USB Interfaces

[VikingBlues]

I'm looking for a solution to my Alesis iO2 interface which, with it's refusal to play ball with my PC system, means taking a hammer to it or selling it and getting a new interface that might work for me. The Vox Tonelab ST works fine as a USB interface so there must be others that do that too!

So - a USB interface which accepts guitar line level, ordinary line level, and 2 microphone inputs (+ phantom power option), and one midi in - midi out.

I've been wondering about:-
Lexicon Lambda with Cubase LE 4 and Lexicon Pantheon Reverb Plug-In
Cakewalk UA25EX by Roland (used to be Edirol) with SONAR LE, Project5 LE, and Dimension LE

Anyone had any experience of these - or used anything good that has the features I'm looking for. But I'm on a strict budget under £175 / $275 / 210 Euros. Trying to get something for nothing as usual but it has to be self financing from what I've been selling off.

I'd be grateful for any advice - but I'll need to decide soon - I'd like it in for Christmas when I'll have a bit of holiday time.

[Strummer07]

As you know VB ...I am not the man to advise you here !!

But you could do worse than that Cakewalk - Roland V-Studio 20

Has Guitar and Mic interfaces for sure ...................Plus..................every effect known to man including voice effects
plus you get all the sliders and manual controls for the DAW

its on my New Years list for sure ....might even order it before and save a fiver on VAT

www.roland.co.uk/products/productdetails.aspx?p=1100

any good to you ?

[ElMano]

Maybe this could be helpful

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--USB-Audio-Interfaces--2424

I use a Phonic Helix board But it give me a lot of latency problems.

[VikingBlues]

As you know VB ...I am not the man to advise you here !!

But you could do worse than that Cakewalk - Roland V-Studio 20
......

any good to you ?

Thanks Strummer. And given the amount of products you've been looking at and research you've been doing it's maybe you're a good man to advise me!
Anyhoo - worth a look - which I will now do. Though at the price of the V-Studio I'll probably need to sell something else unless my most recent e-bay sale goes a lot better than I expect. It's like that "Cash in the Attic" TV programme at Vikings house just now.

Maybe this could be helpful

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--USB-Audio-Interfaces--2424

I use a Phonic Helix board But it give me a lot of latency problems.

That's a useful link ElMano - thanks.
Useful when you get a lot of products grouped in the one place like that - I find it easier to concentrate on the products details when I'm not having to keep breaking off all the time to do yet more Google searches.

EDIT : Found a few I didn't know about on your link ElMano. Cheers! Interesting of the 59 USB interface products which had user reviews 51 are rated 8, 9 or 10. Usually they're a good rating with the average brought down by the occasional user who has compatability problems - a risk with any computer based purchase unfortunately. Also of interest of the 8 products rated 7 or less only one was as low as 5. Yes - the Alesis iO2 - so it's not just me then!

[12bar]

What about the Line6 ones? I'm very happy with my toneport...

[VikingBlues]

What about the Line6 ones? I'm very happy with my toneport...

Fair point 12bar - I used to use a Line 6 UX1 (I think it was the UX1) but I could never quite get the "Voxy" sound I wanted - quite possibly due to my lack of skills. So I'm sort of looking just for a neutral interface to record what comes out of my guitar / pedals / amp with maybe some final tweaking of sound in the DAW. In any event I have my Vox Tonelab ST interface which is down the same sort of lines as Line6, but the modelling is on the USB interface rather than in the software. It's a bit of a pest to have to turn the Tonelab into a clean input every time I record though and it lacks on the microphone input side of things. I do love the way the Tonelab is so problem free though - apart from it's power supply failing last week.

I would rather like to be able to use a midi controller through a USB interface for my recordings too which limits the choices quite a lot.

[vancouverois]

I have had troubles and latency clicks and pops with the Line6 GuitarPort and Win7 64 bit.
I previously had another comp with XP 32 bit and the GuitarPort used to work fine

A music store advised me to go with M Audio product line as they work with a Firewire interface.
I already had the win7 comp that of course doesn't have any Firewire port...
Mind you, the XP comp did have a Firewire Interface

[VikingBlues]

I have had troubles and latency clicks and pops with the Line6 GuitarPort and Win7 64 bit.
I previously had another comp with XP 32 bit and the GuitarPort used to work fine

A music store advised me to go with M Audio product line as they work with a Firewire interface.
I already had the win7 comp that of course doesn't have any Firewire port...
Mind you, the XP comp did have a Firewire Interface

Ahhh - you've summed up so many of the joys of recording on a computer there Vancouveris!

