Mackie Spike Availability in Australia?

[Yurty]

Hi All,

I've been lurking here at the KVR forums for about a year now, and I've learnt heaps. Tracktion is the beast for me, no doubt about it, just don't want to learn another complex computer program to make music with and have fun. I do enough of that at work!

So, to my question; can anyone help me with information regarding the release of the Mackie SPIKE interface in Australia? It appears to be available in the states and the UK from all my internet trawling, but not yet in Oz. The Spike would be perfect for me, but I can't wait much longer, I really want to start making some music.

As I will be buying a new top spec PC soon I was looking at the Echo Gina/layla range, especially as they come bundled with Tracktion now. I'd still like to use an interface with my older and slower laptop though.

Any help at all would be appreciated

[optilude]

You should have a look at the Edirol and M-Audio kit. I use an Edirol UA-5 USB 1.1 interface, which is pretty good so long as you only need two-in/two-out and 48KHz (it does 96/24, but only in simplex!). Some of the newer interfaces, esp. the firewire ones are pretty nice, though. I'd recommend you go with Firewire of USB 2.0 if your laptop can handle it, as it'll give you a lot more flexibility/power. Some of these can also be bus-powered, which means no separate power plug for your interface. Nice.

T itself is so cheap that bundling shouldn't really force your decision in my opinion.

Martin