Interfaces
Studio Gear List
• Echo Layla 3G
For digital recording and playback, I use two Echo Layla 3G units. Each is capable of eight
channels of analog input and output at 96khz/24bit resolution. In addition, 16 channels of
ADAT are available, as well as S/PDIF and AES/EBU. These units have a great sound and low
noise floor. I am disappointed, however, that the -10/+4 db switching is simply a software
attenuation and does not actually change any analog circuitry, so the noise floor is higher
for -10db output than +4db output at the same perceptable volume.
To remedy this, I just keep it at +4db all the time and
use the gain knob on my mixer to match the audio level. This produces a SUPER LOW noise
floor with incredible clarity. It would have been nice to see them use a different analog
signal path for -10db, so that the noise floor goes down with the audio signal, but this is
really not a huge complaint since the rest of the unit sounds so great and you can run it at
+4db all the time if you have a decent mixer. Overall, these units are very good.
• Edirol UM-880
The amount of features available in these MIDI interfaces is incredible. It does
patching, merging, distribution, and so on, all WITHOUT the aid of a computer to
perform these functions. As for being a computer interface, it works very well at that too!
It has very low latency and very accurate timing.
Sadly, I guess these didn't sell too well (not sure why) because Edirol only makes
one, two, and three port interfaces now. They have discontinued their 8-port models
completely. Thankfully I have two, so with 16 ports (256 channels) I have plenty of
room to grow in my studio. I hope the drivers will continue to work smoothly with
Windows Vista...
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