Suggestions for Audio Interface for Mac & Logic Pro X needed

[khowie]

I am new to Mac and Logic Pro, I am looking for suggestions for an audio interface. I am also in the market for a condenser mic. I am thinking about the Rode NT1-A. (use for the mic is mainly for female vocals.)

Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

[orest]

http://www.apogeedigital.com/

Will work very very well

Duet and Quartet are highly recommended!

[andygabrys]

i have an apogee Duet 2 and its great, and I also have the breakout box, which IMO is sort of necessary to prevent a mess of cords and stuff hanging out of the back of the Duet.

however, since Universal Audio just released the Apollo Twin, I would spend the money on that instead. they are very close in price, especially if you buy the breakout box for the Duet. The UAD plugins are great, and having the option to record through them on the way in is an awesome idea - I have a UAD quad card and you cannot record through the plugins like you can on this Apollo Twin. There is a functional bundle of plugins included with this interface too. And you need a thunderbolt port to use this. It comes in the single and double versions - the double having more processing power for using the plugins in your mix as well as to record through.

compare:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Duet2iOS/
+
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Duet2box/

or

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ApolloTwinS/

the Rode is a decent mic. there are options to modify it in the future if it doesn't sound quite right to you: http://www.oktavamodshop.com/product_in ... cts_id=145

hope that helps.

[kclements]

I agree with Andy - The Duet is a great interface. I have one of the originals and it works really, really well. I haven't had any major issues with it (there are a couple little things at first, but they seem to have been fixed now), and I don't have the break-out box. But it works well with my setup.

I will most likely update my interface next year, and right now the Twin seems like the way to go. A great way to get into the UA plugs, which everyone I know and trust swears by them. But for me, that means a new Mac as well. So the other contender in the Apogee Quartet.

You have to have thunderbolt to use the Twin - you can't use an adapter cable. So if you Mac has TB, you are all set, if not (like me) you have to upgrade your Mac or go another route.

You don't mention what kind of Mac you have or what type of music you are doing. How many inputs do you need? That will dictate what interface will work and what won't.

The Duet is limited to 2 at a time - I think the Twin can do 10 if you use the ADAT ins.

cheers
kc

[orest]

UA really do great interfaces, but, is there only 1 thunderbolt?
Being on MacBook pro with only 1 thunderbolt (for a big screen) I can't use the UA. It's strange that they don't have 2 thunderbolts so that you can chain it through the audio interface.

[kclements]

UA really do great interfaces, but, is there only 1 thunderbolt?
Being on MacBook pro with only 1 thunderbolt (for a big screen) I can't use the UA. It's strange that they don't have 2 thunderbolts so that you can chain it through the audio interface.

I've heard it's is a matter of cost. The license for Thunderbolt apparently is pretty spendy, which is why you don't see a lot of devices with dual ports. A lot of the hard drives I've looked at only have one port as well.

Here is a thunderport dock that you could add - but it adds $200 to the price: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/TSUS60/

cheers -
kc

[andygabrys]

i heard similar to Kayle.

a lot of the thunderbolt hard drive enclosures on OWC site have dual t-bolt ports. Then there are the matrox / caldigit / belkin / docks and the Lacie eSata to T-bolt - they all have several t-bolt ports on em.

And the magma t-bolt to pci, and the similar units on OWC have dual ports.

I have a feeling by middle 2014, we are going to see Thunderbolt standard on all the UA stuff (the bigger apollos) and also Satellite units that have T-bolt ports. Hopefully they will put 2 ports on the Satellites as well.

[neilmct]

My daughter has the Apogee Quartet. You really can't go wrong with it. The pres are great and so is the conversion. We bought it a year ago, paired it with Equator D5 monitors and the setup has been rock solid. Simple and sounds great.

[steveBHC]

Apogee is good quality stuff for sure.

Also look in to focusrite, good solid pre amps. Just picked up the Scarlett 18i8 interface and its been working like a charm.

Good Luck!

[johnlewitt]

I'm a happy, original Duet user.

John