I've been a PC guy forever but recently I purchased a MacBook Pro. Now I'm looking for a decent audio interface that will let me record at minimum two tracks simultaneously but preferably 4+. The trick is that it needs to work with both Mac and PC systems because while I'm really enjoying the Mac, I'm not ready to switch to it for 100% of my work.

Previously I had the M-Audio Duo. It completely sucked on the PCs I used it with. *IF* you could get the drivers correctly installed it worked okay but I never did figure out what the trick was to get the drivers to install and as a result moving it from computer to computer was hit or miss. Of course, its rock solid on the Mac. I got rid of it though because of the PC issues and now I'm shopping for its replacement.

So what should I look at? What should I avoid?

Hi Doug. What's your budget? And does the PC have FireWire, or are you thinking USB here? Do you need mic preamps? How many? Do you want a bus-powered interface?

You're wise to consider driver stability. It's not a spec that manufacturers list, of course, so collecting real-world reports is important.

Budget isn't really an issue. I'd rather have the right piece of gear and be happy with it than save some $$ and be drooling over what I should have purchased. The MAudio Duo is a perfect example of getting the wrong thing at an 'excellent' price. In retrospect it would have been better to spend a bit more and get something that didn't suffer the same issues.

I do need mic preamps and more is definitely better.

The interface is a secondary concern. The Mac has FW400/800 but the PC only has FW400, however, I'm not opposed to upgrading the PC. Bus-powered would be nice but is not required as I usually end up plugging the notebook and external drive into shore power anyway.

Hi Doug, sorry to hear about the problems you had with your current audio interface. Gear problems that can't be resolved are always frustrating. I've had very good experiences with MOTU audio interfaces. MOTU makes several Firewire 400 units that would fit your requirements including both studio and portable units that work on both the Mac and PC. I highly recommend the MOTU interfaces as being an excellent balance between cost and performance. I believe all the MOTU interfaces come with the same excellent software as well which includes both Cue Mix and AudioDesk which is basically an audio-only version of Digital Performer which is their flagship sequencer. The software alone makes some of the lower-priced MOTU interfaces excellent value.

Two other vendors I've also heard spoken highly of that I wanted to mention are Apogee and Metric Halo. However, as far as I can tell, these two companies only make intefaces for Mac computers. Another well-regarded, although even pricer solution, is RME which supports both the Mac and the PC.

Many of these interfaces are rather expensive compared to your current unit and MOTU probably has the most cost-effective solutions among the companies I mentioned. There may be some cheaper and good quality solutions from other manufacturers as well although I don't have any direct experience with these.

If other readers know of high quality cost-effective audio interface solutions that fit your requirements, please chime in.