What's the best audio interface to use with the MPC 2000XL?

I have a MPC 2000XL Studio Plus with the 8 audio outputs. I want to start recording my music into my MacBook Pro. I'm seriously considering the PreSonus FireStudio Project as my audio interface. Mainly because this audio interface has Firewire connectivity and 8 mic preamps to handle each of the 8 channels coming out of the MPC 2000XL. Does anybody have any other suggestions as far as audio interfaces? I'm also considering Ableton as my DAW. I appreciate any input on this topic. Thanks!

PreSonus make good interfaces, as do a few companies in that price range.

I'll just throw a curveball and suggest the Mackie Onyx series as an all in one mixer and interface solution. It's plug and play with Mac too.

Thanks Coz. If I went that route, the Mackie Onyx 820i looks like it would suite my needs. However, there is no Midi I/O which I would like to have.

Thanks for the suggestion Lamp Dog. Never heard of the Orpheus interface. I will check into that. In the meantime, any thoughts on the Focusrite Saffire 40? Trying to keep things around $500.



http://us.focusrite.com/firewire-audio- ... ire-pro-40

My bad Lamp Dog. I should have told you my budget.

If you are looking for 8 quality ins on a budget, its hard to beat the Scarlett 18i6, which I use with my 4000 and a macbook.

The Pro 40 is great but you are going to be paying double for options that youll never use at least in your current setup, like ADAT I/O.

I would agree it's not a bad idea to buy more inputs than you might need in the present if you can afford, it usually does pay off at some point.

I would also agree that any of the current Focusrite offerings are some of the most bang for your buck out there. Drivers are solid too, of the 12+ people I've talked to who got recent Focusrite interfaces, they were all really happy.

Focusrite interfaces are fine but the Mix Control software isn't that great. I've kept my Pro 24DSP for the ADAT, but when I switched to the 1220i it was like I'd been producing with boxing gloves on for the previous 12 months.

My self proclaimed, "I don't need a mixer anymore" was a total disaster for my workflow.

Thanks for the suggestion on the Scarlett 18i6 MaZe. However, I've been told that USB 2.0 interfaces can only record 2-3 tracks simultaneously while Firewire can handle up to 10. Is that true?

shawncurtin wrote:Thanks for the suggestion on the Scarlett 18i6 MaZe. However, I've been told that USB 2.0 interfaces can only record 2-3 tracks simultaneously while Firewire can handle up to 10. Is that true?

No.

That would be a comparison to the USB 1.1 standard which did top out after minimal tracks. Only really old stuff like MBox 1 are USB 1.1, it's all but extinct now, thankfully.

Now to be fair FW is at a theoretically advantage over USB 2.0 as it's not a host based protocol. That is to say the CPU does not need to direct the throughput of a FW data stream, the FW controller in the computer handles all all that.

But in real world application especially over the last few years USB 2.0 goes toe to toe with FW in most cases as far as track counts, but you will pay a slight premium in overall CPU overhead "cost", but nothing that will really hinder you.

Because USB 2.0 is a host based protocol a well written, efficient driver can close the majority of any gap in potential performance between FW and USB 2.0. So companies like Focusrite, MOTU, RME and others place a strong premium on providing solid drivers, where a company like M-Audio sometimes does not. A quality USB 2.0 interface can sometimes not run as well as it could if the driver isn't really well done.

Wow, thanks for the info Metatron72. It was my understanding that I needed Firewire connectivity to record up to 8-10 tracks simultaneously. Regarding the number of preamp inputs on the interface, if I'm sending 8 tracks out of the MPC 2000XL, wouldn't it be best to have the same number of preamp inputs on the interface as well so the audio quality is relatively the same when mixing in the DAW?