Recommendations for Audio Interface Upgrade

[FeliZ]

Hello,

I am a newbie here and this is my first post here. So hello to all of you!

I work as a musician and producer and i was wondering what would be the next big step for recording from my Audient Mk1?

Are there any boutique Chinese Brands how produce really good performing Interfaces like Topping etc.?

Thank you very much for your help!

Greetings
Felix

 

[dfuller]

Not really, no. The Chinese hi-fi market doesn't really cater to professional equipment. Why this is, I don't entirely know.

Anyway... That depends on your budget and what you want that your current interface doesn't do.

 

[FeliZ]

I was searching a lot the last days but also couldnt find any Pro Equipment for China, there would be a huge market.

My budget is 600 Euro and i want to get the most out of my Costum Master Monitors + HD 800 and Microphones


Greetings

 

[AdamG]

I was searching a lot the last days but also couldnt find any Pro Equipment for China, there would be a huge market.

My budget is 600 Euro and i want to get the most out of my Costum Master Monitors + HD 800 and Microphones


Greetings

Welcome Aboard @FeliZ.

 

[FeliZ]

Hello Adam and the ASR Community!

I contacted Topping about engineering an audio interface, very excited if they really do build something
This is the response i got

Thank you for contacting TOPPING support. We are happy to assist.

I will send your suggestions back to the engineers. And if you have any ideas, please feel free to discuss with us. We really appreciate it.

Best Regards

Any ideas for your dream Audio Interface?

My ideal interface would look like:
D30 Pro DAC , Topping L10 Headphone Amp, 2 Mic Pres @ 70 db Gain (Neve 1073 inspired) , Adat ,Midi, 4 Balanced Outputs.

Greetings

 

[differenceclouds]

The recently released MOTU ultralite mk5 seems to have everything you're looking for and at the right price:
https://motu.com/en-us/products/gen5/ultralite-mk5/specs/

It is very new and hasn't been properly reviewed anywhere, but expect performance similar to the M2 and M4. (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-m4-audio-interface-review.15757/) I actually just ordered one, so shortly I'll be able to comment at least on things like the power of the headphone amp. I'll probably attempt a loopback measurement as well.

The trouble with breaking into the pro audio market, especially with something like an interface, is in the software side of things. You need these devices to be able to predictably work with many different DAWS (DAWSs?) and operating systems, have very flexible routing options, and customers expect things like DSP reverb and a lot of other features that consumer DACs just don't have to worry about. No matter how well-performing the device is, bad drivers and software can absolutely ruin an audio interface.

I think a company like Topping could just go the class-compliant route, and present a device with a number of ins and outs and no software to be installed, but then implementation of custom routing and zero-latency monitoring would have to all be done on the device, driving up the cost. So yeah, it's complicated.

 

[telecode101]

Hi, what kind of recording are you doing? How much vocals and/or acoustic instruments? I just went through some testing of interfaces. Things to keep in mind are drivers, stability of drivers. How long do you plan to use the interface for? How much do you want to spend? What are you using the interface for? How many inputs do you think you need? Do you need ability to expand.

I recently tested a Clarett 2 USB. It's on the higher end of the price range of small studio two input interfaces. Has higher end mic preamps and you can hear the difference when recording vocals and acoustic guitars live off the floor. The question is, can you hear 2x or 3x the price? I am not quite sure. I will be trying out a MOTU and Scarlett that is 1/2 the price to compare.

What I discovered is the high end interface reveals the problems of my low end mics more. I would only recommend it if you were going to do singer songwriter Ed Sheeran stuff. If you are using all electronic music I hear no difference. Also, latency wise, I was not able to see much change.

 

[LightninBoy]

IMO we are already spoiled for interface options. The performance even in budget offerings is stunning.

 

[FeliZ]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the input!
I was also taking a look at the Ultralite Mk5, looks very promising. Also the RME Babyface Pro FS looks like a solid option.
I recently found this video:

MOTU UltraLite mk5の音質をチェックしてみた！【低価格でハイスペックオーディオインターフェイス】 - YouTube
RME and Motu are very good imo, the Aurora sounds the best nonetheless.

I record and produce Jazz & Classical music, own some good microphones for that purpose- selfbuilt Neumann Clones and Ribbon Mics.

I was thinking of staying with the ID14 and just upgrading the Preamps - (The ID14 is linked -Adat with a Focusrite Pro 26 for +8 Pres)
Does anyone have experience with someting like this?

Gold Complete DIY Kit (hairballaudio.com)

Thanks a lot in advance
FeliZ

 

[differenceclouds]

It sounds like you have a pretty interesting setup already! I'm very curious about your mics. Did you buy kits or build from scratch?

It does seem like your interface is the most lightweight item in your setup, but as far as final *sound* goes, you may be on the right track thinking more about your mic pres. But if you're looking at €600, you won't get very far, as you already have great bang for buck in that Focusrite unit. Maybe upgrading one pre at a time would be worth it to you (with that hairball audio item), but no matter what you do it will add up fast.

The single pre you linked might be a good test to see how much you value a nice pre like that. Personally, if I were you I would be looking at something that will really be transformative and get a lot out of your mics, like a full channel strip or preamp+compressor combo. I would be looking into Heritage Audio, Warm Audio, stuff like that. Look at used stuff! Lots of interesting 500 series used stuff floating around. You might find real value in just an old dbx compressor (though maybe not for classical music..). I apologize if that diverges too much from your original topic.