Portable Audio/midi Interfaces????, which one? Options

[lazytomc]

I'm about to get a 12" G4 powerbook and I need a reliable audio/midi interface (good audio I/Os are more important to me than MIDI at the moment though). I've been looking at the M-Audio Firewire 410 (which is at the top end of my budget), the Quattro, the Duo and the Tascam US-122.

I will be using Cubase SX and Reason 2- I do a fair amount of MIDI work and record the odd guitar/bassline and vocal... I also plan to play live using the laptop. I'm aware of the limitiations of USB and the benefits of Firewire, but is it worth the extra cash? Would it be better to go for the Quattro and buy a separate mic pre-amp (eg Audiobuddy)?

I know there are issues with the US-122 and OSX, but what about the M-Audio hardware? how does that perform?

And finally.... are there any other alternatives that I should consider?

any advice would be much appreciated!

[Oakland Stroke]

I am in pretty much the same boat as you. I have an iBook and I'm narrowing my interface choices down to the US-122 and M-Audio Mobile Pre. I feel like M-Audio has a slightly better track record and, I suspect, better preamps, but I'm basing that on impressions and assumptions. Obviously, the 122 is 24-bit, has MIDI I/O, and looks more rugged.

What, specifically, are the OSX issues that you are concerned about with the US-122? I'd like to find out more about it.

If anyone out there knows more about the converters and preamps in the US-122, I'd love to hear about that too.

Thanks, and good luck.

[renell]

If I may provide a link to a different forum, there you can read the first user impression I've seen so far on Firewire 410.

[boze]

the thing i think is strange about the 410 is that it appears to only have two inputs! originally i thought there were four (2 xlr and 2 1/4") but now it looks like i was wrong.

i've done several laptop collabs (duo's and trio's) and i'm left thinking that 2 ins is too few and 10 outs is too many. it looks like a nicely cfg'd fairly priced unit apart from that, so it's a shame. and for a firewire device to only have 2 ins seems to almost defeat the purpose imo.

makes me want to consider ebaying a mk1 motu 828 for maybe $100 more if that. admittedly a bigger clunkier solution, but you know what i'm saying...

[saulenriquez]

I got an ibook too, 800mhz, and i'm wondering which interface to buy, a MobilePre or or Tascam U122... If anyone gives an opinion, would help!!... i have a midisport UNO usb interfacem should i go for the MobilePre then ??

[Oakland Stroke]

On paper, the Tascam looks better, but I've heard that OSX users have had big problems with the drivers. I'm still trying to decide myself. I like everything I've heard about the Mobile Pre (check out the review at audioMIDI.com) except that it is 16-bit. I might go ahead and get one and plan on spending more later, when firewire options are better and cheaper.

[xingu]

FYI, Tascam has released new OSX drivers (v. 3.2.2) for all of its USB interfaces. From my communications with Frontier Design (the guys that wrote them) most beta users experienced drastic improvements in OSX performance with the new drivers. I wasn't really having any problems with my 428, but the 3.2.2 seems fine to me. Tough to gauge with the Tascam forum being down, but I haven't seen many complaints around here or elsewhere...