Metalman X
The Resplendent Sub-Human
So, finally hoping to get back into recording, makin' some new music n' stuff. But my desktop, which is my dedicated audio setup, died back in January. So, being unemployed/disabled/very low income, took me til now to finally get a replacement setup
This is a refurbished Lenovo m710s (small form factor. Saving space, and my busted up lower back) with 3.5gh quad core Intel i5 with a 500gb SSD for OS (Windows 7, do not care to update. It's solid) and programs, with a 3TB hdd for bulk storage (once I find a way to hopefully pull my old reaper and Ableton 9 session files cuz I got stupid lazy backing up these post 2018, ugh), 16gb RAM (whatever brand came in it, I forget. No XMP options in my BIOS though FWIW). The Intel is Skylake, and I have USB 3.0 allover this machine with one or two 2.0 on the back.
Up til this machine I been using a trusty AF M-Audio Delta 1010lt PCI card as my interface. But PCI slots are pretty extinct for most newer stuff it seems, so decided to finally get a USB interface. I had gotten a Behringer UMC1010HD since it seems a lot of bang for the buck, and I'd gotten accustomed to using/needing more than 2 inputs with Delta card which had 10 ins and outs. Thing is, no matter what I try, my PC wont see it at all when I plug in the USB. Just pretends like nothins' even there. I tried so many things between switching out multiple cables, trying newer than older drivers (which all install flawlessly at least), USB ports and even BIOS settings, even tried a couple different AC adapter brands for gits n' shiggles. Oh, and yes, the power light comes on on the UMC, so I know it at least powers on. So I'm crossing this off because don't know what more to do.
So, selling some stuff I can spare on ebay, looking at some better tier interfaces. Nothing too crazy cuz money is scarce for me, but some MOTU stuff has caught my eye and looks doable. Specifically the Ultralite MK-III, and possibly M4. I kinda like the Ultralite's feature set more, but the M4 could work for me too. Specifically I like to have 3 ins for tracking guitars.... two mics to blend and a clean DI. I do IR's for bass though, and some guitar stuff, but do prefer micing my own cab since I'm lucky enough to at least have a space I can do that, so this is why smaller one and two input interface don't interest me. Also, I wanna be able to use my reamp box if/when needed so I need at least one in to feed to a separate DAW channel for that as well. But than I'm reading the USB can still be buggy on these.... okay, so firewire only ones cheaper, and a firewire card is cheap too. So that may be an option. But I am gonna try to get the Hybrid version so I can try the USB first, and can snag a firewire card as a potential method if the USB still gives me grief (why I liked sticking with the PCI card so long... if you had a port for it, it worked everytime). But than I'm reading the firewire card needs to be a T.I. chipset to work with newer skylake based machines, and now that option is less cheap and harder to find.
I dunno.... It seems like interface/desktop compatibility can still be a crapshoot even if the specs look good on paper? At least under a certain price point it sure does.
So any other interfaces worth looking at that a dude can find used under $250? In this price range the MOTU stuffs looks best bang for buck and reliability.
But than theirs some "wild cards" like say, the Akai EIE box for example. Certainly looks neat, and has nice features for the price... but also, can't help but wonder if theirs a reason you don't hear or about find much about them. Tascam seems to have some options too, and they have a good rep in the past at least, but don't hear much about now either.
Apologies for the wall of text. Just so many factors to consider with this stuff, and wanted to give a clear picture of what I'm working with here. Thanx for any help ;-)
Cheers
This is a refurbished Lenovo m710s (small form factor. Saving space, and my busted up lower back) with 3.5gh quad core Intel i5 with a 500gb SSD for OS (Windows 7, do not care to update. It's solid) and programs, with a 3TB hdd for bulk storage (once I find a way to hopefully pull my old reaper and Ableton 9 session files cuz I got stupid lazy backing up these post 2018, ugh), 16gb RAM (whatever brand came in it, I forget. No XMP options in my BIOS though FWIW). The Intel is Skylake, and I have USB 3.0 allover this machine with one or two 2.0 on the back.
Up til this machine I been using a trusty AF M-Audio Delta 1010lt PCI card as my interface. But PCI slots are pretty extinct for most newer stuff it seems, so decided to finally get a USB interface. I had gotten a Behringer UMC1010HD since it seems a lot of bang for the buck, and I'd gotten accustomed to using/needing more than 2 inputs with Delta card which had 10 ins and outs. Thing is, no matter what I try, my PC wont see it at all when I plug in the USB. Just pretends like nothins' even there. I tried so many things between switching out multiple cables, trying newer than older drivers (which all install flawlessly at least), USB ports and even BIOS settings, even tried a couple different AC adapter brands for gits n' shiggles. Oh, and yes, the power light comes on on the UMC, so I know it at least powers on. So I'm crossing this off because don't know what more to do.
So, selling some stuff I can spare on ebay, looking at some better tier interfaces. Nothing too crazy cuz money is scarce for me, but some MOTU stuff has caught my eye and looks doable. Specifically the Ultralite MK-III, and possibly M4. I kinda like the Ultralite's feature set more, but the M4 could work for me too. Specifically I like to have 3 ins for tracking guitars.... two mics to blend and a clean DI. I do IR's for bass though, and some guitar stuff, but do prefer micing my own cab since I'm lucky enough to at least have a space I can do that, so this is why smaller one and two input interface don't interest me. Also, I wanna be able to use my reamp box if/when needed so I need at least one in to feed to a separate DAW channel for that as well. But than I'm reading the USB can still be buggy on these.... okay, so firewire only ones cheaper, and a firewire card is cheap too. So that may be an option. But I am gonna try to get the Hybrid version so I can try the USB first, and can snag a firewire card as a potential method if the USB still gives me grief (why I liked sticking with the PCI card so long... if you had a port for it, it worked everytime). But than I'm reading the firewire card needs to be a T.I. chipset to work with newer skylake based machines, and now that option is less cheap and harder to find.
I dunno.... It seems like interface/desktop compatibility can still be a crapshoot even if the specs look good on paper? At least under a certain price point it sure does.
So any other interfaces worth looking at that a dude can find used under $250? In this price range the MOTU stuffs looks best bang for buck and reliability.
But than theirs some "wild cards" like say, the Akai EIE box for example. Certainly looks neat, and has nice features for the price... but also, can't help but wonder if theirs a reason you don't hear or about find much about them. Tascam seems to have some options too, and they have a good rep in the past at least, but don't hear much about now either.
Apologies for the wall of text. Just so many factors to consider with this stuff, and wanted to give a clear picture of what I'm working with here. Thanx for any help ;-)
Cheers