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And I suppose you could rework "preamps" as "interfaces" if you were so DAW inclined.

Just curious--idly plotting for the day when I get another itch to record tasty jams and can't get away with laying down PZM's and getting the Bill O'Reilly on.

I've been very happy with my Presonus Firepod. The preamps sound very transparent to me and don't color the sound. Pristine audio quality.

I'd advise not to be chintzy with pres and converters...unless you're decidedly lofi; a 2 piece electro group or rapper who is doing everything ITB.

Do you use any mikes that require phantom power? Do you want to?
If you have some kind of Mac (why wouldn't you?) then Apogee is the way to go. Duet, Quartet, Symphony whatever.
Both its pres and converters will allow you to hit the ground running. Their devices have a great reputation for both, as well as not getting in the way of your productivity.

UA 610 is a good start for outboard gear...and any of the UA integrated 610 modules is recommended. (LA-610, 6176, 610-2 etc)

I'd really like to try a 710 Twin Finity as well...that looks like a winner on paper but I don't have any hands-on experience with one...


It's about your needs and intent. Especially with mixers. How many tracks do you think you'll want to record at once?
Do you want to mic and record a full drumkit in realtime?
Do you want to record guitar and vocals only?

You can use DAWs to effectively mix ITB, but having tangible and assignable INS/OUTS to utilize and mix simultaneous sources will determine just how effective you can be...

Lot to unpack there.

As far as the digital stuff goes, I've actually got a couple cassette tape players that I think I'd rather use for storage. Is it archaic? Sure, but as I'm not on a Mac (or a very powerful computer at all) and don't reasonably expect to be purchasing a computer that can handle a DAW any time in the immediate future. Plus, there's the fact that my car still has a tape player--to the surprise of no one, I'm sure--and being able to record some sketches and throw it in the car/Walkman to see if everything's jamming right is of the utmost importance.

As for Mic's, I'm down to a single SM57, but as any good fuzzbreax is known to do I have reasonable access to a handful of condensers and other cab mics. Plus, I've never used more than four tracks on a mixer for recording drums anyway.

Basically I'd be looking to recreate some of those old Tascam/Fostex tape 4 tracks, but with better fidelity. Hence the preamp and the mixer.