set up for recording two laptops

[mac]

hi there,

trying to figure out a solution for a home studio set up for recording two laptops simultaneously to one or two stereo tracks.

first idea is to purchase a 4 channel audio interface (such as 'T.C. Electronic Impact Twin' (budget is tight unfortunately) but might go with 'PreSonus FireStudio Project' as it offers more input channels in case we want to add a guitar/mic/third laptop/etc.) and record on a third computer. All are PCs/windows based. 

Do you have any other ideas maybe? or suggestion for a different audio interface around 400$ if we stick to the above scenario?

thanks in advance for your suggestions.

mac

[taylordeupree]

hi mac

i think you asked this question in your email to me, which i've been so busy i haven't gotten to!.. but i might as well reply here...

you'll just need three devices, besides the laptops..

1. an audio interface for laptop #1
2. an audio interface for laptop #2

(these can also simply consist of line cables out of the laptop's headphone port)

3. an interface with at least 4 inputs for recording into the 3rd laptop.

shouldn't be much more complicated than that...

try a small MOTU interface.. decent quality and plenty of inputs... and around $400 probably..

another option is to run the two laptops into a mixer, and then from the mixer into the 3rd computer... might give you some other options such as inserting a guitar or other instrument into the mix, etc...

[mac]

thanks taylor,

we will go with the option of getting a 4 or 6 channel USB interface. in the range of 300 - 400$ there are a few that should be all right. 

motu will be at the bottom of our choice list as all our computers are windows based unfortunately. Motu still hasn't really figured out a reliable fix to numerous driver issues as well as their windows support is almost non existent. still digging through various forums but user response is mixed/discouraging so far. too bad though, motu audio express could be just the thing.   

until now we've been running both laptops through a mixer and then have a h4n recording the the send-out line. we'd like to skip the mixer though. works great live but not so much in the studio.

[landtitles]

hey mac

you might want to check out something by focusrite, they have the saffire 14(firewire) and a new thing, scarlett(usb 2)

both are 6 ins and 8 outs and go for 249.00 USD


I have and saffire pro 40(also firewire) which is great, been using it for about 6 months now with  no problems(win xp and Reaper)

the only weird thing, at least for me is the software that runs it, took me a bit to set up but runs great now(im kinda dumb at these things though)

mic pres are clean and the latency is good also, the one thing i like the most though is headphone outs with volume on the front to boot

good looking

lt

[mac]

hey mac

you might want to check out something by focusrite, they have the saffire 14(firewire) and a new thing, scarlett(usb 2)

both are 6 ins and 8 outs and go for 249.00 USD


I have and saffire pro 40(also firewire) which is great, been using it for about 6 months now with  no problems(win xp and Reaper)

the only weird thing, at least for me is the software that runs it, took me a bit to set up but runs great now(im kinda dumb at these things though)

mic pres are clean and the latency is good also, the one thing i like the most though is headphone outs with volume on the front to boot

good looking

lt

thanks for mentioning focusrite. i totally overlooked these Scarlett interfaces. The 18i6 might be a magnificent choice for our modest needs. price is certainly tempting.

i'm also aiming at Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL. It's not available yet and i assume the price will be around at least 600$ in Poland.