Hey all;
I think my next studio purchase is going to be to upgrade my interface. I love my MR816X, but I believe I can find something I’ll love more that will see me longer into the future than I might realistically expect from my aging, but still perfectly functional, MR816X that is long discontinued.
I’m using Cubase Pro 9 on Win10, and the drivers for both the interface and the Firewire are behaving very well. I rarely get dropouts. That MUST continue. I use the control room feature regularly, as I have a separate tracking room from my control room. I MUST be able to continue this with some level of efficiency and ease-of-use. I use direct monitoring.
My INPUT needs are as follows (MUST-haves):
- AT LEAST four microphone inputs with good quality mic pres.
- AT LEAST four other line-ins to connect my other three stand-alone mic pres (SSL Alpha Channel, Daking MP1, UA710).
- ADAT in to accommodate my Behringer ADA8000 that I use for when I need more than 8 simultaneous inputs, and which I also use for talk-back channel, etc.)
- Midi would be nice, but not a deal-breaker. I’m using midi to USB, as the MR816X does not have midi.
Currently, the stand-alone pres are fed into the XLR inputs on the MR816X. Ideally, I’d like to be able to bypass the pres altogether, but that is not a deal-breaker. My budget will eventually allow for purchasing (maybe a UA Solo 610?) another stand-alone mic pre for the possibly unused fourth line in.
I need at least 7 outs… so I am looking at a unit with 8 outs.
2 monitor outs (R/L)
4 mono headphone sends (I send these to a headphone amp that connects to the snake to carry signal to the tracking room).
1 that I use for a re-amp box… which almost never gets used, but I’d rather not be arsed to pull everything out and disconnect stuff if and when I ever need to use it.
I was looking possibly at an Apollo Duo Firewire unit that there is a good deal on used near me. I’m not sure how the pres compare to what I have. I’m not sure about Direct Monitoring, Control room, Windows drivers, how it behaves within Cubase, etc.
The new UR “Rupert Neve” series interfaces caught my attention. Dealbreaker is that there is no ADAT in and it is two line-ins short and two line-outs short.
Is there something on the market I should look at now that would fit me right now, or might I be better waiting to see if there is yet another UR “Rupert Neve” series interface that might be expected to come out that will be an evolution of the MR816 > UR824 > UR-RT8 kind of thing?
My budget I am looking at is in the $1200 used kind of thing (for something that would otherwise be $2000 new… like the Apollo Duo I saw an ad for is asking $1100 and sells new for $2500 here). I’m not in a hurry, as everything is working just fine as-is, but I would like to sell my MR816 while it still works perfectly and still has some value. I can save up more money depending.
Thanks!
Chris
