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Best midi and audio interface for beatmaker

KansaispiritsKansaispirits
edited March 2013 in General
Hi people id like to get some feedback from people on what interfaces work best with beatmaker

Ive just sold all my top end studio gear (including my mac!) and have reduced my set up to a very, very basic

Ipad 2 running beatmaker 2 plus audiobus, various synth apps
Alesis io dock
A small behringer mixer
Korg microstation for bread and butter sounds
Bass guitar and vocal mic

My plan is to make beatmaker my main writing hub, but i need it to work seamlessly with my flow

At present the alesis io dock just isnt cutting it. Stuck midi notes, massive crackling issues when i try to sample or record. Just a horrible device. On looking at the threads concerning alesis io dock issues this looks a widespread issue unsolved by firmware updates.

So i need a reliable audio and midi interface that isn't going to break the bank, preferably with midi in / out so i can record midi and audio from my microstation which im using as my physical keyboard. I don't like playing keys on the ipad, feels weird.

Sorry to ramble but i can afford to make a wrong purchase again!

Comments

  • dwarmandwarman
    edited 10:35PM
    Depends on what you mean by breaking the bank. And what kind of Audio you need to get in, at what quality.

    If you have only the iPad and are OK with 44.1/16 consumer grade line level only audio and one MIDI port, then you can go with a small powered hub, a Behringer 202, and one of those HDE < $5 MIDI interfaces. I have bought three of those so far and all work fine, no noticeable latency. The Behringer 202 does a passable job with its audio with a good noise floor. For the hub, I found this alternative to the CCK to actually do a very good job:

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    iOS will pop up a complaint after a few minutes about the device not being supported, but that does not actually stop any MIDI or Audio, just dismiss it and everything keeps on trucking.

    Total cost, about $40. I'll test tonight but the two interfaces are very low load so may run with this hub unpowered. If not, the hub can get its power from a standard USB port or USB charger. I typically use one of those auxiliary battery packs because a) convenient and b) much quieter power supply - not all charger ports are clean enough for an audio interface to work properly. And in this case I have yet to actually exhaust my 12AH battery in several days of operation.

    Or of course you can go up to more Garage Pro like stuff, Focusrite or M-Audio (not Tascam, I understand their stuff is not Class Compliant these days).

    Or an Alesis or Behringer I/O dock There you are looking at $200 give or take. But they also keep the iPad charged.

    Or up a bit more, similar Audio interface but one without MIDI, and add a iConnectMIDI4+ to it for 4 MIDI ports. Also keeps the iPad charged. $350 - $400 level. But you'll have to wait a couple of months to get that. Like the rest of us with blue faces.
  • dubhausdiscodubhausdisco
    edited 10:35PM
    Akai EIE... Check it out.. $136 at musicians friend right now
  • mathieugarciamathieugarcia
    edited 10:35PM
    We use the RME Fireface UCX interface for internal testing. It is very slick and has all the features you could ask for, but definitely not cheap!

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  • KansaispiritsKansaispirits
    edited 10:35PM
    Many thanks for all your replies. Ive had a good look over the different products and reckon im going for the Akai eie. I like the fact it has 3 usb slots - im going to get a microkey 25 and an akai mpd32 to help fill them. My local store is getting them in thursday and im going down with the rest of my gear to give em a good test before i buy. Ill let you all know the results <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
  • WormhelmetWormhelmet
    edited 10:35PM
    I like to use my M-Audio Venom synth as an interface. They built a pro audio interface in that's class compliant, so it just works. Just bangin out beats, I like the padKontrol.
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