or any others which would be good?

Also, is there anything else I would need in my simple set up to get some
basic home recording going?


Hi!

I bought Tascam US-122 today, so far I'm quite pleased So I dare to
recommend it.

Sven
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Mike Rivers
 
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In article writes:

M-Audio USB Audiophile - I'm concerned that it only uses USB1. Is this
reliable for recording and playing back audio?


They don't let you get into trouble because the card won't exceed the
througput capacity of the USB data path. You can do two tracks in and
two tracks out (like for overdubbing) at 44.1 or 48 kHz, 24 bits
without a hitch, but when you double the sample rate, the throughput
rate isn't fast enough for four "streams" so you can only record
(without monitoring the playback) or you can only play back when
running at 96 kHz. In other words, at 44.1/48 kHz, it's fine for
building up tracks. At 88.1/96 kHz, it's fine as a stereo
recorder/player.

Behringer BCA 2000 - Uses USB2, but some people have told me that Behringers
do not sound good and have usability issues.


Some people will tell you that anything made by Behringer does not
sound good. Some things do, some things don't. I would be suspicious
of anything really inexpensive. M-Audio gear for the most part is
priced about where you expect it to fall. Behringer gear, for the most
part, is priced lower than you'd expect for the capability. Something
has to give. Sometimes it matters more than others.

Can anyone recommend which of these, or any others which would be good?


Not until you figure out what it is that you need to do, what you want
to do, what you can't live without, and what you can live without.

When it comes to simple desktop recording, I think the TASCAM US-122
is as good as it needs to get. It's USB 1.1, it's very well thought
out in terms of signal routing, it has usable mic preamps, a decent
headphone output, outputs to speakers that are easy to mute when
working with microphones and speakers in the same room, and it sounds
OK. But if you can't live without 96 kHz sample rate (and I don't know
why you'd want it at your stage of the game) forget it.

Also, is there anything else I would need in my simple set up to get some
basic home recording going?


Lots. Develop a good, friendly relationship with a dealer, even if it
means driving a couple of hours to get there. If you order a bunch of
stuff from the cheapest on-line sources you can find, you'll be months
getting up and running. That's no fun.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo
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Thanks a lot Sven & Mike.

Your replies were very helpful. I wasn't aware of the Tascam before but
it looks ideal so I'm going to get one.

Cheers

Jeff

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Sven
 
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Vinny wrote:

You'll be OK with one of those - I have one for a very small portable
system for use with my laptop. It works well for what I use it for.
Getting low latency can be a bit of a challenge for playing soft-synths
real time, but overall, its a solid choice.


Have you tried to get lower latency than 256 samples (in drivers' dialog)?

How? Some registry hacks?

BTW, just looked at registry - there is a key named
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\US122\Parameters
and under this is a value named AsioBufferSize

I give it a try at night when I'm home.

Sven
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