Aw crap. I meant to include Darkglass specifically for the Element.
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Haha it’s even worse Eric, I also got my Line6 HX Stomp, POD X3 and DG Elements that can act as audio interfaces too. 
I had my trustworthy Focusrite for about 10 years and I got the NI interface in a nice bundle deal when I was into DJ gear (don’t ask, lol). I gave the Focusrite to my father so he could record his jazz vinyl collection and the NI to my son. At that point I treated myself with the “cheapest” UA interface. Mainly because I wanted the extra plugin bundle deal that came included. The main problem with the UA interface is that it sucks my laptop battery dry in less than an hour. Sooo for my mobile needs I ended up with the Zoom U22.
The DG element wasn’t an audio interface when I purchased it (was an early adaptor). The patch for that came later. I had a used amp where the headphone didn’t work so the Element was a perfect fit.
If I had to buy a new one it prob would be a Steinberg like the one Terb has. They are as good as the Focusrite and they include MIDI. Right now I don’t want any other audio interfaces in my life 
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I use an iRig HD2 with amplitube 5 and I can’t recommend enough completely skipping the whole thing for something else. Amplitube itself is a bit clunky and awkward if you don’t know what you’re doing, and the program doesn’t run very well. The iRig itself is also a little frustrating to work with, and is apparently notorious for the awful buzz I can’t get rid of. It does come with a noise gate which cuts the buzz when you aren’t playing anything, but it still comes through quite strongly when playing a note.
I got it because it was the first thing that came up when I googled, but I’ll be perusing this thread for an upgrade for sure.
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I have:
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Fender Rumble LT25
Zoom B3
I know the Fender is an amp, but it has a USB output along with multiple amp simulations and pedals which has been helpful in getting the desired tone I’m looking for.
I just got the Zoom B3 while I am here in Japan and when I return home next week, I’ll be exploring its capabilities for the 50S 100W Challenge.
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There are serious issues for aspiring engineers if they follow industry standards. For example, let’s say that you are learning how to mic and record acoustic drums.
You start your research and then realize that industry standard mics are U87’s for overheads and room, some ev20’s for kick, sm57 for snare maybe some AKG’s for toms etc. You are looking at $30k easily just for the mics and this is not counting all the outboard compressors and what not the industry is using.
I don’t know anyone who is able to spend this kind of money if they are just starting out. Much better approach would be to use whatever you can afford and learn proper techniques for miking and recording. Knowledge will get you in much better position because it can be applied on any piece of gear.
It’s the same thing for Pro-Tools…it’s just a software that you can learn in a couple of weeks, but why would you spend more money on it when you can do exact same thing with Reaper for example? If you learn everything in cheaper DAW it’s just a matter of transferring that knowledge to other DAW’s if needed.
If you do things your own way, you will probably be interesting to lots of people who are looking for something different. Check Steve Albini’s career and how he managed to build studio and reputation by avoiding the industry standards. That guy has some of the most obscure gear and mics that not many people heard about AND he’s still making awesome sounding records.
When you decided to learn bass, you didn’t ordered custom shop reliced '63 Jazz bass right? You bought some piece of crap just to see if this thing will even work out for you. Down the line when you realize you’re interested and serious about it you upgrade.
My point is to use what you can afford, learn how to do it and carve your own path, don’t listen what other people are telling you to do. Top engineers of the past used their own heads and experimented a lot to push the limits of the recording…I don’t see any reason not to continue this tradition.
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This is a concept we really haven’t given much attention to on the forum as much . . . The idea that you can get other devices that act as a USB sound card and not need a DAI as an individual piece of gear.
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Well, I don’t really care about what the industry standard is. I just need some software to record myself every once in a while, and I’m going to stick with one of the free ones. I have no interest in starting a new career as a pro audio engineer.
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@DaveT I’ve been struggling with this myself. The only reason I decided to get a stand alone DAI is because I want to use a MIDI clock for my son’s drum machine and pedals. I’m still not sold on whether this is the best way to go about it.
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A standalone might have better DAC/ADC and preamps than an integrated one. And will almost assuredly have better input/output options.
But if you have an integrated one, no reason not to use it. The one in the Element, Helix, B3, and so on are fine choices.
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Using a PreSonus AUDIOBOX USB96, typically alongside Reaper audio software.
I picked it up because it was on sale for $85, and it had good reviews.
It’s not perfect, or has all the features I want, but it’s good enough for an amateur.
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Yeah, Kurt swore by a crappy Boss pedal and a Fender Mustang. I’d say he did pretty well for himself with that gear.
And there’s nothing wrong with great gear (I upgraded my TRBX 170 to a 504 and I’m damn glad I did), but it’s not a must for your average Joe.
If I remember my music history correctly, “Spirit In The Sky” had that buzz tone from a home made amplifier with a blown speaker. xD
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Yeah! I checked it out a while back, seems like a fine DAW.
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Ha! It seems like every setup has some kind of hole in it and the combinations keep shifting. If I were starting new I’d probably consider getting the Darkglass Element since it has USB sound card for DAI, aux in, headphone out, cab sim and DI out. My little Radar has cab sim, headphone and 5-band parametric EQ, but no aux in or DAI function. The used Pod X3 may very well be the best combo I’ve found so far since it has two inputs (one could be singing mic or could be aux), cab and amp sim, headphones, DI and USB DAI. Plus it has a wide selection of multi effects which I don’t really pay attention to.
If you don’t want to be chained to another piece of gear for MIDI …
FORE MIDI to USB Interface MIDI Cable Adapter with Input&Output Connecting with Keyboard/Synthesizer for Editing&Recording Track Work with Windows/Mac OS for Studio USB 2.0 Color Coral - 6.5Ft Amazon.com
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USB AudioBox 96 works pretty good for that purpose Mike. I put a practice fragment on here using that interface, and it didn’t sound too bad.
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If I were shopping for a new interface now I would probably be tempted to hold out for one with USB3. Rules out my current one which I love, but USB3 is a lot faster and may help with latency.
Pretty sure my next interface will be a mixer. Not 100% though.
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Actually it has even more after the latest patch. If you connect with the mobile/desktop app you can pick and tweak your power amp (you can pick between guitar and bass). You also have the ability to pick different cabs and/or mic. Endless combinations. They also included a DG and normal EQ. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even include pedals effects later on.
I was super impressed by the Mackie preamp.
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That’s another great option we haven’t said much about here. Then it’s possible to have a little live rig with a USB feature to feed recording. It solves all the aux-in / drum machine monitoring / want to sing / other players scenarios.
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Since you have experience in the matter Howard, how important is it to have a high-performance PC in recording? I know that having a good interface is important to recording to reduce latency, but I’m assuming that having a multi-core, high GHZ cpu would be important as well to interpret the data that is being processed, right?
In the future, I’m planning on building a PC with a Ryzen 16 core CPU, and I was curious about it.
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Having a PC with sufficient performance is critical. However that said, modern CPUs are so good that most recent computers and laptops should be fine. I happen to use a gaming machine for this too but it’s not a must. A recent mac laptop is just fine.
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