Tony Gayle Audio Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Has anyone used the ESI ESU1808 18in/8out USB2.0 INTERFACE or Presonus FP10? I've been offered both at a knockdown price of £250 each. I can't seem to find anything else out there for the same money...any suggestions? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I've got a PreSonus Firepod which I'm pretty sure is the same thing? What did you want to know about it? I use mine as the 8-ch audio interface for EASERA SysTune along with a handful of cheap Behringer ECM8000 RTA mics. Does the job, no greif at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killyp Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 20 channels even at 44.1/16 will be laggy. Running 12 channels down USB at the same quality (as I do frequently) is bad enough. I would look for a Firewire device, it frees up a usable amount of processor as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Gayle Audio Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Which one sounds better? I take your point about the usb lag issue, is there any other firewire interface with at least 8 outputs for the sme price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 The PreSonus is Firewire, 8 Mic Pres, 8 Outs. You could check out the MOTU 8PRE too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killyp Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 The Motu Ultralite does exactly what you want for a little more than your budget (which is worth it IMO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Gayle Audio Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share Posted April 5, 2009 Thanks KillyP. I don't mind spending a little more, buy cheap buy twice is my motto! I've only ever heard stuff through a RME but they are too expensive for me as I would only personally use it 4 or 5 times a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I can't compare your two shortlisted interfaces but I can confirm that the Presonus certainly sounds very good indeed to my ears. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Sorry to drag an old topic out from the dead, but I thought it might be worth adding one other option - I have an M-Audio Lightbridge personally, which is a 32-in, 32-out ADAT FireWire card (plus a couple of SPDIF and MIDI etc) - for around £230 on the high street (I can't remember exactly what I paid for mine). If I need analog outputs I hook it up to Behringer ADA8000s, but luckily for the most part I can run it directly over ADAT from an LS9 using MY-AT16 cards. Depending on your application this might be a cheaper may to go for the higher channel numbers. (I use mine mostly for large scale multitrack playback, rather than recording.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Yeah, that's how I operate except I have a DM1000 instead of an LS9. It works well and has been pressed into service both for recording and for multichannel playback on some shows. If you have an ADAT-capable digital mixer it's certainly an economical way of getting a lot of tracks in and out of a computer. One thing to say is that the ADA8000 boxes are great value for money but can be a bit noisy, especially if you have to crank up the mic pre-amps. I use them for the "non money channels" for live work but stick to better mic pre-amps for recording duties. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I absolutely agree - the mic pres on them can be quite nasty, all I use them for is recording voiceovers and show calls. My setup is for effects / ambiance playback for theatre, so I'm using 32 out rather than in. Luckily the line-level outputs seem to be a bit better than the inputs. It's just worth a mention if you have ADAT capabilities anywhere in the setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.