The interface can run without the software. It can also run standalone. But sure we develop the software ourselves so the support is very responsive. The product actually has been out since August. Most issues are ironed out. The market response is even better in China actually much better than initially anticipated.
As I said, I was just trying to work out how this product would be used, and @andymcbain explained it very clearly for me. I don't know why you're bringing up software as it wasn't part of our conversation flow, but yes I suppose the software is important, are you saying the software is not good? Amir seemed happy with the software, and a cursory glance at the screenshots of it seem fine to me.
If you buy this with the intention to use it for what it is intended to, for sure you need a computer with appropiate software for mixing, recording etc. It may work in the basic meaning of ”working”, but that makes no sense from a user perspective. You just need a software - suggesting anything else is just not serious.
You have no idea how utterly shit the mic inputs can be on inexpensive USB audio interfaces. On the very budget end you can usually take your pick between something with half-decent noise on a dynamic (but perhaps not entirely distortion-free on a LDC) and something that sounds fine on a condenser but ranges between rather noisy and flat out terrible on a dynamic. The latter variant is usually courtesy of some sort of lowish-noise opamp like an NJM2068. (Those much worse than -120 dBu usually have some sort of constructive issues, like the notorious Audiobox USB 96 which seems to have a noisy virtual ground.) That used to be the standard performance level before people (presumably at Focusrite) figured out that you could press an NJM2122 into service with decent results.
Umm. There are many use cases.
I don´t know if whether the software is good or bad. I just pointed out that software ought to be a part of the evaluation of these kind of product. If you don´t get why this is important I suggest you read @ocinn post #56 above.
I don't know why you're talking to me about the software, I think you're confused, I never brought up the software originally, instead I just wanted to know the main use cases for this device (which another user kindly clearly described). Looking at some of your recent posts you seem to have an anti Topping agenda, plus I don't know your fixation on the software in relation to the conversation we were having which was not even related to the software - you just decided to include it. I suggest you gain a bit more posting integrity.
Likewise
You're so confused.
OK, we may use this to disqualify horrible results.You have no idea how utterly shit the mic inputs can be on inexpensive USB audio interfaces. On the very budget end you can usually take your pick between something with half-decent noise on a dynamic (but perhaps not entirely distortion-free on a LDC) and something that sounds fine on a condenser but ranges between rather noisy and flat out terrible on a dynamic. The latter variant is usually courtesy of some sort of lowish-noise opamp like an NJM2068. (Those much worse than -120 dBu usually have some sort of constructive issues, like the notorious Audiobox USB 96 which seems to have a noisy virtual ground.) That used to be the standard performance level before people (presumably at Focusrite) figured out that you could press an NJM2122 into service with decent results.
Excuse the test en allemand (machine translation advised), but listen to the SM7B sample:
Utterly horrifying. It sounds like a cheap headset mic or something. My guess is that it simultaneously runs out of amplifier GBW and low end at high gain (the capacitor in feedback tends to be 1000+ µF and this may not have fit, neither the case nor the budget), all while having substantial amounts of input noise.ESI Neva Uno + Duo Test
ESI hat zwei neue Audiointerfaces im Angebot. Wir haben die kompakten und preisgünstigen ESI Neva Uno und Neva Duo für euch gecheckt!www.bonedo.de
You will have noticed that the majority of interfaces do find themselves between about -127 und -131 dBu(A), which is a much more sensible span of about 4 dB. Modern constructions beyond the absolute bargain basement price range generally are at least decent, thankfully.
IMHO this level is rather high, even for a condenser mic. That would generally put a spoken word / podcasting application below -20 dBFS peak when using a -37 dBV/Pa LDC, or below -40 dBFS peak when using an SM7B (-59 dBV/Pa). At that point, the difference between 0 dBFS and typical EIN would be about 110 dB(A), making the ADC the bottleneck on many interfaces, at times severely so. It's fine in the context of standalone microphone amps with ample supplies, but think of the poor little PCM29xx powered jobs like the Behringer UMC22 or M-Audio M-Track Solo/Duo with their sub-90 dB ADCs and +5V single-supply analog stages but actually rather decent EIN levels (basically, these were designed for podcasting with a cheap dynamic like the trusty Behringer XM8500).
Of course one needs software -- e.g. some sort of media player -- for the DAC function too, and an ADC-equipped device will need DAW software in order to record anything. I think the software to which Mr. Yang is referring is control software specific to this particular product, which is indeed entirely optional -- i.e. the product is usable without it.
So, the 48VDC phantom power feature of (many, if not most) cheap interfaces is just there to check a marketing box?
I am definitely interested so created a thread for you: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ophone-preamp-perf-in-audio-interfaces.49186/
No, they'll generally work OK with condensers, too (and as mentioned, some wallflowers will even give better results), and since you need a boost converter anyway, phantom power also tends to be the real deal with around 48 V rather than say 15 as found on some mixers. It's just that a $30 dynamic will be more appealing to rookie podcasters or budding singer-songwriters both in terms of price in relation to a $50 interface (although condensers seem to have come down a bit in the US lately, you never used to see sub-$50 options or anything close even) as well as placement / speaking distance in the face of generally untreated rooms. One thing to watch out for with these cheapies is that they like to start distorting / clipping well short of 0 dBFS.
e2x2 is good!
www.audiosciencereview.com
