help with getting the right audio interface

[gurkancalban]

Hello, I currently have an audio interface (Komplete Audio 2), but I want to change it because the balance between left and right channels fluctuates too much when adjusting the volume.

However, what confuses me right now is the output impedance of the interface. My headphones are Audio Technica ATH-M50X.

What should be the ideal impedance level for getting clear sound?

I was thinking of getting the Audient ID4 Mk2, but I'm concerned that its high impedance might alter the sound signature. Do you have any recommendations?
By the way, if it also affects my reference monitors, my reference monitors are Kali LP-6v2.

 

[voodooless]

What should be the ideal impedance level for getting clear sound?

Ideally it’s zero. But it also depends on the headphone. If it’s designed for a high output impedance amp it may actually benefit. I’d say for you headphones, you want low output impedance, so less than 1 Ohm.

Monitors will not be effected by this.

What features do you need for your interface?

How about his one:

Scarlett 4i4 [3rd Gen]

Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3rd Gen is the perfect interface for musicians and producers starting to expand their setups, featuring four inputs and four outputs.

focusrite.com

 

[AnalogSteph]

I’d say for you headphones, you want low output impedance, so less than 1 Ohm.

Doesn't look like much of an issue, actually:

ATH-M50X

back to audio-technica back to measurements home published: Aug-01-2023 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

The tonal balance hardly changes when a higher output resistance amplifier is used. Up to 32Ω output Resistance makes very little difference. At 120Ω the pad bounce frequency (the dip around 60Hz) is slightly affected but the amount of lows does not change.

Not a particularly critical set of cans all around. You could argue that an output with a bit more oomph than a 3rd-gen Scarlett would be desireable.

I don't see any fundamental problems with the iD4 MkII... just make sure you get along with its operation. Not everyone is comfortable with levels being reset when the interface is turned off.

OP, what kind of volume knob position do you encounter balance issues in the Komplete 2 at? At or particularly below 9 o'clock it would not be too unusual. These should definitely be long gone by 10 o'clock, otherwise you may have a case of a bad pot on your hands.

If your volume pot is below 9 o'clock all the time, I would examine levels on the digital side and attempt to reduce them. If you are playing your own audio files while not using playback volume normalization (e.g. ReplayGain), look into that. It may end up being a win-win. I have dialed in a ca. -3 dB pre-gain for RG in Foobar, and 50% of volume on YouTube and Amazon Music, which tends to give me pretty consistent levels.

 

[voodooless]

Doesn't look like much of an issue

Hmm, given the ASR review, I didn’t expect that it would make that little difference. Great find!

Still, given that you may want to change headphones in the furture, I would always opt for a headphone amp with low output impedance.

 

[staticV3]

Hmm, given the ASR review, I didn’t expect that it would make that little difference. Great find!

Given the M50X's almost flat impedance response, that's exactly what one should expect

Still, given that you may want to change headphones in the furture, I would always opt for a headphone amp with low output impedance.

Agreed.

@gurkancalban If you want a quality headphone amp inside your interface, then look into Motu, RME, or Topping.

TOPPING Professional

topping.pro

Out of these three, Topping may actually be the most sensible choice, since RME is damn expensive and Motu has this issue: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-m2-review-audio-interface.19911/post-1939215

Although Focusrite's 3rd gen interfaces have very low output impedance, they have abysmal distortion:


Focusrite fixed the distortion with their 4th gen, but output impedance got bumped to 50Ω

 

[Music707]

Rule of thumb according to Julian Krause: hp imp > 8x amp out imp

This was presented in the conclusions section of the video below:

 

[gurkancalban]

Aslında pek sorun gibi görünmüyor:

ATH-M50X

back to audio-technica back to measurements home published: Aug-01-2023 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Her yerde özellikle kritik bir kutu seti değil. 3. nesil Scarlett'ten biraz daha çekici bir çıktının arzu edilir olacağını iddia edebilirsiniz .

iD4 MkII ile ilgili herhangi bir temel sorun görmüyorum... sadece işleyişini iyi idare ettiğinizden emin olun. Arayüz kapatıldığında seviyelerin sıfırlanmasından herkes memnun değildir.

OP, Komplete 2'de ne tür ses düğmesi konumunda denge sorunlarıyla karşılaşıyorsunuz? Saat 9'un altında veya özellikle de saat 9'un altında olması çok da olağandışı bir durum olmayacaktır. Bunlar kesinlikle saat 10'a kadar çoktan gitmiş olmalı, aksi takdirde elinizde kötü bir pot olabilir.

Eğer ses potunuz sürekli saat 9'un altındaysa dijital taraftaki seviyeleri inceleyip düşürmeye çalışırdım. Oynatma ses düzeyi normalizasyonunu (örn. ReplayGain) kullanmadığınız halde kendi ses dosyalarınızı çalıyorsanız, buna bakın. Sonuçta bir kazan-kazan olabilir. Yaklaşık bir saat kadar aradım. Foobar'da RG için -3 dB ön kazanç ve YouTube ve Amazon Müzik'te sesin %50'si, bu da bana oldukça tutarlı seviyeler sağlıyor.

My issue isn't actually with the headphone knob. When I try to increase the volume, there's an excessive amount of crackling noise, and in some positions, the balance between left and right channels gets messed up. It's quite bothersome and constantly unsettling, especially not knowing if it's balanced or not.

Given the M50X's almost flat impedance response, that's exactly what one should expect
View attachment 368775


Agreed.

@gurkancalban If you want a quality headphone amp inside your interface, then look into Motu, RME, or Topping.
View attachment 368778

TOPPING Professional

topping.pro

Out of these three, Topping may actually be the most sensible choice, since RME is damn expensive and Motu has this issue: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-m2-review-audio-interface.19911/post-1939215

Although Focusrite's 3rd gen interfaces have very low output impedance, they have abysmal distortion:
View attachment 368779

Focusrite fixed the distortion with their 4th gen, but output impedance got bumped to 50Ω

It seems like impedance won't be an issue for me, as you mentioned. However, I also need to consider something for the MOTU M2. I'm not recording at the moment, but I might start in the future, and the apparent issue with the MOTU M2 is concerning. What do you think about Audient? Do you think it would be sensible for me to purchase it?
Unfortunately, Topping isn't sold in my country.

 

[staticV3]

What do you think about Audient? Do you think it would be sensible for me to purchase it?

The Audient's high output impedance makes it in my opinion unsuitable for IEMs.

As long as you use headphones, it should be fine.

Unfortunately, Topping isn't sold in my country.

Topping has retailers in UK, France (EU), and Russia: https://topping.pro/wheretobuy/

Afaik, they're working on getting other retailers as well.

In the meantime, all other countries are covered by their AliExpress store: https://aliexpress.com/store/3215067

 

[gurkancalban]

The Audient's high output impedance makes it in my opinion unsuitable for IEMs.

As long as you use headphones, it should be fine.


Topping has retailers in UK, France (EU), and Russia: https://topping.pro/wheretobuy/

Afaik, they're working on getting other retailers as well.

In the meantime, all other countries are covered by their AliExpress store: https://aliexpress.com/store/3215067

I will only use ATH-M50X and my Kali monitors. If it won't cause any problems, they are within an hour's distance, and I can go and get them now.

Unfortunately, shopping from abroad in Turkey is ridiculously lengthy and costly. Therefore, as much as I might want and like it, I think I won't be getting the Topping.