I'm worried that with the Tonelab working so well I've used all my luck up.

As it's a crappy Vista laptop I'm using I'm a bit stuffed on Firewire - which it doesn't have. And also a bit stuffed using Vista - which seems to be one of the least music recording friendly OS's there's been. I had so fewer problems recording with older XP computers - that's progress for you.

So, whatever interface I choose I guess I'll be just taking a gamble on whether it works well enough to use / keep.

[vancouverois]

I think that the USB audio interface problems with Vista and 7 are more likely due to bad or poorly designed drivers.
I have an external USB sound card plugged in my 7. I use the line interface to listen/record the output of my POD.
Overall I have almost no problem, the soundcard driver is a genuine micro$oft one.

The Guitar Port uses a driver not approved by MS, in fact the manufacturer's one. Problems of latency and unwanted
noise. Suddenly it becomes impossible to record something even by using the very same softwares.
XP could do the job without any problem....with the manufacturer's driver

Another thought is to have a dedicated comp running XP just to record audio from guitars and mics.

There is also the Mac computer said to be more reliable when it turns to record/process audio.
I know nothing about Mac, but may be is it worth to give a try.

[VikingBlues]

I think that the USB audio interface problems with Vista and 7 are more likely due to bad or poorly designed drivers.
I have an external USB sound card plugged in my 7. I use the line interface to listen/record the output of my POD.
Overall I have almost no problem, the soundcard driver is a genuine micro$oft one.

There's a lot of sense in what you say VC. Mind you - the Alesis is just plug and play - no additional drivers to install to use it on a computer - your only options for driver downloads are you have to use Asio4all if you want configuration options for latency and buffers.

XP could do the job without any problem....with the manufacturer's driver

Another thought is to have a dedicated comp running XP just to record audio from guitars and mics.

I've had very few problems recording using XP - I do have a desktop PC which I can use for recording but it's not in a great location. I do most of my recording in the living room(!) and it has to be said a laptop is much less of an eyesore. But the laptop has Vista and I have found Vista to be a pig for a lot of software - not just music.

There is also the Mac computer said to be more reliable when it turns to record/process audio.
I know nothing about Mac, but may be is it worth to give a try.

My wife uses a Mac and it has been very reliable and solid and so far free of problems. But I can't justify the price of one for me - they are much, much pricier than Windows PCs - a case of getting what you pay for I suppose.
.............................

Though in my searches for a solution to the Alesis iO2 problem on-line I have seen not just Windows users complaining about the noise problem but also Mac and Linux users.

I'm seriously thinking about paying an extra 25% to get an interface locally so I've at least got some advice on hand to try to sort out problems. We do have a local shop who do try to be helpful on these things.

[cruisemates]

As it's a crappy Vista laptop I'm using I'm a bit stuffed on Firewire - which it doesn't have. And also a bit stuffed using Vista - which seems to be one of the least music recording friendly OS's there's been. I had so fewer problems recording with older XP computers - that's progress for you.

Just FYI - I have a Windows 7 computer and there was a false impression that you could not fix latency issues with it (that the control option to hear a mic input directly "live" had been taken out of the audio control panel interface to avoid feedback).

That is NOT true, you just have to follow the driections on how to fix it carefully. If you RIGHT click in the control panel you will be able to enable more controls than you see when you originally open it. Also - sometimes you soundcard has its own control panel, like my RealTek.

There is also a universal audio driver called ASIO4ALL that will fix latency in most sound cards, ASIO is an audio standard. http://www.asio4all.com/

[VikingBlues]

Well that's dissapointing.

Thought I'd have a go with the Lexicon Lambda - available locally - support your local businesses etc.

Hmmph ....

After over an hour wrestling with installation and eLicence Control Centre hoops courtesy of Cubase I have reached this stage:-

1) the product allows me to record and to hear what's going on with my Samplitude DAW.

2) three times in the dozen or so times I've plugged in the Lexicon USB device to try it out in various ways I have then plugged in the headphones into it's socket in the Lexicon to see a spark and the blue USB connect light go out. Unit then needs the USB unplugged and plugged back in to get the connection back.

