Future Proof recording interface?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I now have two fully working, but functionally useless USB audio interfaces as the manufacturers stopped providing updated drivers for newer operating systems.

The first is the Tascam US-122 which is only supported up to OSX v10.5 leopard
To replace this I bought a native instruments session I/O which is flaky on OSX 10.9 mavericks and according to my research will not work at all on the current El Capitain or future releases.

All I need is one guitar/bass input on a 1/4" jack and an XLR input with phantom power for a condenser mic.

I guess the reason for manufacturers to not release updated drivers for old products is they think that this will drive the owner to replace it with a newer model, however this is a flawed logic as what has happened in my case is that I will never buy anything made by tascam or native instruments again.

Are there any manufacturers who do care about releasing drivers for new operating systems?

I'm looking at the IK Multimedia irig duo/pro and focusrite scarlett interfaces- Does anyone have any comments about the longevity of support likely to be provided by these these or any other devices?

[BottomE]

Focusrite - they've had (i know this is Windows and not crApple) drivers for Windows 10 for ages. My USB interface, Saffire Pro, is about 6 years old and they support every OS update. Bloody good quality interface as well.

[4stringslow]

Beats me why new drivers are required in the first place. USB has been a stable standard for years now so why does a new OS need to have new drivers? We don't have to update all our other software every time a new OS is released do we, so why drivers? Shame on the lazy OS developers if you ask me.

[pineweasel]

Is it possible that either of your interfaces works with OS X without a driver? I use an ancient Edirol UA25 which only requires drivers for advanced features like 24 bit recording. It works perfectly well as a basic 16 bit interface with OS X's built in Core Audio.

[BigRedX]

There simply isn't such a thing as a future-proof audio interface. The only way to do it would be to stop updating any of your software including the OS.

[Leonard Smalls]

And El Krapitan appears to be very painful for some recording studios, especially if they're working with Reaper...

[project_c]

motu microbook? I've had mine for about 6 years, I'm still running Lion but it works on all os versions. I can't remember the phantom power situation so look it up, but other than that it's fine, sound quality is really good.

[4stringslow]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1465139886' post='3065548']
There simply isn't such a thing as a future-proof audio interface. The only way to do it would be to stop updating any of your software including the OS.
[/quote]

Funny you should say that, I have a PC DAW using a 12-input Hercules interface running on WInXP. It does the job and I have no security concerns as I don't allow it to connect to the internet.

[Twincam]

This is why I record on wax cylinder. Hence my quality in the noodle challenges lol.

[Skol303]

As others have mentioned, there's really no such thing as a truly 'future proof' interface.

You're shackled by your choice of operating system (and its steady march of updates), driver software and even by the 'plug' itself (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt...).

So you have to either accept that obsolescence is inevitable - and just make the most of whatever interface you choose for as long as it's viable (which is usually a very long time). Or you settle on a system that works and just stop updating.

Many 'pro' studios adopt the latter approach. The computers at their hearts are quite often running 'old' yet stable operating systems. Email, admin and other Internet stuff is then handled on a separate machine.

Me, I update regularly like the good Apple slave that I am But as my now aging computer gets even older, I am starting to consider unplugging and just letting it run offline.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Skol303

[RockfordStone]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1465139886' post='3065548']
There simply isn't such a thing as a future-proof audio interface. The only way to do it would be to stop updating any of your software including the OS.
[/quote]
this.
if you are a windows user however, windows 10 can make use of windows 7 drivers, so options are a bit wider, but as operating systems change drivers will change, and a manufacturer wont continue to provide free drivers when they can charge for new compatible kit.

[paul_5]

Future proof? I don't think it exists in the world of computer based recording.

I'm quite happily ticking away on Pro Tools 10 with an MBOX 2 on a Mac with OSX 10.8.5

Until any of the above breaks I see no need to update anything and lose functionality. If you need to update your OS for other software then I'd look at partitioning your drive/installing a second and then having a dual boot system.

[51m0n]

Doesn't exist

Leave the machine / interface as they are, buy a new machine for plugging in to the internet and you're golden

[cybertect]

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1465131089' post='3065477']
Beats me why new drivers are required in the first place. USB has been a stable standard for years now so why does a new OS need to have new drivers? We don't have to update all our other software every time a new OS is released do we, so why drivers? Shame on the lazy OS developers if you ask me.
[/quote]

Well, there are a few things to pick up on here.

For basic I/O and many other common tasks, then you're right. Devices which are Class Compliant with the USB Audio Standard (v1.0 1998, v2.0 2006) shouldn't need manufacturer-supplied drivers. It's built into the operating system and when a new version of OS X, Windows or Linux is released, then that built-in driver is also updated.

Where this falls down is when hardware makers want to create features that are either unavailable using the USB Audio Standard or which OS makers (Apple/Microsoft) have not implemented in their USB Audio support.

I'm more familiar with Macs, but, for example, while there was limited support for USB Audio v2.0 features in earlier versions of OS X, Apple didn't fully support it until 10.6. If you wanted to use [i]High Speed Streaming[/i] or [i]Status Interrupt Control Endpoints[/i] from USB Audio v2.0, then you couldn't do that on 10.5 with the built-in drivers.

Manufacturers then had either the choice of writing their own driver in its entirety from the ground up or, for some features, extending the built in Class Driver with a Kernel Extension. Both of these options will probably require updates when new versions of the host OS ships, which will usually stop when the hardware maker declares the product End-of-Life. At that point, as an end user, you're pretty well on your own if it doesn't work.

