What's the best Midi Interface? (post what you use and suggestions)

[jrichman63]

What's the best Midi Interface? (post what you use and suggestions)

so far I've heard driver problem withe firewire 410

I'm interested in the:

-Motu ultralite

must be beginer pro-ish
firewire
midi
lines in

I've got...
fender rhodes keyboard/etherwave pro theremin/mics/yamaha P300 controller

oh and I'm run a new core 2 duo baseline macmini
it's only got 1 firewire 400 port! hope this isn't a problem! because I was going to use external drive for EWQL packages.

 

[pianojoe]

Firewire MIDI Interfaces are rare. Didn't you want to say "Audio Interface"?

Right now, I'm using the MIDI ports that come complimentary with my RME Fireface 800. My main keyboard for tracking is an Edirol that comes with built-in USB, so no MIDI here.

Before that, I used a MOTU Fastlane USB which also worked great. I still have it as a backup.

What do you mean with "lines in"?

 

[bartelby]

Firewire MIDI Interfaces are rare. Didn't you want to say "Audio Interface"?

Right now, I'm using the MIDI ports that come complimentary with my RME Fireface 800. My main keyboard for tracking is an Edirol that comes with built-in USB, so no MIDI here.

Before that, I used a MOTU Fastlane USB which also worked great. I still have it as a backup.

What do you mean with "lines in"?

I think the OP means an audio interface with MIDI as well. The "Lines In" is probably line level inputs.

There's this from Alesis this too

 

[Magnus Reftel]

What's the best Midi Interface? (post what you use and suggestions)

so far I've heard driver problem withe firewire 410

I'm interested in the:

-Presonus FireBox

-Motu ultralite

must be beginer pro-ish
firewire
midi
lines in

I've got...
fender rhodes keyboard/etherwave pro theremin/mics/yamaha P300 controller

oh and I'm run a new core 2 duo baseline macmini
it's only got 1 firewire 400 port! hope this isn't a problem! because I was going to use external drive for EWQL packages.

Slight nitpick: what you're after is not a MIDI interface, but an audio interface with built-in MIDI (audio being the part of the interface that can be expensive and driving the bandwith requirement).
I use a Roland USB audio interface and a Midiman USB MIDI interface and am happy with both of them, but if you need an integrated solution and one that uses Firewire, then I guess you don't relly care about that ;-)

 

[Southern]

I've got...a fender rhodes keyboard

You had me at Rhodes...lucky boy.

Some USB to MIDI stuff is pretty easy to come by, but if anyone has any recommendations, I would be grateful as well - I am in the market for a similar device for connecting a keyboard to an iMac.

 

[bartelby]

I use a M-Audio Midiman/Midisport 2x2 at the moment, I need a 4x4 or something.
It's cheap and works well.

 

[Notron J. Antro]

Just bought a refurb c2d 17" imac for $849 that I thought I might use for recording. It should be here tomorrow.

I think I'll, 1) load in logic 7.2, 2) unplug my unitor 8 from the PC, 3) plug that into an AMT8 i scored on closeout a while ago, and 4) hook the AMT to the iMac. Then I'll have a 16 port midi interface.

 

[theman]

I just got a Mackie Onyx Satellite. I'm not sure what you are using it for, but it has some pretty nice mic preamps. You should look at it at least. It came out a $500-600, but now it only costs $200. So, a pretty good deal. I would say it is comparable to the firebox, except you get a lot more I/O, and they are all conveniently on the back of the box, so you don't have cords sticking out the front and going around to the back. Also, if you are interested in a PCI card, the M-Audio Audiophile 192 is pretty good (but you will need extra preamps etc. That's what I had before I moved to a notebook and needed a firewire/usb external interface.

 

[jrichman63]

Ok

Alesis io|14


Two key things I want to ensure.
1. It must work great with macs
2. best quality specs in the product

*My main troubling desiciion is that I'm unsure if ppl have had trouble with Alesis io|14 and macs ( read some bad issues lately, they might be resolved)

*My other known difference is that the Alesis io|14 supposely can record at 192k and the firebow maxes out at 92k.

So......... here are the specs

Alesis iO|14 and receive $40 CASH BACK!
http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=95

Analog Inputs
Sample rates: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz,
176.4kHz, 192kHz

Frequency response: +/- 0.05dB from 20Hz to 22kHz

Dynamic range: 112dB, A-weighted
Signal-to-noise ratio: 112 dB, A-weighted, minimum
gain
THD+N: 0.001 -0.0015% @ 1kHz/0dBFS
Crosstalk: -110dB @ 1 kHz

Preamplifier THD+N: <0.0007 at 20dB gain
Preamplifier slew rate: 15 volts/microsecond

Microphone gain range: +6.8dB to +50dB
Microphone impedance: 1.2kOhm

Line gain range: -15.4dB to 27.8dB
Line impedance: 16kOhm

Guitar gain range: +6.8dB to +50dB
Guitar impedance: 1 MegaOhm


Turntable Input (IO|26 only):
Sample rates: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz,
176.4kHz, 192kHz

Frequency response: +/-1dB from published RIAA curve

Dynamic Range: 95dB, A-weighted
Signal-to-noise ratio: 95dB, A-weighted
THD+N: <0.05%
Crosstalk: -100dB @ 1 kHz
Impedance: 47Kohm


Line-Level Outputs
Sample rates: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz,
176.4kHz, 192kHz

Level: -10dBv/+4dBu nominal (switchable), +19dBu maximum

Frequency response: +/- 0.075 from 20Hz to 22kHz

_24Bit/192kHz Recording for high-quality, pristine recordings
_Superior Clock stability with DICE II JET™ Jitter Elimination Technology
_Audiophile Cirrus converters to provide maximum dynamic range on inputs and outputs
_Flexible, routable Hardware Direct Monitoring and HDM Control Panel software for customizable monitoring mixes (see image below)
_Cubase LE software included (Windows and Mac compatible)
_Bus or adapter powered

[inputs]
_4 Alesis High Definition Mic/Line Preamplifiers built in (2 switchable high-impedance inputs for direct guitar and bass recording)
_Switchable Phantom Power for each channel pair
_Inserts on every analog channel
_8 channels of ADAT input
_16 Channels of MIDI I/O
_Stereo S/PDIF digital input

[outputs]
_2 line-level outputs
_2 discrete stereo headphone outputs
_Stereo S/PDIF digital output


System Hardware Requirements

PC:
• Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 2.0 Ghz or faster
• 1 Gig RAM or more
• Windows XP Home or Professional Service Pack 2 or higher (Windows XP Media Center Edition is untested)

Mac:
• Power Mac G4 Dual 867MHz or faster, all Intel Mac models
• 1 Gig RAM or more
• Mac OSX 10.4 or higher

 

[Kaiser Phoenix]

Go for the Firebox. Solid drivers and very popular interface with many users.

I believe some HDs can be daisychained through the audio interface although im not sure you can do that with the firebox.

Good luck!

 

[jrichman63]

You signature says you have a motu ultralite I know those are great quality and go for 500 ish

 

[Kaiser Phoenix]

The reason why i went for the MOTU was because when I heard the Firebox, I felt that the sound felt more 'punchy' if you know what i mean. I felt that it was more suited for bass/hip-hop styles while I prefer a much more neutral sound, although sound is subjective...

Another consideration was that the Firebox apparently couldnt be bus-powered off the firewire of the Macbook pros due to apple changing some circuits or something in their firewire adaptors and therefore I had to choose otherwise.

But if the firebox actually bus-powered off the MBP, then I may have considered the firebox as I think the price is great and its very reliable and i know many people using them.