Sound interface

[Moon]

Their are some great sound interfaces available on the market that needs specific needs for the studio.

Some needed features:
- Stand alone operation so you can use the unit as a digital mixer
- Near perfect sound quality
- Expandable
- Reliable
- Versatile: seperate headphone volume control, speaker management, remote control unit,...

I did some research and found allready 3 great products:
- TC electronic - Studio connect 24 (1200 euro with remote control unit) : http://www.tcelectronic.com/default.asp?id=12372
- Presonus  - Firestudio (850 euro with remote control unit) : http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=5
- MOTU 828 mkIII (750 euro) : http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/828mk3

There are some other great products out there like Mackie's Onyx 1200F, tagged at a price beyond the budget of a 'modest' studio.

If you have experince with one of this units or if you believe the list should be extended, please post your reply. Do need, we're looking for units that can operate in a standalone mode.

Moon

[Marc JX8P]

You should also check out the new Steinberg/Yamaha interfaces (http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/hardware/mr816x.html) as they get quite good reviews. I think I recall that they are useable as stand-alone too but you'll have to check their features to be sure.

[Moon]

The mr816 looks like a very great interface, although it seems to be aimed at Cubase users.

Another great choice is the Digirack 03 from Digidesign.

[Marc JX8P]

Well, Cubase users profit from enhanced integration into their daw. I believe it is bundled with Cubase AI too which is a cut-down but from what I hear very complete version of Cubase. But it's useable outside of Cubase too.