New Audio Interface Suggestion

Off-Topic
1

I’m looking forward to buy a new audio interface to upgrade my home studio and replace my old M-Audio Audiphile 24/96, so any suggestions/advices are welcome.
My aim at the moment is to achieve as good sound quality as possible for the money - my budget is around $1100. I don’t need too many ins/outs, but it would be good if
I could extend my interface in the future. What I want to do at the moment is recording acoustic guitar and other instruments. Here is my list after reading tons of
forums/reviews on the web in the last weeks - basically I chose 4 interfaces, and I’ll pick one of them but it is really hard to decide since each one has its own pros and cons.
(My system: Win7 Ultimate x64 sp1, MSI 785GM-E51 with latest BIOS, AMD Phenom II x4 945 3.0GHz, GEIL Black Dragon DDR3 4x2 GB 1333MHz, windows/drivers/everything are up do date.)

1. E-mu 1616m PCIe http://www.creative.com/emu/products/product.aspx?pid=19007

  • PCIe interface, better latency
  • Superior A/D conversion in this range
  • MIC pres, so I’m ready to record
  • It would be the best solution in price => more money for cables, and a Shure sm57
  • Crappy support and even worse drivers for WIN7 x64, a lot of love/hate opinions on the web (the device died, phantom power died, etc.)
  • In general, it seems I would buy a pig in a poke and I can only hope that it’ll work properly with my system/motherboard (if it works it is a great unit/interface according to the reviews)
  • The company seems to be “dead” for years(?) especially in case of upgrading their drivers

2. RME HDSPe AIO http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdspe_aio.php

  • PCIe interface
  • Stable and professional support/drivers, trustworthy quality in general
  • Probably the best solution in long term as a “soul” of my future home studio (stability, quality, etc.)
    ? Built in A/D D/A converters are great in this range
  • No preamp built in, which means I have to buy an M-Audio DMP3 (nothing better because of my budget) with the card
  • Additional cost for the balanced cables (the unbalanced ones are packed with the card)

3. Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 http://global.focusrite.com/firewire-audio-interfaces/saffire-pro-40

  • Lots of features
  • Great sounding preamps
  • Nice and flexible “outboard” box with headphone and main monitor adjusting
  • Stable drivers
  • FireWire interface (possible problems with connectivity, higher latency, etc.)
    ? Not as good A/D conversion as the EMU or RME

4. ECHO AudioFire Pre8 http://echoaudio.com/products/audiofire-pre8

  • Stable drivers and support like RME
  • Very good sound quality in general
  • FireWire interface

So I would appreciate any experience/advices related to the mentioned interfaces. Thank you! :)/>

2

I can only say something about E-MU with wich I didn’t really had a nice experience with, and Focusrite Saffire, wich I had for four years now and still love.
I’ve got a saffire pro 24 and it never let me down. I have to admit I’ve had a few firewire connection problems (connection lost while plugged in, reboot computer, bladieblah) but those were always when I was fiddling with cables in the back of my computer. The preamps are superb for the money and if you’re thinking about expanding there are great upgrade modules available.
I can’t tell you anything about RME and ECHO though.

3

Hey, thanks for your response td6d!

Yes, the Saffire pro seems to be an affordable solution. At the moment I’m hesitating between the RME and the Saffire Pro - fortunately still have time to decide until September.

For a “home studio starter pack”, probably the Saffire would be a better choice with the preams and all the features (and their quality), which are really great in this price range.

4

Grab any new (Scarlett series for example) focusrite interface. Ive tested those on Win7 and OS X 10.7/10.8 and they are rock stable and sounds great for that price.