Sound interface/patchbay

[Svarta_blixten]

Hi!

I’m thinking of buying a sound interface for my Mac mini. Not quite sure what options that will fit my needs so I thought you might have ideas to share!

Right now I’m using an Axe fx as the sound interface and have a patchbay which I run my external gear through. That way I can record guitar easily through the axe fx via USB and easily route in some externals when in need by how I set up my patch cables in the patchbay.

My goal with a new sound interface is to get rid of my analog patchbay (and all the cable switching). And instead route the outboards through my sound interface and digitally be able to route them differently depending on my needs. I’m not excactly sure but I need around 12-16 in/outs for my preamps, fx racks etc.

I’ve been thinking about a focusrite clarett with an added octopre. I guess that could do it for me?
Got other smart options in the same price range? (Or lower… )

Cheers! /Jonatan

 

[nickgray]

If you don't need pres, there's a MOTU 1U rack unit with 16 ins and outs all in one package, plus ADAT if you want to add pres later

- Overview

 

[Svarta_blixten]

If you don't need pres, there's a MOTU 1U rack unit with 16 ins and outs all in one package, plus ADAT if you want to add pres later

- Overview

Hi!

Sorry for late reply..

MOTU is a great option I guess.
Might be the 828x for me. The two preamps will be enough for most of my needs, and I have 2 external preamps in case I’d need more.

Though the more I have thought about it I feel I will still keep my patchbay and route most fx by hand.

I’ll keep my eyes open for a good deal on a MOTU.

Cheers!

 

[pipelineaudio]

RME's higher channel count cards are the ultimate patchbay, so much so that we sort of (sort of a lot of?) pilfered it when we were making REAPER's matrix routing view. Its a patchbay, but with nearly unlimited multing, panning and gain on the wires

 

[thebeesknees22]

speaking of MOTU in this thread. In my never ending search for a new audio interface with enough I/O for what I want to do in my modest hybrid setup.....

Have any of you checked out the new new MOTU 828 28x32? (apparently it's been updated from what I gather from googlin') It's just under $1k and it ticks all the boxes on the I/O.

I'm currently on an apollo twin x. Conversion wise on paper anyway from what I could scarcely find, they seem comparable? (but some of that info is over my head)

Bang for the buck, it looks kinda awesome.
2 mic pre/line in's.
2 headphone jacks
dedicated monitor outs with 8 line I/O so I could do hybrid for drum bus, inst bus, voc bus, mix bus. Most interfaces are 1 pair short for doing that across all my busses.

Hmmm... I'm tempted to try this route so I'm not dumping a ton into I/O if I decide later I'd rather stay all ITB. hmmmm mmmmm

 

[thebeesknees22]

Ok, new question. Possibly a dumb question.

Back on the RME front - is there such a thing as an AES to XLR converter/adapter? the UFX III would have all the I/O I need if I could use the AES outs, but my monitors only take XLR input.

I googled until I'm tired of googling and couldn't find such a thing that might exist.

 

[thebeesknees22]

nvmd, found the answer to my question after some more searching

 

[Svarta_blixten]

Yepp

speaking of MOTU in this thread. In my never ending search for a new audio interface with enough I/O for what I want to do in my modest hybrid setup.....

Have any of you checked out the new new MOTU 828 28x32? (apparently it's been updated from what I gather from googlin') It's just under $1k and it ticks all the boxes on the I/O.

I'm currently on an apollo twin x. Conversion wise on paper anyway from what I could scarcely find, they seem comparable? (but some of that info is over my head)

Bang for the buck, it looks kinda awesome.
2 mic pre/line in's.
2 headphone jacks
dedicated monitor outs with 8 line I/O so I could do hybrid for drum bus, inst bus, voc bus, mix bus. Most interfaces are 1 pair short for doing that across all my busses.

Hmmm... I'm tempted to try this route so I'm not dumping a ton into I/O if I decide later I'd rather stay all ITB. hmmmm mmmmm

I saw it. Looks very interesting. Though I’m getting kind of biased whether I want that many digital line in’s or if It suits me better to have my good ’ol patchbay to run most of my outboards through..

Can’t decide!

 

[thebeesknees22]

since this is an interface/patchbay thread, i'm going to toss in my patchbay question

i've never owned one, but I'm looking to get one at some point. I don't really need anything fancy like the flock for what I do currently.

is there really much difference in them? Like for instance
the samson S-patch 48 point for $139 on sweetwater
vs
the behringer 48 point for $89
vs
the black lion for $199
vs
switchcraft ones that get pretty expensive.


like... there's not a lot to them. How bad could the cheapo ones be?