The good news is that as the USB Audio standard has matured and better supported the needs of hardware-makers, while also being more fully supported by OS-makers, the need to write custom drivers for hardware has reduced and the number of Class Compliant devices has increased. You can be fairly confident that if the product is described as 'class compliant' it will continue to work with future OS versions, whatever platform you are using.

The small fly in the ointment with this more optimistic view is that the shift from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 (that is the USB hardware standard, not the USB Audo Class standard) has broken a few devices even though USB 3.0 is supposed to be backward compatible. For example, M-Audio were recommending not to connect their devices designed for USB 2 to USB 3 ports in 2014. This is largely independent of OS version (and even OS platform) however,. Fortunately, new versions of USB do come along very rarely and have delivered significant benefits, such as much faster transfer speeds.

[Owen]

You can run older kit in osx by using legacy settings (or something). I cannot remember the details but I was in this exact situation and managed to get my Ozonic Firewire interface working.

[jonsmith]

As previously stated, nothing is completely futureproof, but if you're getting something new I'd also recommend Focusrite. They seem to support their products for a while and they're good products too.

[4stringslow]

I guess there's a difference between future proof and upgrade proof. The very fact that. We can now afford more recording technology in our homes than, say, The Beatles ever had access to in Abbey Road shoes that we should not wish for things to remain the same and that there will, periodically, be significant leaps forward that will necessitate significant equipment changes if we are to adopt them.

I suppose it comes down to timescales. Replacing bits of hardware every 10 years doesn't seem too much to ask, especially given the relatively low price of electronic stuff these days. It's the nature of the fast moving tech world we live in.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like one of the new focusrite scarett devices would probably be a good choice. I'm planning to buy a new macbook pro when(/if) new skylake models are announced at the WWDC next week.

I had forgotten that my zoom B3 can act as an audio interface so I will see how that well that works before buying something new - I also have a behringer mini mixer with a phantom powered XLR input, so I'll also try rigging that up to go into the B3 to for mic recordings

[sammybee]

I'm on a Motu 828mk2 from 2004 I believe. Latest OS from Apple. The electronics will wear out (capacitors) before they stop producing drivers for it.

[BigRedX]

IMO the simplest way to future-proof your computer-based recording system, is to buy a cheap computer running the OS of your choice that supports your current audio interface, and reserve it just for doing music on. I bought a second-hand 3Ghz 8-core Mac Pro with 32GB RAM for £300 - I could have got one for less if I'd been able to travel to pick it up in person. It will run any Mac OS from Snow Leopard onwards and therefore will support Logic 8 onwards with the right OS. Has more than enough processing power for what ever you need to do and room for 4 internal SATA drives so you are unlikely to ever run out of room for recording or samples to use with your plug-in instruments. I've made recordings that have been released on CD and got national radio play on machines with considerably lower specifications - you don't need to latest version of anything to make great sounding recordings.

[Mornats]

Focusrite's core range (Scarlett and Sapphire) should be fine in terms of driver support but their premium Forte was barely supported before they discontinued it. To get that to work on Windows 10 you have to search Google for their beta drivers and even then it's pot luck as to which one will work. As far as I know they're not planning on updating those any more. I should have (really) stretched my budget and gone RME.

[charic]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1465226922' post='3066302']
IMO the simplest way to future-proof your computer-based recording system, is to buy a cheap computer running the OS of your choice that supports your current audio interface, and reserve it just for doing music on. I bought a second-hand 3Ghz 8-core Mac Pro with 32GB RAM for £300 - I could have got one for less if I'd been able to travel to pick it up in person. It will run any Mac OS from Snow Leopard onwards and therefore will support Logic 8 onwards with the right OS. Has more than enough processing power for what ever you need to do and room for 4 internal SATA drives so you are unlikely to ever run out of room for recording or samples to use with your plug-in instruments. I've made recordings that have been released on CD and got national radio play on machines with considerably lower specifications - you don't need to latest version of anything to make great sounding recordings.
[/quote]


Damn that's a bargain.. hadn't thought of that!

[4stringslow]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1465226922' post='3066302']
IMO the simplest way to future-proof your computer-based recording system, is to buy a cheap computer running the OS of your choice that supports your current audio interface, and reserve it just for doing music on. I bought a second-hand 3Ghz 8-core Mac Pro with 32GB RAM for £300 - I could have got one for less if I'd been able to travel to pick it up in person. It will run any Mac OS from Snow Leopard onwards and therefore will support Logic 8 onwards with the right OS. Has more than enough processing power for what ever you need to do and room for 4 internal SATA drives so you are unlikely to ever run out of room for recording or samples to use with your plug-in instruments. I've made recordings that have been released on CD and got national radio play on machines with considerably lower specifications - you don't need to latest version of anything to make great sounding recordings.
[/quote]

Agreed. Just because a computer can run loads of applications doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea. Treat the computer as a dedicated 'component' of the studio and keep it clear of email, Facebook and general web browsing etc, that can so easily clutter the thing up with junk, both benign and malicious. Keep it 'lean and mean' and you won't even need antivirus and other performance-sapping 'protection' running in the background.

[51m0n]

Just adding that RME have a very good history of maintenance of older interfaces.

You get what you pay for....

[Mornats]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1465325338' post='3067223']
You get what you pay for....
[/quote]

The stinger for me with the Focusrite Forte was that it was closer in price to the RME Babyface than it was to a Focusrite Scarlet so sometimes you get less than you pay for!