A question on USB interfaces.

I am looking to upgrade from a line6 UX2, which I’ve used for a while and its great. But as been it’s been years. And getting really into this. I want to upgrade. But there is SO many interfaces out there. I don’t mind spending decent amount of coin for this. But was wondering, if any one has recommendations? And more importantly, are there any that can allow for 4 simultaneous inputs. That is to say, be able to record 4 things that will be presented as 4 tracks in Cubase? My current UX2 allows for 2. Also goes without saying low latency wins. I recall using a cheap Presonos interface, but it had nasty latency. It got around the problem by allow you to listen to the sound before it hits cubase. Which was cool, but the UX2 allowed me to monitor the audio after cubase at decent latency. Which is better when you are running FXs in cubase. I could actually play and monitor with the UX2. I hope this makes some kind of sense?

I found this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steinberg-45031-Hardware/dp/B00L6C8ZWQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1484661180&sr=8-5&keywords=Steinberg
And was wondering if this would do? And are there better? If so, could you guys drop me some names?

Many thanks in advanced. And sorry for bugging you guys.

Obviously, I’m biased as a Steinberg Employee, but I really like the UR44 a lot. The mic-pres are great, plenty of flexibility for me with a quick setup location recordings of podcasts, smaller projects, etc. It does require the included power supply to work, but that’s a small price to pay for the quality for me.

I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and it’s great. I want to upgrade to either the UR44 or the Scarlett 6i6. I will probably get the UR44 because of the way the hardware integrates into Cubase and the dsp capabilities. But, you should have a look at the Focusrite Scarlett line. They’re very good for the price point.

Yea… we will all be biased to the products we had good luck with.

For me, I like the audio interfaces from PreSonus. I have been using them for years. The new Studio 192 or Studio 192 Mobile are USB3 capable and can do what you want and probably a lot more.

Have fun choosing. :wink:

Regards :sunglasses:

Well, I have the UR44, and I am happy enough with its performance.

If you do the research, you will find that RME comes in very low latency, but at a price. There are also now some USB3 interfaces from various manufacturers, these have to be scoring high in performance. But its also about the preamps… so there you go. Very subjective indeed.

I like the UR44, it has reverb and comp built in, and direct monitoring with Cubase. Also it has a dedicated loopback function, and it can operate in standalone mode without being plugged into a USB port.

I like my motu device because it is a different animal, it has a bunch of inputs and outputs, so you can use it like an audio patchbay. Also operates in standalone mode, and has built-in dsp reverb and comp- but also gice you control over all parameters from the front of the unit. No built-in loopback mode though, to you have to jump through hoops for that.

This has been a topic in the hardware forum

…and the consensus there seems to favor RME if you can afford it. Personally, I use the RME Fireface UFX, which communicates by USB, or firewire in the alternative. I have 4 mic/instrument inputs, 8 line inputs, and additional ADAT/digital audio inputs that I’ve never used (and probably never will). It’s quite reliable and has low latency. I’m running at 3.515 ms input latency and 4.444 ms output latency (buffer size is 128 samples, sample rate 44.1 kHz). No errors, and 4 analog inputs at once, with some built-in compression and EQ active. I could push it farther. It goes down to 48 samples and up to 192 kHz, but I’ve never tried it.)

Needless to say, I’m very happy with it. Never had a problem. For a while, I used the fireface without a DAW, like a stand-alone mixer. I could have saved tracks to a connected HDD, but never did.

Some might say going with RME is overkill. I’ve not tried other interfaces, so I can’t say anything about them (good or bad). I knew RME was the best and I wanted quality, not unpleasant surprises. So I saved my pennies and bided my time.

If I have any concerns, it would be a lack of mic inputs, should I ever wish to record a group playing as a group. You can expand the fireface with an OctaMic II, say. But there goes another $1800. There are probably cheaper ways to add inputs.

Wow thank you so much for the replies, sorry if this is a repeat post, I’m not forum user. This is actually my first forum that I post on, still kinda learning the ways if you get me. There is lots of information and now, I’m gonna dig into these interfaces :slight_smile:

Thank you for helping and putting up my ignorance.

Welcome!

Always good to have a fresh discussion! :slight_smile:

I really liked my UR44 - great pre-amps - good headphone amps - useful DSP effects, latency was acceptable but not amazing. A very good product however many people have huge problems with drivers - it’s a bit of a lottery. You’ll love it if it works on your system!

Lots of interface latency measurements (sometimes differ from those reported by the interface) here: MichałKaszczyszyn.com » Latency and recording guitars

This utility makes it easy to see reported and to measure RTL latencies. (On Windows 10 you may need to run it in 7 compatibility mode). http://www.oblique-audio.com/free/rtlutility. Except for ASIO4ALL, it seems pretty accurate.

More latency measurements here: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/618474-audio-interface-low-latency-performance-data-base.html but note that the rankings provided do not reflect improvements in computer performance http://www.scanproaudio.info/2016/06/28/intel-broadwell-e-the-new-audio-system-cpu-of-choice/, DAWS https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/1134043-daw-interface-performance-measurements-reaper-5-cubase-8-5-9-a.html, or interfaces and their drivers.