Jon Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 A couple of months back my macbook's headphone output started only producing audio through the left channel, the problem being with the minijack built into the laptop, which is part of the laptop's logic board and as my laptop is out of warranty, it means I'm going to have to pay for a whole new logic board, which costs in the range of 300 to 400 pounds and considering I've just spent a lot of money on an mpc, I don't see this happening too soon. I've recently become friends with someone who used to be a employee of apple and manager of one of their retail stores who kindly offered to help me repair my laptop, however, he can only offer me free service meaning i still have to pay for the replacement part for my laptop. So I'm thinking it's probably much more beneficial as I do a fair bit of music production to save up for a couple of months and purchase a usb audio interface rather than getting the repair, which will not only solve my problem but enhance the sound quality of my recording setup. I want to be able to record from my turntables and mpc, occasionally record guitar/vocals using a mic and be able to monitor the laptop's audio output using a channel on my dj mixer. I'd only need to record up to two inputs at the same time such as two mics for recording acoustic guitar. Are there any small audio interfaces that would be good for my situation? Thanks to anyone who posts a reply Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummy Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Does it have to be USB? You can get a Presonus Inspire Firewire interface for pretty cheap, and it has pretty good sound quality. I don't trust USB audio interfaces... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 as long as it doesn't rely on the audio out port on the laptop as a sound source then it's fine. anything under £400 would be brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummy Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Then try the Presonus Inspire. It's only $150 in the US, so it's probably less than 400 pounds in the UK as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Caruso Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 The BEST 2 channel audio interface I've seen is the new Apogee Duet at £329. Two mic amps, stereo line in and out, headphone jack. That's it, it's simple but it's got the best a/d/a converters you'll find and it's made in America which is more reassuing than the far east somewhere! It's not the cheapest but it -should- sound the best. If you're looking for something to tide you over while you decide or whatever search ebay for "usb audio" and buy one of the £3 dongle things. I got one when i destroyed the mic input on my laptop and it's certainly no worse than what's onboard. This one finishes in an hour, is super cheap and is located in england (mine came from hong kong in under a week) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-USB-2-0-5-1-Chan...1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 cheers for the info paul! I'm going to get one of those dongles for the meantime! As for the interface: 1.Option One: get a small firwire interface and only be able to record the master out of my mpc as well as all the other features i need. This option is cheaper and would then mean I could save money for monitors rather than the stereo I'm using at the moment. 2. Option Two:I might end up getting a larger interface as I've recently discovered that it's possible to map all the outputs from my mpc into logic/protools as separate audio tracks so I am then able to manipulate my mpc recordings using my computer and as a result get the most out of my mpc and have more control over it. A model in this area would be something like the TASCAM FW-1082 10 channel firewire interface. However, I'd be spending another £100 or so on the interface for this method. hmmm either option is going to require me doing some serious overtime at work for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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