buying a new audio interface! (need tips)

[nastyp]

Hello.
I want to buy a new audio interface but have a hard time knowing what route to go.

What I want / What I'm going to do

Record my vocals (Latency free when I hear myself while recording)
Record Electric Guitar > AI > Daw
Mix
Master
I would prefere to be able to connect 2 set of monitors (my mains and a pair of cubes) and an option to easily switch between them on the hardware

What Is the best product I can get for my money?
1500$-2000$ +/-

By best I guess I mean Converters, