Joe
hi, i'm looking to buy an external audio interface. which one should i get?
the main reason is to get the best sound quality i can out of my monitors (KRK Rokit 6s)
however it'd be good to be able to plug an instrument or mic or two in as well.
my budget is about £150 roughly (or around $230 for you Americans)
i also need help with the cabling. i think XLR is what i want, but the KRKs also have TRS (and unbalanced RCA). any advice about the different cabling would be much appreciated too.
interfaces i've been looking at already are the M-Audio Fast Track Pro or variations of and the Presonus Audiobox... any other suggestions are welcome.
Thanks!
also, it needs to be able to work with my Windows 7 (64 bit) PC and a MAC laptop i'm getting shortly
Answer
One of the things that you need to be cautious about is the stability of drivers. There are a lot of audio interfaces out there that do the job in terms of hardware and features. But their compatibility with software is horrible due to faulty drivers. Especially since you plan to use that on a 64-bit Windows 7 for a while, driver stability is all the more important.
I would advise you to buy the Focusrite Saffire 6 USB. It is available on Amazon UK for exactly £150. It has 2 microphone/instrument inputs with phantom power. And apart from RCA outputs, it has 1/4'' Phono outputs too(which is exactly the same thing as TRS. This baby's drivers are SO solid that it responds well to anything I throw at it. For my last song, it ran 24 tracks of audio with three plugins on each track! It is built like a tank, so it'll last a while too.
Now in comparison to the M-Audio Fast Track, this is far far better. My friend has the M-Audio, so I have hands on experience with both these interfaces. The pre-amps in the M-Audio are just not as good and the output is a bit muddier. The build quality is not as good, and there are a few latency issues. And more importantly, the drivers are a hit and a miss. So I would advise you to stay away from M-Audio Interfaces. Their keyboards and monitors are great. Interfaces, not so much.
I am not sure about the Presonus as I haven't used it. But this is what I found from a review. And if you are a guitar player this might effect you:
"I tried the PreSonus AudioBox recently and was extremely disappointed with it. I didn't try it with a microphone since I'm usually recording guitars direct, but the preamps are designed to ALWAYS have 20 db of gain being applied even with the input turned all the way down. I looked this up on their official forums, and it is intentional. Because of this, I was never able to get a signal that wouldn't clip when palm muting (even with passive pickups). They don't have any kind of software mixer either, so you have to buy an attenuator pad or find some other workaround.
There's also a knob that you use to blend the mix between the hardware direct monitoring signal and the regular output. Even with the knob turned all the way to the regular output side, you still get some "leak" from the direct signal coming through the monitors. This can cause feedback problems, give you inaccurate monitoring (in my situation, because I'm hearing dry/clean guitar signal at the same time as amp sim VSTs), and is just a general pain in the ass.
And just to add icing on the cake...I also discovered that the output starts digitally clipping with the output knob at only 9 O'CLOCK! Ridiculous."
So in conclusion. I will hands down recommend the Focusrite Saffire 6 USB. And if it is of any good, it is an English company based in High Wycombe (looked up wikipedia). So it is always good to work with a local company as support is far more available. M-Audio support is terrible. Enjoy!
One of the things that you need to be cautious about is the stability of drivers. There are a lot of audio interfaces out there that do the job in terms of hardware and features. But their compatibility with software is horrible due to faulty drivers. Especially since you plan to use that on a 64-bit Windows 7 for a while, driver stability is all the more important.
I would advise you to buy the Focusrite Saffire 6 USB. It is available on Amazon UK for exactly £150. It has 2 microphone/instrument inputs with phantom power. And apart from RCA outputs, it has 1/4'' Phono outputs too(which is exactly the same thing as TRS. This baby's drivers are SO solid that it responds well to anything I throw at it. For my last song, it ran 24 tracks of audio with three plugins on each track! It is built like a tank, so it'll last a while too.
Now in comparison to the M-Audio Fast Track, this is far far better. My friend has the M-Audio, so I have hands on experience with both these interfaces. The pre-amps in the M-Audio are just not as good and the output is a bit muddier. The build quality is not as good, and there are a few latency issues. And more importantly, the drivers are a hit and a miss. So I would advise you to stay away from M-Audio Interfaces. Their keyboards and monitors are great. Interfaces, not so much.
I am not sure about the Presonus as I haven't used it. But this is what I found from a review. And if you are a guitar player this might effect you:
"I tried the PreSonus AudioBox recently and was extremely disappointed with it. I didn't try it with a microphone since I'm usually recording guitars direct, but the preamps are designed to ALWAYS have 20 db of gain being applied even with the input turned all the way down. I looked this up on their official forums, and it is intentional. Because of this, I was never able to get a signal that wouldn't clip when palm muting (even with passive pickups). They don't have any kind of software mixer either, so you have to buy an attenuator pad or find some other workaround.
There's also a knob that you use to blend the mix between the hardware direct monitoring signal and the regular output. Even with the knob turned all the way to the regular output side, you still get some "leak" from the direct signal coming through the monitors. This can cause feedback problems, give you inaccurate monitoring (in my situation, because I'm hearing dry/clean guitar signal at the same time as amp sim VSTs), and is just a general pain in the ass.
And just to add icing on the cake...I also discovered that the output starts digitally clipping with the output knob at only 9 O'CLOCK! Ridiculous."
So in conclusion. I will hands down recommend the Focusrite Saffire 6 USB. And if it is of any good, it is an English company based in High Wycombe (looked up wikipedia). So it is always good to work with a local company as support is far more available. M-Audio support is terrible. Enjoy!
What does an obstetrics appointment involve?
calisia_c
I will be having my first obstetrics appointment when i am 12 weeks pregnant. I remember when i was pregnant 1st time round, i never saw an obstetrician, and saw a midwife instead. So i am wondering what this involves? And also if i am referred to see the obstetrician, does that mean they consider me as high risk?
This will be my first appointment, so im not sure if this will involve the booking appointment, I will also be having my first scan at the same day.
All advice appreciated.
From UK.
Thanks for your reply. Im just abit confused why i am refered to obs, as i had a normal pregnancy. The only thing i think of is i am 1 point over obese. Hope its nothing to worry about though. :S
Answer
Obstetrician appointment - will discuss your medical history, previous pregnancy and birth, information on father to be, your current pregnancy, your due date, will take bp, maybe ultrasound (if obs has machine in office). It is a get to know you and your history and where you currently are at.
My first pregnancy i saw a midwife, 2nd pregnancy i requested an obstetrician, my 3rd (current) pregnancy, i automatically went back to my obs.
Being referred to an obs can mean your pregnancy is higher risk or it needs more monitoring, but this is not always he case.
My first pregnancy ended at 24 weeks when her heart stopped beating. My 2nd pregnancy was not considered high risk and i had the option of midwife or obs. I personally chose an obs, i wanted the special treatment, the regular reviews, a doctor. She was lovely, she also was/is into fetal medicine/research and reviewed my lost daughters autopsy/results and researched this further for me, but still no answers. She was caring, thorough, professional, observant and very reassuring.
Even though neither were high risk, previous pregnancy and current, i don't regret obs over a midwife. No offense to midwives, they are trained and do a great job, but for me, a specialist was reassuring even though not needed.
Good luck and congratulations
Add:
Surely that wouldn't be the case, if it is that's weird :)
An obs is no bother, just more qualified than a midwife. If you had no problems with your first then your situation is unusual or the midwife/place is unusual. You can always ask the obs why you were referred, the are pretty honest most of the time.
Try not to worry, midwife or obs, your baby and you are being looked after :)
In Australia, those with private health insurance automatically go to obs for private hospitals for normal healthy pregnancies, where as midwifes treat/monitor public patients.
Obstetrician appointment - will discuss your medical history, previous pregnancy and birth, information on father to be, your current pregnancy, your due date, will take bp, maybe ultrasound (if obs has machine in office). It is a get to know you and your history and where you currently are at.
My first pregnancy i saw a midwife, 2nd pregnancy i requested an obstetrician, my 3rd (current) pregnancy, i automatically went back to my obs.
Being referred to an obs can mean your pregnancy is higher risk or it needs more monitoring, but this is not always he case.
My first pregnancy ended at 24 weeks when her heart stopped beating. My 2nd pregnancy was not considered high risk and i had the option of midwife or obs. I personally chose an obs, i wanted the special treatment, the regular reviews, a doctor. She was lovely, she also was/is into fetal medicine/research and reviewed my lost daughters autopsy/results and researched this further for me, but still no answers. She was caring, thorough, professional, observant and very reassuring.
Even though neither were high risk, previous pregnancy and current, i don't regret obs over a midwife. No offense to midwives, they are trained and do a great job, but for me, a specialist was reassuring even though not needed.
Good luck and congratulations
Add:
Surely that wouldn't be the case, if it is that's weird :)
An obs is no bother, just more qualified than a midwife. If you had no problems with your first then your situation is unusual or the midwife/place is unusual. You can always ask the obs why you were referred, the are pretty honest most of the time.
Try not to worry, midwife or obs, your baby and you are being looked after :)
In Australia, those with private health insurance automatically go to obs for private hospitals for normal healthy pregnancies, where as midwifes treat/monitor public patients.
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Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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