Need some advice on hardware

What you are trying to do is convert the mic signals from analog to digital and route them to the appropriate channels in Logic. The D8 you mentioned has 8 preamps and converts to digital but the output is in ADAT format, which will not connect directly to the Mac. If you plan to send more than one mic signal to each recording channel, you need a mixer.

You need an audio interface in front of the Mac. I use a Delta 1010, which gives you 10 in and 10 out. You can feed each input with a channel or submix from a mixer and then assign it to a track in Logic. On playback, they can be routed through the 10 outputs so you can apply external effects to each channel independently. Look at audio interfaces online (M-Audio, MOTU, etc.) and you'll see what you need and the range of prices. For what you need, the Delta is pretty cheap and they go up from there. Good luck.

The Delta has only 2 mic preamps - the other 8 channels are line only. Your setup needs to be: mic-> mic preamp -> analog to digital converter -> Mac -> Logic. The D8 you mentioned has mic preamps and A/D converters but will not connect directly to the Mac. The Delta does not have mic preamps (well, it has 2 but not enough and not great ones) but it does the A/D conversion and connects to the Mac (I think it is Firewire but I'm not positive). I use a mixer in front of it to provide the mic preamps and have 2 channels connected to the main outs, 4 channels connected to the subgroups and four channels connected to aux sends. That way, you can route any mic or group of mics to a channel on the Delta and a track in Logic. You can use the mixer in Logic but that means you can only send a single mic signal to each channel. The sound guy at Guitar Center wants to sell equipment. Think it through before you spend your money.

Typically jmcmack, the Digimax F8, FS, are products aimed at expanding an existing audio interface by adding mic pre's connected via ADAT to a compatible audio interface with ADAT connectivity.

Not sure why someone would specifically recommend that to you...unless you already have an interface to connect it to...but as mentioned it was a sales guy.



On the other hand Motu makes a similar product called the 8-Pre but it also includes an audio interface.

So you can use it as an interface or a mic pre expansion box via ADAT.


Another example is the Presonus FP10. Which both offer 8 mic pre's in an audio interface format. And the I/O on an interface such as that may fit your needs better.

If you need more pre's then 8, you can buy something like the Digimax.

It really depends on what your I/O needs are.

I would suggest to keep it simple and look on the net for audio interfaces with 8 mic pre's. If that's the number you are looking for and compare them. Ask questions. See if there are any issues with anything you may be interested in. List what your budget is. Don't know if you are trying to track your band live or in pieces. What kind of room you are recording in.

The more info you provide the better the responses will be.

Don't worry about the confusion we all started at the same place.

But yes is the answer

My bad it's the FP10 which uses S/PDIF the Firestudio has both.

There is a "Firestudio Project" with S/PDIF and not ADAT.

Regardless they support daisy-chainning.