Dood Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Ok, after pretty much giving up on my current interface - or rather the company who manufacture it that are having a hard time sorting out drivers for Mountain Lion, I've been on the look our for something small and simple to replace it. Spec-wise, these both are getting great reviews, but I'm not sure which I want as of course I can't test them first. Well, not easily! So, here's my shortlist: Roland UA-55 Focusrite 2i4 Both have two analogue inputs, balanced and 48v available. Both have direct monitoring that will be very handy too. The Roland has digital ins and outs too that I could make use of in the future maybe, though less important. I thought I needed extra line-ins, but to be honest I've never used the ones on my current interface. The Focusrite I think comes with a suite of plugins n' stuff whereas the Roland has the ability to record at higher rates. Prices can be about the same but I don't know which I'm leaning toward most. Some say the Focusrite has a particular sound to it that actually works well for recording Bass. The Roland on the other hand is said to be flat sounding having less of a character. Kinda concerned that the Focusrite character might not be my bag and I'd be stuck with it. At least I can add to the Roland if I wanted to. So there's a few thoughts out loud - I welcome your responses! p.s. Mike 'Urb' Flynn has been very helpful and offered up some wallet-melting options. I would LOVE the RME Babyface that he has just gotten or even the Motu he is selling, but my budget has just shrunk substantially - those on FB will know why! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I have been using The Quad Capture for about a year - And love it. The on board Compressor/Iimiter does what it says pretty well. It runs at very very low latency, the Midi drivers are rock solid, and plenty of signal going in. The only thing[s] that i gripe with is - no separate volume controls for speakers and head phones, just the one volume out knob. so when using headphones you need to power off your monitors. The pre amps sound great for Bass and Gtr and do a decent job for Vocal Mic as well. We have a Babyface on our other Computer, which my partner says she prefer's for Mic recording. And of course has the more I/O's, plus the total mix FX's. More dosh though. The Quad does a great job and is good value. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Excellent! 1 vote for the Roland - that I am yet to hear a bad thing about. Though I take on board your point about the headphone out. I tend to sub-mix to an external mixer so that may not be a problem. It might be a 'nice to have' though. so the Focusrite gets a vote too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterfire666 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 the roland is a great piece of gear and great value, i have been using one for a while now with no issues and very low latency too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 How are you guys finding Roland support? Driver updates etc. Have they been keeping the unit up to date when for example Apple does an update? Has anyone had any problems with running either of these on Mountain Lion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 On the PC - They have been busy of late, updating x64 drivers, And they were quick off the mark with W8 drivers and updates. Mackerty Mac, I can't help there. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Based purely on the specs I'd plump for the Roland. Focusrite pre's can be lovely though (not sure about the 2i4 though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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