W E T O L D Y O U S O ! ! ! !
ha ha.
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You guys make me question my temptation to get an Apollo card …
I wanted the extra DSP to help with FX processing, but the price and features of the Babyface Pro fs are tempting too, I could see myself riding that intergalactic train !
Well, noone can help you with that decision. It is all a question of priorities. Ask yourself what the additional DSP power can do for you, especially nowadays.
Indeed, there is the question of exactly how much I would use the UAD DSP to run plugins. And the quality of the preamps and converters.
RME is cheaper too and does seem rock solid,
Still mulling on it !
Now that UAD has gone native (and their plugins are NOT that intensive at all), the only real reason to go for the DSP interface is so you can use them while tracking IMHO…
Otherwise, the $30-50 native plugins when they go on sale should handle all your mixing needs on any modern computer…
I use the Steinberg UR28M. No hum! 20 years in use!
Given it’s low cost I’d be sorely tempted to buy it again if it broke. I love its “tactile buttonness” aspect - mono button, a volume knob, input trim knobs, mic volume knobs (two of them), high Z buttons,
phantom power button, others - all immediately accessible by touch on its front panel - as is a very functional monitor controller with the push of a button!
I also love the two independent headphone outputs! They allow me to route two different Cue Mixes to two performers, or one performer and the engineer.
Only negative … latency not as low as many other interfaces. But it’s not high enough to bother me while tracking.
If mine were to break, my short list of replacements would another Steinberg UR28M, and the Audient id44 MkII.
I initially was considering the RME UCX II, but was immediately turned off by the only single headphone output. I also was bothered by the lack of immediate tactile control (I’m sure all the functions are in their internal mix program, but there’s at least a certain amount of menu diving needed), and the cost, especially when you add their ARC USB controller - about $2K.
Can’t beat RME low latency values I’ve read though! Their reliability is often a selling point as well, but 20 years of reliability and still going strong with my Steinberg UR28M is pretty good in my book also!
Yes I totally get you !
And actually I do not care too much about using tons of plugins for tracking, for guitars it will be BIAS FX2 or Amplitube and the latency is fine, for my vocals it’s a channel strip and some delay reverb, fine too.
I guess through the years the UAD has developped some “aura” as being cool with the pros, yet the tech issues with Windows worry me so I will be looking at the RME indeed, perhaps less fancy, but what I want most of all is a smooth workflow !
There are probably plenty of interfaces that work but when choosing RME you maximize the chance that your interface will work with your computer, especially on PC.
Some other aspects as a Windows user:
- people ask on the forum “when I use Cubase I can’t hear YouTube”
RME user: what? - people on the forum “how can I send a Cubasesignal to OBS/Zoom/Discord?”
RME user: just press the loopback button - people on the forum “I have crackles, disconnects, etc.”
RME user: what?
And then there is some advanced support for syncing to SMPTE/MTC, LTC, ASIO sync.
And finally the low latencies.
You are always here with the right words Johnny !
Allow me to send you my gratitude and warmest wishes 
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Probably speaking too soon, but I’ve just watched the first RME TotalMix FX tutorial video a couple of times. That was all it took for the light to come on, which is very exciting.
I was already able to figure out how to direct monitor my microphone through my headphones with both the Cubase playback volume and the mic volume of my choosing. Oh yeah, and I can have my monitor speakers turned on and up with the mic sitting 6" from them, and no screeching feedback because none of the mic input (AN1) is routed to the speaker outputs. Not that I’d recommend this as an operational mode - one wrong move with the wrong fader and horrid damaging racket could result! Do yourself a favor and turn the speakers off if you’re gonna set a live mic in front of them.
Will watch the rest of the videos but I already feel like I can meet 95% of my simple needs. So to those who assured me that TotalMix is reasonably straightforward once you understand a few key concepts, I agree.
Thank you again.
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Glad to hear that!
TotalMix’s structure and logic is spot on. Minimalistic and yet with all possible options right at your fingertips.
I can’t help it: Once RME - always RME 
Well I spoke a little too soon. Now for some reason I can no longer monitor through Cubase.
I can direct monitor by connecting the inputs to the headphones in TotalMix.
BUT, when I press the speaker button on an armed Cubase track and make noise at the appropriate input, the signal no longer appears at stereo out, and I hear nothing. The channel will record normally, and I can hear what I recorded on playback.
I’m sure I did something stupid along the way, but have no idea what it might have been. Have tried resetting the Babyface, putting TotalMix in and out of DAW mode, etc.
Help? Thanks!
Sigh. Never mind. I had “Direct Monitoring” checked in Studio Setup in Cubase. Unchecking it restored my ability to monitor thru CB.
My apologies for any time I’ve wasted on the part of the readers of this thread.
It’s good that you’re happy with the Babyface. Can you say what is the lowest latency you can get with it? This is one of the things which bother me most when it comes to audio interfaces.
Yes, using the Babyface with a buffer of 64 samples Cubase reports 1.993mS input, and 2.358 out.
I can’t detect any latency while monitoring a vocal recording through Cubase, even with a compressor, EQ, and reverb plugins in the insert path.
Same when recording a guitar with an Guitar Rig 7 and EQ plugins. Undetectable. And sure sounds a lot better than monitoring dry!
FWIW, at 48 samples Cubase reports 1.610mS in and 1.995 out. I haven’t tried that buffer size because 64 is working so well for me.
I hear zero crackling while tracking vocals on a 20 track project with over a dozen effect plugins, all on a humble Ryzen 5 laptop. I have gone to some trouble to make the laptop as lean and optimized as I can, FWIW.
Happily knocking out commercial mixes for TV, Radio and Music all day long here on a Focusrite 4th gen 4i4, Win 11 24H2 on Cubase 14 pro…all rock solid (spec in bio)
Of course my use case is my use case…but really, it’s all down to what you’re doing… multi track recording, VSTi’s etc etc
@pmallett57 No disagreement here! And nobody wants to start a dreadful what is better discussion like Mac vs Windows or Cubase vs Logic and so on and so forth. To each his own. As simple as that.
In that Hippie flavoured sense - peace out 
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Thanks for sharing your iteration story. I am curious though why you replaced the MOTU 828x with RME as I am thinking of expanding my gear with either RME or MOTU
Was there any reason for ditching the 828?
I did it because I could really. The 828x is fine, but its also old and Im tired of seeing the pop up message about the old kernel extension, which at this point nobody knows if MOTU will continue the drivers for it or what.
I’ve also got more I/O now and the Digiface is available instantly when I turn it on, instead of waiting a few seconds after the MOTU turns on for it to ‘connect’ and pick up and switch over. Love MOTU, but my Digiface/Pulse setup fcking rules period.