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USB audio interfaces interest

What USB audio interfaces do you want measurements made of?

  • Swissonic UA-2x2

    Votes: 27 9.2%
  • Midiplus Studio M

    Votes: 5 1.7%
  • Presonus AudioBox iOne

    Votes: 17 5.8%
  • Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen

    Votes: 150 51.0%
  • Audient iD4

    Votes: 68 23.1%
  • Steinberg UR22 MK2

    Votes: 70 23.8%
  • Roland Rubix22

    Votes: 30 10.2%
  • Presonus Studio 24

    Votes: 32 10.9%
  • Mackie Onyx Artist 1.2

    Votes: 16 5.4%
  • Icon Cube 4nano

    Votes: 3 1.0%

  • Total voters
    294
OP
q3cpma

q3cpma

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More measurements are rarely bad, but it's not up to me.

Concerning interfaces, I just bought an iD4 and am very pleased with it except the fact that it doesn't have software volume control (!). I'd recommend them just because they're very thorough with the published specs, their support was pretty good and the unit feels very robust.

I should also add that I still discover features with it: you can mute the line outs, 'dim' the volume by pressing the big button and the LEDs act as a tiny VUmeter.
 
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Alex-D

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I just bought an iD4 and am very pleased

Can you please wight the interface if you have kitchen scales or something like this?

Official specs I saw somewhere said 1kg which is a bit hard to believe.
Amazon specifies ~740 grams.
 
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q3cpma

q3cpma

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Sorry, I don't have such a scale, but comparing it with a 1 L milk bottle, 1 kg doesn't seem far fetched. It's definitely heavy, in any case.
 

Get a hearing test

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For amusement I was going to buy a Behringer UMC 204HD or 404HD and the cheap XM8500 mic or C1 mic. Just a cheap setup for skype and voice overs etc. Play some guitar straight in DI and use FX 'in the box' (round trip latency might be an issue). But I know I'd end up wanting to measure something and things like channel bleed from Ch2 into Ch1 doesn't seem good. The fact that the outputs aren't properly balanced, and the 1/4" inputs must be balanced, else generate a strong 2nd harmonic(?) don't give me good feelings. It's cheap but it seems a bit like too much got missed.
Hope amirm does more measurements/updates cause behringer sells a ton of these things it would be nice to know all the pros and cons.
 

AresHarvest

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Just set a friend up with an Audient ID4. Prior to that, he was borrowing my RME Babyface, which I had to take back because I'm traveling soon.

On paper it's a bang-up deal for a small audio interface, and he's more than happy with it, though it's not purely the headphone and line outputs because he's using the inputs as well. I have to say I was happy with it as well, for the 10 minutes I tested it while setting up. But it would be nice to get some measurements to back up any future recommendation I might make for the same unit.
 
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q3cpma

q3cpma

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iD22: THD+N <0.0008%, frequency response = +/- 0.5 dB (load dependant), crosstalk = -110 dBu and dynamic range = 114 dB (A)
iD4: THD+N <0.0015%, frequency response = +/- 0.1 dB, crosstalk = -98 dBu and dynamic range = 115 dB (A)

They're probably both transparent. I guess the iD22 is technically better, since I value the THD+N more than the rest.
 

Severian

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Any thoughts on the MOTU HyperLite mk4?

This looks promising to me to replace my current speaker signal chain of a Schiit Modi 3 -> JDS Labs Atom -> Dayton Audio DSP-408 -> Crown and Behringer amps. The DSP also takes input from a DJ controller and performs sub crossover and EQ.

Crucially for me, the MOTU interfaces have hardware DSP capabilities and I believe I could configure the mixer software so that the unit would function well as a preamp. It seems like with most other somewhat affordable interfaces, I would have to do the crossover and EQ in software, and I worry somewhat about latency with the DJ controller.

This upgrade would let me skip the ADC/DAC step that I have with the current DSP, and it would let me run my whole system balanced. I may also use the MIDI capabilities someday too...
 

mkawa

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both the pro audio, audiophile and rational home user communities seem to agree that the focusrite scarlett is an excellent I/O box, and these days i am sure they sell a TON of them, engaging all of the economies of scale that you want on a product like this.

would love to know how the newest gen measures against both the boutique stuff and the low-volume high value SMSL/topping/fiio gear. it would be particularly great to know what the recording end looks like to establish a baseline for recording measurements vs value.
 

Krunok

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both the pro audio, audiophile and rational home user communities seem to agree that the focusrite scarlett is an excellent I/O box, and these days i am sure they sell a TON of them, engaging all of the economies of scale that you want on a product like this.

I have one, and it stopped working recently, won't power up. If you google "focusrite scarlett problems" you will see a pretty large number of similar issues reported on various musicina forums which points to a reliabilty problem. Pity, cause it worked really well..
 

mkawa

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from the teardown in the DAC forum, i think we can pretty squarely put the blame on junky caps (YUSCON, clearly chosen for the edit distance to OSCON) and other typical penny pinching parts as well as what is sure to be a rock bottom priced wall wart.
 
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q3cpma

q3cpma

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Why not, only the 2 though, since you don't need the 6 to get the DAC. Too bad they don't even publish THD+N figures.

EDIT: it looks like I can't edit the poll's content.
 

Severian

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Does anyone know whether these interfaces generally allow you to assign additional outputs to the master volume control knobs?

Based on my research, this does not seem to be a common feature. I've seen people on Gearslutz say that the MOTU Ultralite MK3 allowed you to do it but the MK4 doesn't. The Steinberg UR28M would work because it has an integrated A/B/C monitor controller but I am unsure about its performance otherwise.

In relation to my post above, I've decided that I'd be better off doing my subwoofer crossover in software, but I still need volume control for three channels at once.
 

hyperknot

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I've just picked up an E-MU 0202 only for it's ADC performance, but I'm surprised how well it measures and sounds on DAC as well. It uses the same ADC as the RME ADI-2 Pro. The price I paid was $29! There is an open source driver for macOS and the latest official driver works with Windows 10.

I've uploaded RMAA measurements here.
 
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