Advice for Audio interface with SPDIF in/out

[Noodles]

Sooo i am going to upgrade my desktop mic to an XLR one (currently using an USB one) and i need to be able to have a SPDIF out on the interface (SPDIF in is also welcome).
Requirements:

1. TRS/XLR outs
2. SPDIF out
3. Decent DA/AD conversion
4. Small-ish form factor (no rack stuff)
5. good price/performance

Main problem i have is the USB power on my PC ports is dirty - grounding issues.

What i found thus far that fit the bill and might bypass that USB issue is:
Focusrite Scarlett 6i6
Focusrite Scarlett 8i6

On the fence for the:
Motu UltraLite-mk3
Motu MicroBook IIc
Antelope Audio Zen Go Synergy Core
Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6

Accepting recommendations and advice.

 

[mansr]

Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6

Avoid that one. Performance is poor all round, even for the fairly low price.

 

[Blumlein 88]

For any purchase confirm the toslink takes both spdif and adat. They aren't the same and some interfaces only do adat. Some do both.

I have the Zen Tour which is the Synergy Core predecessor. I really like it. I don't recall if it does adat only or not.

Antelope has a bad rep on software updates. It has been much better the past year.

I think the Motu and Zen are better converters than the scarlett. I've got an 18i20 and it's fine just not quite as good.

 

[Noodles]

Avoid that one. Performance is poor all round, even for the fairly low price.

Taking the komplete audio 6 off the list ... read quite a few bad reviews on Windows (which i am on).

I think the Motu and Zen are better converters than the scarlett. I've got an 18i20 and it's fine just not quite as good.

Motu sure, don't know about the Zen. Can't really find much technical information on it aside from the press releases.

 

[dfuller]

I'd hard avoid Antelope. I know far too many people who have gotten burned.

The RME Babyface Pro would work, minus the SPDIF part (it only has ADAT optical). The Fireface UCX would work, but only with high impedance headphones (it's got a 30 ohm impedance on the output), and it's fairly expensive. RME is my first choice on windows because their drivers are straight up competent.

 

[Noodles]

I'd hard avoid Antelope. I know far too many people who have gotten burned.

The RME Babyface Pro would work, minus the SPDIF part (it only has ADAT optical). The Fireface UCX would work, but only with high impedance headphones (it's got a 30 ohm impedance on the output), and it's fairly expensive. RME is my first choice on windows because their drivers are straight up competent.

I love the RME stuff, but i do not want to pay the price as even the smallest RME Babyface Pro/Fireface UC that would work perfectly fine is €700+

Looking for something sub-500. Ideally sub-300

 

[mansr]

Taking the komplete audio 6 off the list ... read quite a few bad reviews on Windows (which i am on).

It's UAC2 compliant, so it should work everywhere. The ASIO drivers might be bad, though. I'm more disappointed with the loopback SINAD of 81 dB. And the useless S/PDIF input.

 

[Noodles]

Focusrite Clarett 4Pre came into my crosshairs ... seems to have good reviews all around, anyone got experience with it ?

 

[cabacon]

I'd hard avoid Antelope. I know far too many people who have gotten burned.

The RME Babyface Pro would work, minus the SPDIF part (it only has ADAT optical). The Fireface UCX would work, but only with high impedance headphones (it's got a 30 ohm impedance on the output), and it's fairly expensive. RME is my first choice on windows because their drivers are straight up competent.

I know the OP said they didn't want to pay that much, but the Pro FS (at least) lets you choose whether the optical out is ADAT or SPDIF.

 

[dfuller]

I know the OP said they didn't want to pay that much, but the Pro FS (at least) lets you choose whether the optical out is ADAT or SPDIF.

Oh, good looks, I was just going off the RME site.

 

[Noodles]

Focusrite Clarett 4Pre can do the same based on the user guide they have on their site.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The Clarett would be very good for you. Converters are higher spec than the Scarlett.

 

[Noodles]

I also came across a decent deal on the Arturia Audiofuse interface. Their stuff is quite unknown to me but this little thing seems to have everything I need.
Anyone got any idea how this performs ?

 

[bennetng]

Focusrite Clarett 4Pre came into my crosshairs ... seems to have good reviews all around, anyone got experience with it ?

@RayDunzl has one.

 

[Adahn]

Focusrite Clarett 4Pre came into my crosshairs ... seems to have good reviews all around, anyone got experience with it ?

Clarett 4Pre would be such a great interface if only it had a loopback channel. For some idiotic reason it doesn't. If you can make due without it, not much else wrong with it really.

