Interface for laptop mixing

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jakeao
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Interface for laptop mixing

Post by jakeao » Thu May 08, 2014 5:04 pm

I'm looking for an inexpensive interface for laptop mixing. Any suggestions? Thanks. :)
..."Look lady it's real simple. You slip me the cash, and I slip you the wiener."
" But I don't have any cash"
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JWL
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Post by JWL » Thu May 08, 2014 9:52 pm

I think the new USB or firewire/thunderbolt units from Focusrite and Presonus give a lot of bang for the buck. Do you just need a stereo out for ITB mixes? What kind of mixing do you envision?

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tjcasey1
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Post by tjcasey1 » Fri May 09, 2014 2:27 am

If you just need a decent stereo out for monitoring, the Dragonfly costs $149. It plugs into your USB port and gives you a 1/8" stereo output that all the audiophiles have been raving about, and they're pretty anal retentive people. You could either plug in headphones or connect it to monitors with an adapter.

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Jeff White
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Post by Jeff White » Fri May 09, 2014 11:10 am

Apogee Duet, hands down.

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I record, mix, and master in my Philly-based home studio, the Spacement. https://linktr.ee/ipressrecord

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blungo2
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Post by blungo2 » Fri May 09, 2014 5:27 pm

+1 on both the duet and the dragonfly. If you just need decent stereo outs, the dragonly is the way to go. I got a version 1 (very nice!) from amazon for $99.00

numberthirty
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Post by numberthirty » Fri May 09, 2014 5:54 pm

What sort of interface?

Fader/controller?

Sound card?

jakeao
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Post by jakeao » Sat May 10, 2014 4:41 am

The dragonfly sounds like it might be the ballpark of what I'm looking for. Here is my situation. My main recording setup is at the bass players house, due to more space for tracking. I've been taking the raw tracks and copying them to the laptop to take home and mix on my own time. I really just need something to lighten the load on the computer for audio processing. No crazy inputs, or preamps or any of that.
..."Look lady it's real simple. You slip me the cash, and I slip you the wiener."
" But I don't have any cash"
" Then I don't have a wiener!!!"

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tjcasey1
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Post by tjcasey1 » Sat May 10, 2014 7:26 am

jakeao wrote:The dragonfly sounds like it might be the ballpark of what I'm looking for. Here is my situation. My main recording setup is at the bass players house, due to more space for tracking. I've been taking the raw tracks and copying them to the laptop to take home and mix on my own time. I really just need something to lighten the load on the computer for audio processing. No crazy inputs, or preamps or any of that.
OMG - someone is taking my advice? I'm not used to this - even from my students or children!

Could you please sign a waiver for me in case it ends up I had my head up my butt? :oops:

jakeao
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Post by jakeao » Sun May 11, 2014 2:21 pm

OMG - someone is taking my advice? I'm not used to this - even from my students or children!
I always feel the same way anyone listens to my advice. :)
..."Look lady it's real simple. You slip me the cash, and I slip you the wiener."
" But I don't have any cash"
" Then I don't have a wiener!!!"

kevin206
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Post by kevin206 » Sun May 11, 2014 9:43 pm

I used a Tascam US-1641 at my rehearsal space and an ART USB DualPre at home. I would lug my computer tower back and forth. Lately, I've just been carrying my laptop back and forth. I use the onboard soundcard for playback most of the time while at home. I just plug in some headphones and I can work on edits, automation...things like that. I've even mixed this way and had pretty good results.

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chconnor
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Post by chconnor » Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:56 pm

kevin206 wrote:I used a Tascam US-1641 at my rehearsal space and an ART USB DualPre at home. I would lug my computer tower back and forth. Lately, I've just been carrying my laptop back and forth. I use the onboard soundcard for playback most of the time while at home. I just plug in some headphones and I can work on edits, automation...things like that. I've even mixed this way and had pretty good results.
Yeah, no shame in using factory sound cards!

See for example Ethan Winer's famous soundblaster listening challenge in this demo at http://youtu.be/BYTlN6wjcvQ?t=41m15s

High-quality files from him for testing yourself at http://ethanwiner.com/aes/

...and you can use my program to do the ABX test so you know your results are for real :-) : http://lacinato.com/cm/software/othersoft/abx

That said, the factory soundcard in my laptop is terrible, so it's definitely not a sure thing. :-)

-c

ReelZerosAndOnes
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Post by ReelZerosAndOnes » Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:01 pm

chconnor wrote:
kevin206 wrote:
See for example Ethan Winer's famous soundblaster listening challenge in this demo at http://youtu.be/BYTlN6wjcvQ?t=41m15s

High-quality files from him for testing yourself at http://ethanwiner.com/aes/

...and you can use my program to do the ABX test so you know your results are for real :-) : http://lacinato.com/cm/software/othersoft/abx

That said, the factory soundcard in my laptop is terrible, so it's definitely not a sure thing. :-)

-c
very cool.. thanks for posting.. checking out some Ethan Winer videos now!! Enlightening!
if anyone out there could make an amazing u47 clone as good as flea or wagner for under $2k I would visit every studio in Melbourne and flog it for free. Seriously this must be possible??

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