Suggested USB Interface?

[hokenfloken]

Greetings!

 

I'm interested in buying a USB interface for my Mac. I run OS X Lion.

There are tons of USB interfaces available, from cheap to expensive.

I am not looking to spend a lot of money. In my mind, something like this shouldn't be really expensive. I just need something solid, reliable and macintosh-friendly. I will be using garage bands.

 

Give me your suggestions. Thanks!

[bolero]

I am using one of these with my macbook pro, works great with garage band

 

Roland Octa-Capture

 

http://www.roland.co...cts/en/UA-1010/

 

 

piece of cake to setup: install drivers, mac asks if you want to use it as an external soundcard, yes....plug headphones & instruments in & go!!

 

the inputs will take 1/4" as well as XLR mic inputs

[pegleg32]

I am using one of these with my macbook pro, works great with garage band

 

Roland Octa-Capture

 

http://www.roland.co...cts/en/UA-1010/

 

 

piece of cake to setup: install drivers, mac asks if you want to use it as an external soundcard, yes....plug headphones & instruments in & go!!

 

the inputs will take 1/4" as well as XLR mic inputs

 

 

Looks interesting, just wondering if you have ever used it with a mic in (mic from amp) and a line out to a powered speaker. I'm having a hard time with lag. I want to copy my audio background into the software and than play it through the powered speaker as I record my amp.

[bolero]

here's what I typically do:

 

I have a stereo mic in front of an amp, fed into the roland's 1 & 2 inputs

 

these go into the Mac via the USB

 

garageband has multitracks playing back, that I've either recorded before or imported ( drums, bass, etc )

 

I record on top of that

 

instead of a powered monitor I use headphones plugged into the roland....but monitors would be the same setup, run out of the roland's outs

 

no lag problems yet?

[bolero]

ps here is a pretty thorough review

 

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2746804-Roland-Octa-Capture-Interface-Now-with-Conclusions

[Kmenne]

I will bring one to work today.

M Audio Fast track.

I have been using it with garage band for a long time!

[pegleg32]

here's what I typically do:

 

I have a stereo mic in front of an amp, fed into the roland's 1 & 2 inputs

 

these go into the Mac via the USB

 

garageband has multitracks playing back, that I've either recorded before or imported ( drums, bass, etc )

 

I record on top of that

 

instead of a powered monitor I use headphones plugged into the roland....but monitors would be the same setup, run out of the roland's outs

 

no lag problems yet?

 

Thanks Bolero, that sounds like it will work. I will give it a try.

[bolero]

pegleg, what kind of computer & OS are you using?

 

there are sampling rates you can set/adjust, depending on what your hardware is, this can have a big effect on lag

 

also I know for a fact that Vista has a lot of audio problems, compared to a Mac or Windows 7

[GuitArtMan]

Well I'm still running Snow Leopard on my iMac. When I asked the same question over at TGP about this time last year I got more recomenedations for the Apogee Duet than all other interfaces combined. Their DACs/ADCs and drivers are suposed to be superior to anything in it's price range.

[pegleg32]

pegleg, what kind of computer & OS are you using?

 

there are sampling rates you can set/adjust, depending on what your hardware is, this can have a big effect on lag

 

also I know for a fact that Vista has a lot of audio problems, compared to a Mac or Windows 7

 

I have a Dell PC running vista and an Apple Macbook Pro running OS 10.6.8. My interface is a Yamaha Audiogram 6 which I originally bot to run with the Dell - I was never very happy with it. And for whatever reason they never made a driver to run on the Mac. Recording has always been something that just drove me up a wall so I have ended up lately recording everything in one shot with either a hand held recorder or just doing a video. Someday I would actually like to mix and refine something.