Line out or Midi out?

[mojobone]

Tons, but I wouldn't know what's right for your particular situation without asking a whole bunch of questions about your experience level, your budget and how and what you intend to record. The choice will also involve the other components of your recording rig; laptop or desktop, home or pro studio/location recording, etc. You may even be better off with a hardware recorder, in some circumstances. Here are some links to help you be aware of the choices and issues involved:

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer ... _guide.php

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer ... _guide.php

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer ... _guide.php

The FireWire interface I selected includes audio, MIDI and a (motorized) control surface, and leaves room in my desktop computer for expansion/accelerator cards and additional hard drives as my rig grows. I have 18 simultaneously available inputs/outputs; enough to track a medium-sized band in my den, which is about all that will fit, heh. I also have enough ancillary and outboard gear to mix and master a project of that size, and it's by design; I spent the better part of 18 months researching the products and planning the budget to ensure compatibility. I was able to do all this for well under $4k because I already owned a bunch of mics, cables, stands, amplifiers and instruments. Of course, there was a tradeoff for all this firepower; my rig ain't portable.

Your situation and goals are no doubt different; I'd suggest spending some time dreaming, visualizing and planning your studio based on a number of different budget scenarios. (it's always fun to dream about what you'd do if money were no object, and surprisingly rewarding to find out how much cool stuff you can do on even a very limited budget-check out the Zoom R24, you could do a lot of damage with that and even a vanilla laptop) After your heart's desires begin to coalesce around a few core pieces of kit, you can relegate some stuff to the wishlist, (there's always gonna be one) and get started.

[herminga123]

Thanks!!! I already have a Boss stand-alone but want to get into the computer-based world and utilize the virtual instruments from my digital piano. I've heard that the Apogee products (i.e. Duet) have great sound quality but to my knowledge they don't Midi. Are there midi converter cables, etc, available that would allow a midi connection?

[mojobone]

Well, you can't convert MIDI to audio using only a cable, but you can certainly upgrade MIDI-triggered sounds using better samples or software. Converters are only a concern if you intend to use microphones and/or upstream preamps. A/D and D/A are irrelevant if your only input is via MIDI.

[herminga123]

Well, I knew you would lose me eventually...lol. I guess my question is, am I able to use Midi functionality by connecting my Korg digital piano to Apogee Duet through line out since Midi data can travel to the computer via the audio interface's USB or Firewire cable?

[mojobone]

Yes. Or not exactly....
The Apogee Duet doesn't have MIDI in or out ports; (the knob is an assignable MIDI controller, so it does send some MIDI info to the computer over the FireWire bus, but it ain't note data that's sent, just the position of the knob) you're covered if your digital piano has a USB port, though, cuz you can send and receive MIDI note data via USB. (and any other kinds of MIDI data your digital piano generates, such as pitch bend or mod wheel position, damper up or down, etc.) Your DAW sees audio and MIDI ins and outs as separate devices, anyway, so your software won't get confused.

[herminga123]

Thanks, Mojo. You've been EXTREMELY helpful! You saved me a lot of time sitting around being confused...lol. My Korg doesn't have USB so it looks like I'll have to find a Midi interface. I was looking forward to the Duet though since I heard it has great sound. Do you recommend anything in the $400 to $500 range that has great sound quality? As I stated before I'm buying an imac 27", i7, 8gig ram, with Logic Express. Thanks!

Herm

[mojobone]

With the iMac, you'll probably want a USB audio/MIDI interface, so you can save your FireWire port(s) for external drives. You'll want one drive for audio and another for your samples, if you use sampled virtual instruments. It's hard to advise you on what to get without knowing a whole lot more about how and what you intend to record, but your budget allows for a lot, in terms of both quality and features; you'll want to research all the available features especially, cuz, for example, some units have more outputs, which is handy if you want to connect a bunch of analog hardware you already own. Or you might select a USB mixer as your interface, if you need lots of inputs. (though many of those don't include MIDI I/O, which you'll need)


http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UltraLite3Hy/
This might be overkill, but it has latency-free monitoring and onboard compression, EQ and reverb, so you don't have to strain your computer if you like to monitor through effects while recording. The preamps and AD/DA conversion are nearly on par with the Apogee Duet, and it's tough as nails, in case you want to take it on the road. Works on either FireWire or USB, and runs on bus power in FW mode.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IonixU82S/
Comes with top notch preamps and converters and a very nice Lexicon software reverb.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UA101/
Excellent preamps and converters, plenty of I/O, built in limiter, but has a wall-wart power supply

On the whole, FireWire interfaces tend to be of better quality than USB interfaces; you might be as well off with the Apogee Duet and a vanilla USB Midi interface, if you have enough FireWire ports on your machine. (drives and interfaces are technically capable of sharing the same FW port, but some interface manufacturers recommend against it) USB drives are slower than FireWire drives; the speed of your drives can affect your DAW's performance. USB drives are fine for system backups, though.

[herminga123]

My new imac - yup, in came in yesterday (27", 2.93 ghz i7, 8 gigs RAM, 1TB), only has one firewire port and 4 USB 2.0 ports. Are you saying record the Midi data from my Korg through an inexpensive USB Midi interface and then run it back through an Apogee Duet? Would I encounter any latency issues? My piano style is pretty thick (heavy chording).

[mojobone]

Unless every instrument you use is entirely 'in the box', latency will be an issue. (and even then, it will still be an issue when overdubbing)

Yeah, you could record MIDI data to a sequencer, pass it through to your hardware keyboard and record the output to an audio track in your DAW through the Duet; that should work very well; it's just that software instruments get updated more often than hardware, and are consequently more advanced, and sometimes better-sounding. For the iMac, it might be best to reserve the FireWire bus for hard drives; a FireWire hub might increase your available options, but much depends on your system and configuration. Drives and interfaces on the same FW bus might work, but might not be supported; consult the literature that came with your hardware, to be reasonably sure, if not certain.

[herminga123]

Ok, my mind is spinning now. Me and my, "I just want to create music" mentality is coming back to haunt me!!

I guess I better explain what I want to do. My set up will be simple. I have a Korg SG Pro X 88-key digital piano (no USB port) that I want to use as a Midi controller and use virtual instruments inside Logic. My songs are piano-based and I plan on only using 5 to 10 tracks per song....all virtual instruments except for my vocals. I would like to buy additional software (piano samples, strings, etc) since my Korg has some outdated piano sounds.

Will the Duet and something like an M-Audio Sport allow me to use virtual instruments AND my Korg sounds? Will this produce latency or would I be better off with something like the MOTU ultralite since it is audio/midi (although i heard the MOTU has suspect sound quality)?

You mentioned I should save my FireWire port on my imac for external drives. Here's another newbie question: Would I record to this drive and why would I want to do this? Should I not use my imac hard drive for samples or recording? It's tough being a newbie!!