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Hi all -

Sorry if this is redundant threadwise, but I need some gear and don't know what to get. I want to record guitar and probably vocals, and I want to take my sound quality to the next level (the first level being recording straight into my MacBook Pro built-in mic - I know, I know).

Is the best budget preamp out there really the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2? I'm suspicious about the quality...

I think I can figure out mic and stuff. Really I'm asking about preamp or the best way of recording into my laptop.

Thanks,

NH

You're not buying any of the budget stuff for the preamps.

You're buying them for raw channel I/O into the computer.

If you want fancy preamps later, you chain those into the inputs on the interface.

You're conflating two sets of things (that can be combined into one unit, but ...).

Not a Mac guy, so can't comment on their drivers or any issues or suitability with whatever version of that OS you're running or system specs.

Realistically, it'll get you recording. That's what budget gear does.

And today's budget gear is better than the mid-range stuff of ten years ago by a mile, I wouldn't worry about it.

My main interface's mic preamps are characterless. That's fine. It's what I want out of mic pres - can't take the flavor away if that's all your interface has. It's the equivalent of "can't take the gain out of an amp that does dirty only if you want clean, but you can add dirt to a clean one!"

The Scarlett is legit.

I'm thinking of getting a scarlett 2i2 myself. Are there other options I should look into though?