Which Audio Interface?

[xgsjx]

I'm now in a position to get myself an audio interface, but with so many out there, which one should I go for?

Ideally, I want to have at least 2 in (most are), have a good sound quality & also have midi jacks (so I can use my keyboard to play VSTis). My budget is @ £100 (preferably less, but can go a little above).

I had been set on the Steinberg UR22 as it meets most of the criteria, but after further investigation, it appears that although it has a nice solid case, the sockets, knobs & buttons on the front are a bit on the flimsy side.

There's the obvious choice of the Focusrite 2i4 as it, like the Steinberg, has all that I need & seems to be of a better build quality. But, this would most likely need to be a 2nd hand one as new is just outside my budget.

I've also saw the Behringer UMC204, which is also similar to those above, but bearing the stamp of Berhinger, I'm not sure what the actual sound quality is going to be like compared to the other interfaces.

Then I've found a new contender that ticks the above & also has an added feature - I can use it with my iPad. The Presonus iTwo, which I can get new for £106 (which is just in my budget.
I don't need the DAW which comes with any of these (though I might see about putting any instruments into Logic).
The Presonus does seem to sway me on features & build quality, but how good is the sound quality?

There's also an outsider that it over budget & tempted to wait until next month for...
The Zoom Tac-2. It doesn't have midi, but unlike the above interfaces, it uses thunderbolt instead of USB & it has come down massively in price.
Question is... is it better sounding than the USB? Does thunderbolt make a difference when it comes to audio quality or are those Is & 0s getting there just the same?

Help!

[Skol303]

Hi G,

I've personally had experience with the Tascam US144-mkII and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (which I bought to replace the Tascam when I changed my monitors, as I needed TSR cable outs).

Both were/are really good value for money in my opinion. You should be able to pick up the Tascam within your budget or under. The Focusrite is otherwise worth saving a few pennies for.

Hope that helps!

[BigRedX]

If this is for a Mac, I wouldn't recommend USB unless you can connect the interface to its own bus with nothing else connected. Bear in mind that depending on the spec of the Mac separate USB sockets do not necessarily indicate separate USB busses.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443438076' post='2874593']
If this is for a Mac, I wouldn't recommend USB unless you can connect the interface to its own bus with nothing else connected. Bear in mind that depending on the spec of the Mac separate USB sockets do not necessarily indicate separate USB busses.
[/quote]
I think it's just the one bus. Will the interface not work on a hub?

[Dad3353]

I'm far from expert, but I reckon that, at the budget levels you're envisaging, any and all are darned good. To get better, one would need (still imo...) to have a whole chain of more sophisticated audio stuff, and jump a very wide budget gap. Think about functionality, durability, connectivity... That's all fine and dandy, but in the end, the sound of all these types of interfaces is excellent; there are no 'duff' ones. Just sayin'
(I use an ex-Skol303 Tascam [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]US144-mkII, which has all the features you're after. I'm old and deaf, though, so maybe not the best reference..! Still, it's an excellent unit; no regrets whatever, and fine quality sound...)[/font][/color]

[xgsjx]

I was just looking at the Tascam. Fits the bill nicely.

I still like the idea that the Presonus can be plugged into an iOS device, which would mean I can use the iPad as an amp simulator & fx unit for my bass.

It's now gonna be a later date that I get it anyway, so plenty of time to find loads of info.

[lurksalot]

I use an app on my phone for an amp simulator and it goes inline to my scarlet2i2 via a little connector box , maybe not textbook, but when used in a special tonal environment and with great taste, it gets the occasional vote

[Dad3353]

My technique is a tad more primitive, I'm afraid...

[url="http://imgur.com/pvdOjG6"][/url]

[lurksalot]

Wow , decent size parlour there Dad

[Dad3353]

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1443481767' post='2875218']
Wow , decent size parlour there Dad
[/quote]

Not really, the players are Lilliputian. That's my Band In A Box (a shoe box, to be precise...).

Edited September 29, 2015 by Dad3353

[BigRedX]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1443471761' post='2875094']
I think it's just the one bus. Will the interface not work on a hub?
[/quote]

The problem isn't generally with the interface - USB speeds are more than adequate these days - but with any other equipment you might need to have connected interfering with it. USB is a dumb protocol, and each device connected needs its own driver. Many of these are built into the OS, but the less common types of device have to have their own custom driver installed. A lot of this stuff is designed first and foremost to work on Windows and often (certainly at the budget end of the market) the Mac driver is a quickly thrown together kludge "designed" with little regard to what else it is going to be sharing the bus. Most of the time this won't be a problem, but audio is a lot more sensitive. Having a hub makes little difference because all the devices on the hub are still all on the same bus.

If you don't have any other equipment connected by USB (or at least nothing that isn't directly supported by the OS) other than the interface you should be OK, but personally I'd always pick a FireWire or Thunderbolt audio interface over a USB one.

[6v6]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443511441' post='2875286']
If you don't have any other equipment connected by USB (or at least nothing that isn't directly supported by the OS) other than the interface you should be OK, but personally I'd always pick a FireWire or Thunderbolt audio interface over a USB one.
[/quote]

Except firewire is essentially deprecated (support on recent versions of Windows for example is terrible), so you have to be really careful you don't end up with a legacy box that won't work with any newer PCs - I've learned that the hard way with two presonus interfaces which are basically useless since I "upgraded" to Windows 8.

I realize Apple may have a more supportive attitude given their historical involvement with firewire, but it's not a standard I'd be buying into right now unless buying something cheap/used and only for use on Mac.

In response to the question in the OP about USB/thunderbolt quality - no the transport makes no difference to audio quality, all else being equal - the only difference IME is you can sometimes achieve slightly lower latency on Firewire, but with recent USB devices (particularly from manufacturers who invest in decent software driver development) this is less of an issue than it once was.

[Skol303]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443511441' post='2875286']
Having a hub makes little difference because all the devices on the hub are still all on the same bus.
[/quote]

I never knew that...!

I currently have my audio interface linked to my 'puter (Mac) using a hub, to which other devices are connected (MIDI keyboard; portable hard drive). To date I've yet to encounter any latency issues when recording - nothing noticeable anyway - but this seems like good reason to connect the interface using a dedicated USB port, rather than via the hub.

Enlightened, I shall now re-wire my wires

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1443527547' post='2875508']
I never knew that...!

I currently have my audio interface linked to my 'puter (Mac) using a hub, to which other devices are connected (MIDI keyboard; portable hard drive). To date I've yet to encounter any latency issues when recording - nothing noticeable anyway - but this seems like good reason to connect the interface using a dedicated USB port, rather than via the hub.

Enlightened, I shall now re-wire my wires
[/quote]

Before you change anything check that your individual USB ports on the Mac are actually on different busses. IIRC the cheaper end of the Mac market has a limited number of busses and the external USB sockets might all actually be on the same bus.

My MacPro has 5 USB busses (you can check the number of buses and what is attached to each in the system profiler and you can also see the hub structure) but one of them is internal only for the built-in Bluetooth controller. It also shows that at least two of the USB sockets on the back of the Mac are on the same bus, and at least one of the sockets on the front is on a different one. (You do have to quit and reload the system profiler to show new devices connected).

HTH

Edited September 29, 2015 by BigRedX

[xgsjx]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443511441' post='2875286']
The problem isn't generally with the interface - USB speeds are more than adequate these days - but with any other equipment you might need to have connected interfering with it. USB is a dumb protocol, and each device connected needs its own driver. Many of these are built into the OS, but the less common types of device have to have their own custom driver installed. A lot of this stuff is designed first and foremost to work on Windows and often (certainly at the budget end of the market) the Mac driver is a quickly thrown together kludge "designed" with little regard to what else it is going to be sharing the bus. Most of the time this won't be a problem, but audio is a lot more sensitive. Having a hub makes little difference because all the devices on the hub are still all on the same bus.

If you don't have any other equipment connected by USB (or at least nothing that isn't directly supported by the OS) other than the interface you should be OK, but personally I'd always pick a FireWire or Thunderbolt audio interface over a USB one.
[/quote]
Cheers for the advice. I don't use the USB ports for anything other than a Bamboo tablet (which isn't used for music) or for backing up iOS devices. My iMac is only a few months old, but according to the USB info on the "About this Mac", it''s a single bus with a 4 way hub.
I've not looked at the Macbook Pro & it might be a different story. It has 2 USB ports & 2 Thunderbolt ports, but it's the iMac that's the dedicated DAW.
As I'll be getting a remote keyboard later, it might be worth paying the extra for the Thunderbolt interface (Zoom TAC-2).

