I am looking for a bit more than my beloved UR44c can do now. Since the UR816 is no longer a choice, nor anything announced similar from Yamaha, I’m looking elsewhere, and I’m wondering if others have any experiences here to help me?
My needs are: 2x 48v Mikes, 8x synth/guitar inputs, 2x Headphones, 2x Monitor speakers, good quality IO / preamps.
My desires include onboard DSP (like the latency-free reverb on the UR series), and solid Mac drivers, including ideally seamless sleep/wake on Mac OS (UR handles that nicely).
A friend (not a Cubase user) has recommended the Zoom LiveTrak L6max as meeting all my needs. I think there are Focusrite etc. options at a similar price.
Going up a bit, I’ve been intrigued by the UA Volt 876 (with onboard classic analog compressors and pre-amps? But no Verb).
Once up at there £1k+ mark, I wonder about eg a smaller Apollo Twin + ADAT expander (and an outboard verb?).
I think I can probably achieve the latency free recording of Audio with Verb not recorded via listening direct on the IO device, with added verb in the Cubase recording workflow too, I’m sure I’ve read some tricks from Dom on that in the past.
So, anyone migrated happily from UR-series to something else and can advise me on something rock solid with Cubase? Thanks!
Thanks @Oneway, I will check it out! Planning a weekend of digging into info on the various options. As well as the Volt looking nice, I’ve been recommended by a fellow Cubase user the Arturia Audiofuse 16 - which does look nice (no onboard DSP again), a bit pricier than Volt. He says its rock solid with Cubase.
I’m in a similar quandary. Despite having tons of ancient inputs (Yamaha 01V, AW1600, MG10XU, and a couple of UR22’s) – when it comes down to getting it into a computer, I’ve still only got a stereo input.
I’m mostly software now, but still have several hardware synths, and also play drums. For once, I’d like to have the ability to track everything at once. I’d prefer something simpler without a lot of functions I won’t use.
The new Yamaha MGX16 looked good, I know it would integrate well with Cubase, and have solid drivers, but it doesn’t have midi (AFAIK), not sure about phantom power (but I’ve got that elsewhere), and more inputs would be better unless I frankenstein it with something else. I’m also not sure I want another mixer around unless I dump some of what I’ve already got.
Like you, I think I need to research further, but I don’t think the ‘just right’ solution is out there yet.
So far - I don’t want anything that relies on a tablet. I don’t want something that only uses a touchscreen. I’m not a for hire studio and don’t claim depreciation. It’s only for personal use. I’ve read that touchscreens normally last 5 to 7 years, and heavy duty industrial ones can last 10 years. So either a hybrid mixer or a straight expandable interface seems to be the choice.
If Yamaha made a URX816c with the ability to piggyback another one, and combine outputs thru one usb, that would be perfect. Not sure how much chance there is of that though.
Well…..after researching and honest soul searching I made my choice. I got the new Yamaha MGX16. I will only be using it at home for a few synths, and drums.
There’s no expansion capabilities other than running one of my other mixers into it, but I’m OK with that. It relies on a touch screen, but I’m old, and if it has Yamaha’s usual quality, it may outlive me. Phantom power can be switched on/off for each of the 8 channels with pre amps.
I ran into a few glitches, but consulted with Yamaha and have them pretty much worked out now. After using a couple UR22’s, I was wanting to be able to get drum tracks down on their own channels. The other concern was midi, but it can be done with USB now, and I think it will happen in a future update, because it already shows in the software, but doesn’t work yet. If not, I can work around that. I’m happy with it so far. A couple screenshots:
Interesting! I haven’t decided what to do about a new IO device, but I am awaiting the arrival of a new Tascam LM-8ST line level mixer for the outboard synths, and a Black Lion TRS3 patch bay to add flexibility for some of those multiple-output synth workstations. The new IO devices I am being tempted by are more expensive (Apollo, RME) and I can’t justify the jump yet.. Hopefully my Tascam mixer will feed into the UR44C and give it a bit more life for a while.
Reading about all the digital expansion options and types was interesting, but it would be overkill for what I want to do. Your option sounds like it should work fine, but require a bit of fiddling around (as do all options, I guess).
The other option I considered was the Tascam US-16x08. But it has XLR’s instead of Neutrik inputs. That would be fine for drums, but not so good for synths.