3) with the strat on a bridge / middle setting and the fx set up to give a reasonably trebly sound with a reasonably good sustain - the Lambda turns it into a bassy, dead, muffled sound.

I can see tomorrow being fun discussions with the music shop. They will no doubt want to send it away for repair and then give it back to me (NO - I didn't pay for a factory refurb job), it was the last one in the shop so I know it can't just be immediately replaced, and failing that a refund won't be possible because there's software in the package. Not that the software is registered - I got so baffled with the eLicence Control Centre e-mails and repeated visits to their website that the Cubase LE has not had it's license activated according to the user panel.

I'm very wary of this sparking business - I don't want my PC (or headphones) damaged by a pos interface that's faulty. The Lexicon isn't plugged into the mains - it's all powered through the USB. As it's impossible to try out a USB interace in a shop it's difficult to know how I could judge if it's recording quality was up to scratch either.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Strummer07]

Sounds like a nightmare VB ...sparking is defo not good .

Fraid your story rather puts me off even attempting more software ..especially stuff you have to pay for !!

Good luck tomorrow .these are not easy conversations and with software in the mix ....a real exchange is always atough negotiantion.


just to think there was a time when you just pressed "Record" on your tape machine and it just ...............well worked basically !!

[vancouverois]

May be the music store where you bought it can take it back and give you a full refund or a voucher.

I've heard that laptops USB interfaces are not able to supply the power needed for some high power consuption USB devices.
Not sure if it is something related with Win7 or Vista USB troubles but the third generation was launched not so long ago.
Perhaps USB 3 will fix these problems.
Anyway, it's becoming insane... back in the 90's I remember the good old "plug and pray" thing. It seems it's still alive today.

[VikingBlues]

Thanks Strummer and VC. It is a sod. I hate confontations in shops like this. I'll spend all the time till then mentally thinking through all the worst possible conversations and arguments that might happen.

I could not believe the complexity of the damn eLicence Control Centre set up - I thought I'd got through it all after about 4 visits to their website and 2 e-mails and links from those emails. But if I go into the eLicenser Control Centre, select the Cubase 4LE licence and open the actions menu - the activation option is still open and all the options you can use to do things to an activated license are greyed out. So obviously I've missed out on a step. And all this hassle is for the most sawn off basic version of the software.

If only stand alone recording devices were simple to use!

[VikingBlues]

They're a great bunch in Scayles music shop in Edinburgh.

No problem with a refund - and a nice long chat with one of the guys there who's into home recording.

Not that I'm much less confused now about what to do next - but at least I'm not out of pocket.

[vancouverois]

That's good news and quite fair from the music shop.

[Strummer07]

Very fair VB !!
unusual, .........good guitar shop

A bit too far away for me though !

[VikingBlues]

Van & Strummer - yes - a very good guitar shop - I've had quite a few bits of gear from them over the years and they're always very helpful and friendly and patient with dithering old idiots like me who don't know what they're doing! They have a sister shop just round the corner from them - Live Music - which is also very very good on customer service and have a range of 2nd hand gear too. Live Musics where I got the AC4TV and the VSA590 - I feel comfortable trying out stuff there.

BUT - FANFARE SOUNDS .................

I may have made a breakthrough with my Alesis iO2.
I've been having problems with lost buffers and error messages in the DAW, which I think have been casuing the static bursts of noise when I've tried to do much processing of sounds in the DAW.

In trying to change the buffers I'd gone in the DAW menus to:-
Options / System Audio / Buffer Settings
3 lots of Buffer sizes show up (VIP, Test, HD/Scrub) plus a box with Number of Buffers
So I'd been trying changing those settings and it made no difference.

This afternoon I noticed that underneath those buffer settings
where it has ASIO Setup and shows the ASIO Device as the Alesis iO2 (where I can select the Alesis ot the Tonelab etc as the ASIO device
To the right of that is a little button that can be clicked called Control Panel Button
When clicked it opens a box called Alesis ASIO settings and it has Buffer Size & Number of Buffers
I changed buffer size from 349 to 549 and Number of Buffers from 8 to 6 .......

And no more lost buffer error messages.

NOW - DON'T I FEEL A RIGHT IDIOT!!!!