[blaminack]

Originally Posted by MADMIXA PRODUCTIONS

I use a Tascam FW1884 as my interface and it also allows me to be able to combine modern digital technology with old school analogue techniques and tools. It has 8 balanced inputs and it works excellent with Cubase, Sonar, Protools... virtually anything that's out there. I hate wasting money on temporary fixes... this mixer/interface even can be used as a standalone for when I do multiple DJ sets. I can even run phantom power on all 8 channels if needed and physically add more channels(if needed).
It is my soundcard for my cpu via firewire... so everything hooks up real neat and clean. I've had it for about 4yrs now and no problems(thanks to great drivers, support, and the Mackie Emulation I use as my global setting)

How does this work with ProTools? Do you have to have some Digidesign hardware hooked up too?

[David Pablo]

Rob (or anyone),any thoughts on the following brands:
Alesis
Samson
Mackie
Carvin

[fullness]

Originally Posted by Meef Chaloin

those are both amazing, run them in mackie emulation & they are seriously powerful

cool. thats good to hear meef!

[dubcreator]

Originally Posted by David Pablo

Rob (or anyone),any thoughts on the following brands:
Alesis
Samson
Mackie
Carvin

Mackie... you'll probably gonna regret the others
Or as said above the tascams are quite good.

[IRISH MOSS]

Originally Posted by David Pablo

Rob (or anyone),any thoughts on the following brands:
Alesis
Samson
Mackie
Carvin

Personally wouldn't want any of the 4. I don't mean to equipment bash but we went from EV to EV and a Soundcraft for dub and there really isn't any moving backwards.

I never thought a loaded 16 ch Soundcraft Spirit would be used up fast. Wrong. Need 32. It's ridiculous what your patching matrix can do for eating channels. Not to mention the 100.00s in patch cables.

I never really liked Alesis gear. Mackie is well known for being too brittle and antiseptic for dub. Samson just isn't a real mixing board. Carvin...wow. I used to get the Carvin catalogs as a kid. I owned 2 4x12's in my teens. LOL.
I'd love to try an old carvin 32 with like 6-8 aux's and see how it sounded. I definitely don't think a gtr/amp/effect/mixing board company is the way to go. Check Ebay. Craigslist.

We have 2 excellent boards here from Ebay. Soundcraft and EV. Both cost under 500.00 Think about that.

[dubcreator]

Old Soundtracs boards are 'The' dub consoles. Fantastic low end and very accurate EQ, very good preamps as well. But if you need to have a firewire interface you won't find in in the soundtracs boards. But soundwise these are really good.
Since a month or 2 i have a Soundtracs Megas studio 36/16/16 and before that i had a Mackie 40:8:3.... Really the Soundtracs beats the Mackie on all aspects. Liked the mackie but couldn't achieve what i wanted with it EQ wise.

[MADMIXA PRODUCTIONS]

If you have protools, the tascam FW1884 acts as an interface. There are drivers that you can download from Tascam, that allows Protools and the Fw1884 to communicate as a unit.
To me... the FW1884 was what I was really looking for. I needed to be able to use pc sequencing and recording programs, hook up analogue devices(turntables via dj mixer, drum machines,etc), and have access to the wide variety of Vst's via midi inputs(it has 4 i/o's for midi). It gets the job done and I have gotten my money's worth... and then some.