I found one for sale cheaper than the Steinberg shop - AXR4T! - I would like to ask when members here think this version will be replaced with the next generation - I’ll explain best I can.
The lower end USB interfaces received a new DSP chip that was more powerful than the one before and with DSP audio interfaces more DSP is always better than less! - More plugins can run etc…
This unit has been around for three years (I’m not complaining) and so will an update machine be released in a year? or maybe 3 years for a 7 year product cycle?
I’m aware that system requirements can be a problem sometimes whether it be Intel Mac or Windows machine.
I’ve got both so can use either - But I do like to use XP | upwards all the way - to 10 depending on the use. With AXR4T it’s thunderbolt so Windows 10 is needed - maybe Windows 8 may work possibly (I think it will) unless Steinberg/Yamaha made it so it won’t! - And a remote chance of Windows 7 working (I nearly got UAD) to work on Windows 7 - In fact it did work but there was an error in the device manager for one of the CPU threads pertaining the thunderbolt driver on a Kaby Lake 7700 K - Off topic sorry!!!
So any information on the DSP chip inside AXR4T etc… Welcome - Thanks
I don’t think the DSP chip in the lower end USB interfaces is any more powerful than the one in the AXR4T/U. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s less powerful and runs less instances of the eq/compressor plugins than the AXR4T/U.
The only difference that we know of is that the dspMixFx on the lower end USB interfaces include the guitar emulation plugins. If those plugins were included on the AXR4T/U, then I’d suspect more instances of them could be run, as I imagine the DSP chip power scales with the channel count in each interface, and the AXR4 has 12 inputs… 4 XLR and 8 line ins.
Here’s a screenshot of my AXR4U with plugin slots fully maxed out, at 48khz sample rate. EQ and compressors on stereo inputs 1 +2 and 3+4, and then 2 instances of the SweetSpot Channel Strip on each of line inputs 5 - 12. You can see the DSP meters maxed out in the top right corner. Of course, there would be no reason to use 2 instances of the SweetSpot Channel Strip on line inputs 5 -12… I’m just demonstrating that the AXR4 CAN use them. I’d be curious to see how many plugins the lower end USB interfaces can use before their DSP chips max out.
Hi - Not been here for a while - Is it possible to use the DSP mix fx on the ADAT input? - Or is it just the line inputs
EDIT - To put this another way - Is it possible to use the compression of the Steinberg AXR4T on the ADAT inputs with an incoming mic pre signal - Thanks
EDIT - Or put another way - does the Steinberg digital mixer for AXR4T have the two insert points on the digital inputs? - If it does then the FX can be used - If not then they can’t - I’ve not used my AXR4T yet due to other things
Hi Fraz, yes you can use the DSP on ADAT inputs. See the selected ADAT input channel in the screenshot below, you can see I’ve got the compressor and EQ on it…
Although, rather strangely, you can’t seem to inset them in the DSP mixer itself. But I use the integrated Hardware tab in Cubase most of the time anyway - coz the integration between the AXR and Cubase is much more convenient than having to keep a seperate mixer open.*
It could just be a case of me not currently having anything inserted in my ADAT ports at the moment (I don’t use ADAT myself). Maybe once a user hooks up an ADAT device then it’s detected and you can use the mixer to insert DSP effects. But either way, it can definitely be done on ADAT input channels in Cubase’s Hardware tab.
*This is one of the main reasons to get the AXR, as opposed to something like a UAD Apollo, which requires keeping it’s Console mixer open.
But again, I tend to prefer inserting the DSP FX in the hardware tab in Cubase itself. Anyway, hope you enjoy the AXR4 - personally I think it’s a fantastic interface. The only thing it’s missing is the Guitar DSP FX from the UR series. If they ever update the AXR with them, then I’d be 100% happy!
