Audio Interface - which one?

dilbert

I'm looking to replace my sound card (M-Audio 24/96), with an Audio Interface for recording, but I don't have a clue where to start really. The populist view seems to be to go for Focusrite but as a run of the mill 'recordist', is there anything I should consider bearing in mind I will probably not get above guitar, bass, drums(midi) & vox and I would have thought a couple of inputs/outputs should be sufficient as I'm likely to be a one man band in every sense of the word 

A quick look at Amazon came up with this which I think should meet my needs but before I pull the trigger, I'm open to advice
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-U-PHORIA-UMC204HD-Audio-Interface/dp/B00SAV96JM/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=audio+interface&qid=1609170435&sr=8-17 

Cheers in advance.

dilbert

  

Heartfeltdawn

At this price range, most of the units will sound pretty similar. Cut all the marketing bullshit out, you know you're going to get some alright preamps and alright sound. So think of the other factors:

1. Quality of the drivers.
2. What else do you get with the interface. 

Not many of the cheap ones make a big thing of their driver quality. From emory, Behringer use the stock Thesycon driver as do Audient and others. Steinberg, Native Instruments, Tascam, Zoom... all write their own drivers AFAIK. Can't remember if Focusrite do, pretty sure they do. MOTU do. Personally I'd go with an interface from a company that does write its own drivers. 

Do you need a DAW? What software do you need and require? 

Of all the cheap stuff, I'm liking the Komplete Audio 2 from Native Instruments the best. Ableton Live Lite 10 is a decent little introduction to recording, the interface is capable, and there are some good software options that come with it. Steinberg UR22 is another option I'd endorse particularly when it comes to latency and driver quality. 

Fretwired

Heartfeltdawn said:

At this price range, most of the units will sound pretty similar. Cut all the marketing bullshit out, you know you're going to get some alright preamps and alright sound. So think of the other factors:

1. Quality of the drivers.
2. What else do you get with the interface. 

Not many of the cheap ones make a big thing of their driver quality. From emory, Behringer use the stock Thesycon driver as do Audient and others. Steinberg, Native Instruments, Tascam, Zoom... all write their own drivers AFAIK. Can't remember if Focusrite do, pretty sure they do. MOTU do. Personally I'd go with an interface from a company that does write its own drivers. 

Do you need a DAW? What software do you need and require? 

Of all the cheap stuff, I'm liking the Komplete Audio 2 from Native Instruments the best. Ableton Live Lite 10 is a decent little introduction to recording, the interface is capable, and there are some good software options that come with it. Steinberg UR22 is another option I'd endorse particularly when it comes to latency and driver quality. 

Steinberg is Yamaha. You get Yamaha drivers and tech. I have a couple of Steinberg audio units and they are rock solid.

There's plenty of decent stuff - you need to look at what you want. How many inputs/outputs? What do you want to connect? Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, basic guitar, keyboards, drum machines etc.

Check Musicradar for reviews .. best budget interfaces:

https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-budget-audio-interfaces

spark240

Presonus Audiobox . Focuste Scarlett seem to be popular.

Heartfeltdawn

Fretwired said:

Steinberg is Yamaha. You get Yamaha drivers and tech. I have a couple of Steinberg audio units and they are rock solid.

Yep, written by Yamaha, labelled in the release notes as Yamaha Steinberg drivers, and I've given positive comment on them before on here. Well written and hassle free drivers. 

sweepy

I have a faulty Audient id44 that I’d let go v cheap, works fine but the jig wheel seems not to want to work any more . The unit works fine when being driven from the software but for some reason the physical jog wheel doesn’t play ball 

Stuckfast

Are you on Windows or Mac OS? The driver question is generally more important on Windows. Most USB interfaces on Mac are class compliant and use the built-in Core Audio driver which is basically fine. But if you're on Windows I would absolutely agree with @Heartfeltdawn that you should go with a manufacturer who code their own drivers -- the Thesycon and other generic ones are crap.

digitalscream

Komplete Audio 6 here - apart from the main volume control getting a bit scratchy after three or four years, I've got absolutely no complaints.

joeyowen

I've used Focusrite stuff for years and never had an issue.

(Apart from the time I missed something really basic in the manual and had to ring their tech support.  They were amazing helpful, and didn't even laugh at me when I realised how basic it was)

lukedlb

I started an inquiry into a similar thread, although, if I understand correctly, you are looking for an ampless solution. Why drop the Iridium solution?

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/194575/your-experience-of-recording-guitar-to-daw-options/p1

dilbert

Many thanks for all your responses, chaps and you have certainly provided food for thought w.r.t. drivers.

