SO: I’m very happy with my UR22c as a portable device, and I do like the integrated view of the Hardware in the Cubase channel strip. The monitoring and dspMixFx all work nicely for me and my M1 MacBook. I also have an aging Tascam 20x20 that will need replacing soon that keeps my main keyboards connected to my studio.
I thought to replace it with the UR816c - but amongst rumours of no longer produced, I can’t find one for sale in the UK or nearby… I have found a few units that are being sold with Cubase Pro 13.
Is there a future for the UR816c? I think this is the only device like it that will have the channel strip inline monitoring.
So. I saw that Andertons Music in the UK still had it listed as available to order - so I asked them to. They said they would contact the manufacturer, and then later replied that it was no longer available. So that is indeed that.
Oh dear, I did check after reading your initial post n saw stock at Andertons. Oversight or naughty on their behalf I guess we can’t say (It’s a bugbear of mine when online stores show stock only to not have it when you enquire/try to buy). Either way that’s a shame to hear about the 816c.
So I wonder if the writing is on the wall for Steinberg’s USB 3 interfaces? I hope they’re as good with driver updates as they have been with my trusty CI2, that thing has been supported as long as an RME and has never had any compatibility problems for me across PC and Mac, literally used it on 6+ different computers and all manner of operating systems.
I wonder if the thing is that customers can’t see the benefit of USB 3 so sales never picked up n then also Steinberg have to pay more for the USB 3 chipset thus cutting into profit? Personally I went with UR-C for two reasons: 1, Yamaha REV-X onboard reverb and 2, which is a bit more nebulous; I did read that USB-3 can be a bit more, well, don’t get at me because we all do our little research and makes our choices but I did read about better handling vis-a-vis USB controllers so I wanted my audio interface to have precedence over all the USB 2/1 devices hanging off my computer. I read about the potential for lower CPU needed too.
Ultimately I would’ve preferred Thunderbolt over USB 3 but we know how that went for Steinberg and there are people out there that say the writing is on the wall for Thunderbolt interfaces too.