[Cube] Budget Pro Audio for the Cube

[George Pepper]

I'm finally free of being held hostage by the Tax Man this year, so I did a bit of research for a budget pro audio settup for the Cube.

Here's what you'll need:

1] Griffin iMic USB audio interface.
2] Stereo mini jack to two RCA jack (Or two 1/4" jacks)  cable.
3] Inexpensive pro audio amp of your choice (Something like a Peavey PMA 70 you can get on eBay for about $50.00).
4] A Pair of near field studio monitors (I have Tannoy Proto-J's, and saw a NEW pair on ebay for about $150.00).
5] Some decent quality speaker wire.

So, it's not that expensive to get REALLY high quality sound for a Cube.  

The real limitation to the above system is the Griffin iMic.  If you want to go full bore with pro audio for the Cube, you'll have to get a better audio device.  I use a Formac Studio TVR which is a FireWire device that has all the audio and video I/O functions you could ever want.  I even used it to replace my TV since it allows for a scalable TV viewer (Which is in the corner of my Cinema HD display at this very moment).  Once you get something like the Formac, the sky's the limit.  I have a Bryston 2B-LP power amp that is audiophile quality, and the sound coming out of it is pristine in the extreme.  But...  It lists for over $1000.00 and they sell on eBay for about half that.  Run a pair of higher line Tannoy's with an amp like that, and you'll be amazed.

I'll be mastering a friend's new solo guitar CD on MY CUBE in a couple of months.  He wants me to do it versus a big budget studio because he was so blown away by the sound of my solo guitar CD and his last CD when he heard me play them with iTunes on my Cube.

Sorry to all who e-mailed for the delayed response, but the Tax man must be paid. ;^/

Good luck,

George Pepper B.M. M.M.
Third-Power Productions