From the very early days of my fascination with audio recording, I’ve been drawn to the Protools DAW software. I’ve used lots of other applications and am always checking out new releases of other software but it’s Protools that I like the best. It’s interface makes sense to me and it works the way I like to work. I have on occasion coveted a feature or two from competing software but it’s just never been enough to make me want to leave. The biggest draw back it’s always had was that I was locked into a very small selection of choices for the audio interface.
For many years Avid (Formerly Digidesign) made a small number of interfaces that were supported. The interfaces are the gateway between the analog world and the digital one. You plug your signal into the interface and it converts it to digital 1s and 0s that Protools would capture. As a drummer I always picked the interface they offered the highest amount of simultaneous inputs and outputs and went on my merry way. I started out with a Digi 001 which I used for many years and then upgraded to a Digi 002 when the need arose.
Recently though Avid has begun allowing many more third party interfaces to be able to talk to Protools. This happened with the release of Protools 9. Protools 9 comprised a huge multitude of changes and updates but that small part of their announcement opened up a world of interface options to me.
As I was in the process of re-thinking what I wanted my studio to be it really allowed me to broaden what I thought feasible. Starting in Protools 9, I will be able to record 32 simultaneously tracks and I could play back up to 96, which is a huge change having been only able to record 16 before and playback a total of 32.
The first real hurdle though is, what interface or interfaces do I turn to? My current setup with my Digi 002 Rack is working fine but is not ideal. The interface can easily handle a total of 18 inputs and outputs but to do that I would need a series of extra converts and cables. Additionally, many of those inputs unavoidably have gain stages which I do not need or want.
What I want is a large number of inputs and outputs that I can use to feed my Tascam M3700. The M3700 already has all of the Mic Pres I’ll need and even if I don’t want to use them, I don’t want to be bound by using the ones on the digital interface either. It’s options and flexibility that I’m in search of and to get that, my interface needs to be a vanilla as possible.
Unfortunately for me, the market is saturated with dozens of interfaces featuring Mic Pres and digital I/O that will only complicate my setup. Very few people make interfaces that are as simple as just offering jacks for audio in and audio out plus an interfacing cable to the computer. The few that do offer that minimal functionality are usually the most expensive, if that makes any sense.
The only option I’ve found so far that meets my needs is the Echo AudioFire 12. It is a simple firewire interface with 12 inputs, 12 outputs, Midi I/O and digital sync via word clock. The face of the unit features a power button and metering for the Audio I/O. This unit looks great and gets good reviews both generally and in concert with Protools. Add to the mix that the unit is $600 here in the US and it’s likely the interface I will choose. The only demerit it earns, if you can call it that, is that it’s not easy to end up with the 32 inputs and outputs that would ideally compliment my M3700’s 32 channels. I at first considered buying three units and just not using the final 4 ins and outs on one unit but I have since decided that buying two units and wiring only the first 24 channels of my console will be ideal.
Many of the more famous mix engineers actually take the massive sessions they receive, that often have well more than 100 tracks, and whittle them down to between 16 and 40 tracks for mixing on their SSL or Neve desks. I’m not likely to ever work on a session that has anywhere near that number of tracks so I don’t expect I’d have any trouble getting things down to 24 tracks and, as is often the case in art, putting up logical limitations often enhances the final product. I can still use Protools to manage and play back a nearly limitless number of tracks but likewise, I can use it to sub-mix logical groups into one or two faders on the console. I don’t need to lay my hands on 30 tracks of backing vocals, I can process and sub-mix the backing vocals down to a stereo pair and then have just two faders on the console. Even if I need to do a lot of work on those backing vocals, I can use us the Protools automation system to make that happen and still get the benefits of working on a console.
Working with only 24 channels of digital I/O on the board also opens up the final 8 channels for other uses. During mix down I can always be sure to have channels available to use for reverb and delay returns with EQs inline. I can use a couple of those channels for monitoring the playback from the 2 track recorder or to have a couple of keyboards or sound modules wired up for easy access. Perhaps more importantly, it means that even if channel on the console fails I don’t have to stop everything and get it fixed. I can just move that audio to another free spare channel. Not a bad thing to have on a 20+ year old console.
I’ll keep an eye on the market as I wait for the right time to buy the interfaces but so far, I think the Echo AudioFire 12 represent a very solid option for people looking for a simple, not too expensive audio interface.
Robert