[Che]

Hi ya all lovely Bass folks! Im new to this forum (and new to bass and recording) so take all I say with a grain of salt. I'm one of those who dont have the money but would like to play an instrument and to record some of my fiddlings. I could not afford more expensive gear so went for the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 and to my (untrained newbie) ear it sounds ok for home studio and is very affordable over at Thomann.de

Here is a take with my cheap Harley Benton JB-75 bass direct into the U-Phoria UM2 and then into Reaper. NOTE; Im still learning how to tweak the EQ for bass and I just started playing bass 2 month ago so ignore my playing. This is only for the sound reference;
https://soundcloud.com/papa-dusko/bassman-amp-and-reverb-plugin-on-reaper-daw

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Che' timestamp='1444293194' post='2881871']
Hi ya all lovely Bass folks! Im new to this forum (and new to bass and recording) so take all I say with a grain of salt. I'm one of those who dont have the money but would like to play an instrument and to record some of my fiddlings. I could not afford more expensive gear so went for the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 and to my (untrained newbie) ear it sounds ok for home studio and is very affordable over at Thomann.de

Here is a take with my cheap Harley Benton JB-75 bass direct into the U-Phoria UM2 and then into Reaper. NOTE; Im still learning how to tweak the EQ for bass and I just started playing bass 2 month ago so ignore my playing. This is only for the sound reference;
[url="https://soundcloud.com/papa-dusko/bassman-amp-and-reverb-plugin-on-reaper-daw"]https://soundcloud.c...n-on-reaper-daw[/url]
[/quote]

That's a decent recording. How do you find the build quality?

Nice wee bit of playing too.

[Che]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1444316397' post='2882195']
That's a decent recording. How do you find the build quality?


[/quote]

Thanks! I think its more than good for home recording, for putting down ideas, rehearsals and similar. The build quality is very good for a plastic box which is to sit on my table; the jack sockets are solid and dont wiggle. The plastiuc knobs on top feel cheap but they work. The monitoring and phantom power switches seem solid. I honestly can't fault this device in any way Except that there is no option to switch off the Hi-Z input. This input is great for playing straight in with the instrument but if wanting to play through the multi fx pedal it does seem to compress the sound.
All in all a great audio interface for the money! Listen to the recording above and decide for your self its good enough for my amateur needs

[Light Grenade]

Get a Mackie Blackjack 2x2.

I've been recording/producing for a while now and I can't recommend it highly enough. All the guitars and bass here were recorded through the Blackjack with no external mic-pre's ([url="https://soundcloud.com/wearestereofox/a-sudden-burst-of-colour-riptide"]https://soundcloud.c...-colour-riptide[/url])

Sadly it doesn't have MIDI, but you could buy an additional midi interface for about £30.

The Blackjacks are £89 new and made out of solid metal, built like an absolute tank.
[url="http://mackie.com/products/onyx-blackjack"]http://mackie.com/pr.../onyx-blackjack[/url]

Edited October 27, 2015 by Light Grenade

[Higgie]

Some good advice in this thread. I bought an Apogee Duet 2 and have to say the thing is fantastic! A fair bit more expensive than your budget allows though. Having said that I haven't used any of the other units mentioned here so maybe I've overpaid

[xgsjx]

I've looked at both the Blackjack & the Apogee Duet.
The blackjack sounds good, but it does lose out on the midi. The apogee is too dear for me.

[Dood]

I absolutely wholeheartedly recommend the Roland range of interfaces. I've been using the Quad-Capture version for pro recording for a couple of years (maybe more) and it hasn't missed a beat. The drivers are rock solid and the latency figures are amongst the lowest for this type of interface. I've even got the Duo-Capture EX which will plug directly in to my iPad as well as desktop and laptop.

It is normal for me to track in Reaper or Logic Pro X with an average of 40 tracks all running plug ins including those on both input channels of the interface. It IS a USB 2 device and my machine's ports are all full, but I am yet to notice any problems.

The interface features MIDI in and out, SPDIF, Phantom Power for my big mics and the ability to mix in a direct monitor to the signal going out of the interface, wherever I may channel that. Each of the front inputs can receive XLR or 1/4" inputs and there's the option to switch between low and high impedance. If you can't be bothered to set up your levels each time, well no problem, the Quad Capture does that for you and you even have the option to save those settings between sessions so they are ALWAYS the same even when you come back after a few days. Nothing worse than someone twiddling your knobs without you knowing! I picked up this 24bit 192Khz capable interface for just over £100 and I would buy another without hesitation if anything happened to this one.

I suppose I should also say that I'm running a Mac and no, it's not a new machine by today's standards.

[xgsjx]

I'm gonna have a look at the Roland. Sounds like it might fit the bill.

[lowdown]

If the above Roland is not what you need (one of my boys has one, and it's great).
New kid on the block - Steinberg UR22 mk2.
You can also connect it to an iPad.
I have the mk1, and it's excellent.
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audio_interfaces/ur_series/models/ur22mkii.html

[xgsjx]

Oooh. Just had a look. Now that's another fine option. I might hold off & get that & a camera kit for the ipad.