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SSl 2, Motu M2, or other

Sherif Rizq

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Hi All,

Im a gutar player and using DI + amp sim however I need to upgrade my old audio interface (focusrite solo 1st), to new one like SSL2 or Motu m2 "both very expensive in egypt". Moreover, im not expert with audio musearment. What i need is low latency and high quality of audio after mixdown. Im not sure if i will feel a huge difference between old audio interface back to 2011 and the new one. any one have experience recording to this. Please advise?

Thanks,
Sherif Rizq
 

AnalogSteph

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The old 1st gen Scarletts have a bit of a reputation for being relatively easy to overdrive with loud pickups, but that shouldn't concern you much if you are using a DI.

A typical XMOS-based USB interface in this class is not going to provide the super low overhead of something with custom ASIC / FPGA solutions and/or Thunderbolt (/ PCIe), but achievable latency should be just fine either way (guitar is not as critical as vocals, for example). The current Scarletts actually are some of the better ones, despite losing perhaps 1 ms due to older converters.

Is the amp simulation being applied in realtime or after the fact? That could make a substantial difference in system load and hence the minimum stable buffer settings. What sort of computer are you using?
 
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Sherif Rizq

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Thanks for reply.

I'm using Dell pc I5. and pc specification as attached photo. also I believe in my case the new audio interfaces converter + preamp + low noise is factors and reflect to audio quality

I'm sorry for my English language is not good enough.
 

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AnalogSteph

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You write PC, but that's probably a laptop, right? Dell has used this model processor in all kinds of machines, from basic Vostros and a number of Inspirons to 13" XPS models. (On Windows, you can run msinfo32 to determine the machine type.) At 4C/8T, a maximum turbo boost clock of 3.6 GHz and a nominal TDP of 15 W (with options of 25 W up or 13 W down) it's not a powerhouse by modern standards, but should still deliver performance comparable to a 2013-2015 desktop i7 machine.

If the system is using ordinary DDR4 SODIMMs (rather than just memory soldered to the motherboard), you can probably improve performance a fair bit by getting another 8 GiB stick of DDR4-3200, enabling dual channel operation. DAWs almost universally seem to be benefitting from memory bandwidth when lots of tracks and effects are involved, and current ones are able to use quite a bit of memory as well, so having 16 GiB would definitely not be hurting from that perspective either. A single 8 GiB module is general purpose / office machine spec these days.

also I believe in my case the new audio interfaces converter + preamp + low noise is factors and reflect to audio quality
The 1st gen Scarlett Solo didn't have bad mic EIN to begin with (spec is -125 dBu), and the converters are the same they're still using today. It seems plenty adequate for the modest requirements of a guitar pickup.

If you have issues with hum, you may want to make sure that the audio interface is grounded / earthed since this may not be happening through the computer's power supply (and you may just be using headphones rather than typical active monitors). That being said, your external DI should normally be keeping any such problems away, too.
 

Trailblazin

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I'll add as I'm also looking to upgrade my first gen Scarlett, the signal does clip when running in INST mode and it's a common problem with them; but, if it's not broken and you can record without clipping then don't replace it.
 
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