 

[Noodles]

No i don't and it looks like a solid pick thus far. I've also sent Arturia a message to see if the interface uses a single bitrate for inputs+outputs+bitrate of the interface as i will not only be using it to connect an xlr mic, but also a PS4, active speakers (through toslink if i can, otherwise RCA) and my RME ADI2 DAC via coax spdif.
I can see that all is possible on the Clarett with the single exception that i need to use 24/96kHz... which is ... fine.
If the Audifuse can accommodate my needs, i will probably go for it, especially since it is also soooo tiny and it will fit perfectly on my desk.

 

[MTVhike]

When are ADAT or SPDIF used?

 

[Noodles]

ADAT is for extending the interface features or just connecting additional channels to put it simply. It's mainly used for studio gear.
SPDIF is just a digital signal transport - say you want to connect a PS4 to a device, you will need SPDIF optical on that device. It can't do much else than that.

 

[SoundSoundS]

@Noodles @mansr

My 2 cents on the Komplete Audio 6. First of all i use the Komplete Audio 6 MK1 , not the plasticky MK2. MK1 is built as tank. Reminds me of those vintage 60's amps.

Bought it probably 8 years ago and since then it's been online 24/7 connected to my PC. Not kidding. I turn it off only when something in my PC dies and i need to shutdown and change it.

I use it at the same time for my :
A) Guitar with (amplifier) outputs 1/2 to Yamaha's HS8
B) Home Audio System via non-amp outputs 3/4

Overall :
- Yes it has only up to 24-96 but TBH this is enought for most uses. For recording purposes it's more then enought if you know to master properly. For audio playing again more then enought. I've listened to some very very expensive autio setups over the past years and anything above 24-192 is total waste of breath. And the albums you can find and buy with this hi-res ain't that much . But agian it depends on the usage i guess.
- Amp drive is enough for home studio use . I mainly split the AMP drive between KA6 and the HS8's amp. So both at about 12 o'clock and this is enough to drive my family crazy. As for Output's 3/4 i actually prefer them without AMP so that i can drive the signal fully from my home stereo amplifier.
- Latency enough. Unless you are Yngvie J. Malmsteen.
- Phono stage. Used it just briefly with some mid range AKG's . Was so so . But i would not expect wonders on this front from any up to high midrange Audio Interface. You wan't a decent phono stage 2k and above.
- SPDF - I haven't used the SPDF's yet.
- MIC - I'm waiting for a XLR MIC as we speak.

i've used it on Windows 7 , then 8 and now 10. Have no issues whatsoever. It hasn't failed me once. I currently bought a second one second hand. You can find them very cheap now. I got mine for 80 bucks. i would suggest you find and grab a second hand one and if it sucks for your use case you can still get something newer more fancier. Or if you haven't bought one yet and can wait a couple of weeks i can tell you if the XLR MIC works as well.

I also have Audiolab M-One in my B) use case and in MY home audio setup difference ain't mind blowing although they are not directly comparable. . Price is
I was recently considered upgrading to something more then the KA6 and even more then the Audiolab but i'm not very convinced the increase in audio quality in real use case usage, not just on paper, will justify the price for what i use it for.

 

[Noodles]

The Arturia Audiofuse was something i went for initially, however it turned out that if you wanted to hear the SPDIF signal, you had to pretty much always monitor in real time. Alternatively i could route it through the either optical or coax and that was it - nothing much past that point.

• It all seemed to work fine but there were other problems - after restarts i had to set the bitrate of the interface once again (it reset itself after each reboot).
• The headphone outs had a channel imbalance in the beginning of the knob.
• The unit ran HOT, for real - even when there was nothing going on.
• The USB micro and power connections on the back were ... quite flimsy.
• The mic preamps sounded a bit bright with the Rode NT2a i have chosen to be my desktop mic.
• Whenever i had a SPDIF signal playing and going to my RME, i could not route anything else to it (could not mix in the USB audio).
• I found that i could not do mic shaping in real time (that was an oversight on my end).

Maybe with the Clarett most of what i wanted could have been possible but i was tired of setting up and returning gear at that point and i just gave up.

So all in all i could not do most of the things i wanted to, so i returned the Arturia and decided to just get a solid 2 channel interface that is going to last me for years with as much of the functionality on the unit itself and not in software.
I gotten myself an SSL 2+ and honestly - i could not be happier.
The only thing i'm missing on it is the SPDIF but it has pretty much everything else i need:

• Excellent converters
• Absolutely amazing preamps (plus the 4k emulation)
• Balanced line outs
• Unbalanced line outs
• Balanced/Unbalanced preamp
• 2 separate headphone outs
• Excellent noise rejection over USB (i got dirty usb power)
• Smooooooooth AF knobs with resistance where it matters.
• And all of that is with 0 software control.

I love this thing.