@Heartfeltdawn ;I've used Reaper before and am okay'ish with that as a DAW. I think they had me in mind when it was coded as it's pretty much all 'right click' type operations. 

@lukedlb thanks for the link, it's really informative and more food for thought and in terms re: dropping the Iridium solution, frankly, I never picked it up! More research is called for I guess. 

BTW, can anyone confirm if I need a DI box as well as the Interface?

Thanks again, all. Your' thoughts are genuinely welcome.

dilbert      

Heartfeltdawn

If the interface has a combi XLR-jack input with a Line/Instrument option, you won't need a DI box. 

tekbow

sweepy said:

I have a faulty Audient id44 that I’d let go v cheap, works fine but the jig wheel seems not to want to work any more . The unit works fine when being driven from the software but for some reason the physical jog wheel doesn’t play ball 

Mine was scratchy, and they fixed it outside warranty for free because they still consider it a flagship Item and it's not been that long since it was released.

They sounded a bit embarrassed when I talked to them.

sweepy

tekbow said:

sweepy said:

I have a faulty Audient id44 that I’d let go v cheap, works fine but the jig wheel seems not to want to work any more . The unit works fine when being driven from the software but for some reason the physical jog wheel doesn’t play ball 

Mine was scratchy, and they fixed it outside warranty for free because they still consider it a flagship Item and it's not been that long since it was released.

They sounded a bit embarrassed when I talked to them.

Mine has been back to them, it cam back exactly the same

tekbow

sweepy said:

tekbow said:

sweepy said:

I have a faulty Audient id44 that I’d let go v cheap, works fine but the jig wheel seems not to want to work any more . The unit works fine when being driven from the software but for some reason the physical jog wheel doesn’t play ball 

Mine was scratchy, and they fixed it outside warranty for free because they still consider it a flagship Item and it's not been that long since it was released.

They sounded a bit embarrassed when I talked to them.

Mine has been back to them, it cam back exactly the same

Ah, crap.. mine came back working..

Did you talk To them again?

WiresDreamDisasters

for entry level, the Focusrite Scarlett series is okay. I'm not a fan of their drivers bit flaky.

I've got friends who rate the Audient stuff. But might be a bit above your budget.

The Behringer will probably be oookkkaaayyyyy... but it's Behringer..... blergh.... bit of a shit company.

What are the M-Audio soundcards like these days? I've honestly not used a cheap end one for a while. But maybe they'd be a better direction to go in?

Fez

Another happy Komplete audio 6 user here works well with reaper.

dilbert

WiresDreamDisasters said:

for entry level, the Focusrite Scarlett series is okay. I'm not a fan of their drivers bit flaky.

I've got friends who rate the Audient stuff. But might be a bit above your budget.

The Behringer will probably be oookkkaaayyyyy... but it's Behringer..... blergh.... bit of a shit company.

What are the M-Audio soundcards like these days? I've honestly not used a cheap end one for a while. But maybe they'd be a better direction to go in?

I've used quite a bit of Behringer kit, V-Amp 1, 2 & Pro, FCB Foot controller and some pedals and they were pretty decent but yep, a few weren't great performers, particularly the plastic pedals which were just about okay'ish sound wise, having said that I know a few people who have had issues with reliability too. I always bought them as try out clones before I bought the 'real McCoy' and a couple, (e.g. the TS9 clone) is still in my pedal box. 

The Audiophile 24/96 is a really good card IMHO, the performance is still pretty good and I believe that M-Audio now produce a 192Khz model. I never struggled with latency but then again I was only playing along to backing tracks so no it didn't have to be that good. I think I paid £100 around 15 years ago and around 5 years ago, I saw them on sale at £50, which was a bargain IMO.             

Greatape

Tascam have just released the US-HR range. About £140 for 2 in/2 out. Makes a big noise about the quality of the drivers and preamps. 

Audient have just revamped their ID range up to USB C and a few other tweaks. 

dilbert

Greatape said:

Tascam have just released the US-HR range. About £140 for 2 in/2 out. Makes a big noise about the quality of the drivers and preamps. 

Audient have just revamped their ID range up to USB C and a few other tweaks. 

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be splashing the cash in the next couple of days but my short list is growing by the day 

Greatape

dilbert said:

Greatape said:

Tascam have just released the US-HR range. About £140 for 2 in/2 out. Makes a big noise about the quality of the drivers and preamps. 

Audient have just revamped their ID range up to USB C and a few other tweaks. 

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be splashing the cash in the next couple of days but my short list is growing by the day 

Tascam drops on 15th, Audient on 25th