Home Studio - Sound Quality

[Barghy]

So i'm starting on a home studio set up...

2 x KRK RP8 G2
1 x Focusrite Saffire 6 USB
2 x SINN7 MoPads

May add a KRK 10S sub at a later date but i think the RP8's will handle things well enough.

As I'm looking for the best sound quality I can possibly get from the speakers coming from my macbook would you agree with the choice of soundcard (bearing in mind i am on a budget similar to what i have proposed)? Also am I correct in thinking jack (Soundcard) -> jack/XLR (Speakers) would give the best quality and if so can anyone recommend the best cable and manufacturer for the job? (Been looking at Die Hard not sure if they make decent cables?)

Thanks,
Barghy

[ksandvik]

Focusrite Saffires are excellent. If the RP8 has a 8" cone and goes down to 35Hz, that gives you plenty of low-end for mixing. The built-in sound is OK but I would not use that for any serious mastering.

The other big thing for you is to do a little bit of acoustic treatment of your environment -- that's usually the part that people forget about when purchasing expensive gear and wondering why things still sound bad.

[Barghy]

When you say the built in sound is OK, what do you mean exactly?

[ksandvik]

Is is OK but I would not rely on the output for mixing/mastering purposes. Let's say you have some serious high end phasing issues with the hihats when using a specific plug-in, might or might not catch it via the default output.