Hello everyone, I'm back after somewhat of an absence. I've been really enjoying recording with BnB and RealBand, however...
I need some help. I've been using an M Audio Fast Track Pro as my interface and lightning ruined the unit last week. I was able to find another one and replaced the ruined unit. I had to download a new driver and have had nothing but trouble Apparently there is a problem with the driver or firmware and the audio signal from the unit to my Boss 1600 goes off after a short time. I've researched this and found this to be a common problem with the new driver.
Anyone familiar with this issue? I've thought about trying to use an ASIO4ALL driver until I get some help from Avid. Anyone familiar with this driver?
This might not be a RealBand or BnB issue but I can't work with my trusted PG Music programs without the interface
What "tight budget" digital audio interfaces would you recommend if I can't get the Fast Track to work?

PreSonus AudioBox USB

i'm rather happy with the steinberg ur22
interface , but with a caveaT , you MUST as with
any interface set it up and understand how re
biab n rb... in prefs.

I also use the Presonus Audiobox USB and it has worked flawlessly with BB and RB. A couple of notes on the various Audiobox's: First, they are introducing a new line of Audiobox interfaces geared toward use with ipad/iphones. This is resulting in a $30 price drop in the audiobox usb to $100. Single channel and duel channel units are now on the market.

According to your recording needs and wants, be aware that the audiobox usb records at 24/48 versus the newer ipad/iphone units are 24/96. They are $30-$50 more than the basic usb unit.

The 22VSL USB audiobox also records at 24/96 and includes the vsl software. Presonus offers these units in varying bundle packages in which you can get a decent pair of headphones or condenser mic at the same cost as they sell just the units for.

The negative issue I have with the Audiobox 22VSL and it is the same with all of the 1-2 channel USB models is neither input is line level. There are work arounds for this issue such as using a DI Box and you can also carefully feed line levels to an input, but it requires tweaking to avoid clipping or distortion. This may not be an issue for you according to your recording needs and wants. For that reason only, I plan to upgrade to the 44VSL unit which provides 2 line level inputs which fits my needs exactly.

For me, the Studio One software is the best DAW I've used so far with a bit less of a learning curve than some of the other DAWs and has more than decent plug ins and effects. A trimmed down free version is included in all of the packages.

Hope this helps.

Charlie

My new Presonus Audiobox will be delivered in the morning!
Thanks for the help.

Good choice. I think you'll be pleased.

One caveat: Pick a USB port on your PC (not a hub) and stick with it. Some apps, notably Propellerhead Reason, tend to "lose" the interface if you change ports.

Richard

I just installed the Presonus on my computer. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium. I seldom use the interface to record but just to use from the computer to a Boss 1600.
I am getting some distortion from BnB and RealBand through the Presonus. I installed the driver that came with the unit. Any thoughts? It powered up well and started playing right away...just some background distortion. The volumes are set well within range so this should not be a problem.
It's sure a well built little unit.

JMK

Buffer too high...changed to 512 and away it went!
Very pleased with the Presonus and the sound!
Thanks for the help!

I am using a fast track pro with windows 7 no major problems so far, seems to work ok with windows 8 as well.

When you say problem with driver, is this with the fast track pro or Boss? What has changed that it worked ok last week and doesn't now since you replaced your fast track with an identical unit.

As regard drivers for fast track have you tried this one,

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.drivers&f=1127

Glad you got it sorted though with a different unit it seems.

Musiclover

You can find a lot of Fast Track Pros on eBay. I have the 4x4 Ultra which seem to be priced around $2-300 (Buy it Now.) I find the software very confusing, but once I dropped the buffers to minimum, my latency problems were resolved. I don't ALWAYS need that much I/O but like the option when I do need them. Also, I could find few comparable boxes with digital (coaxial) out.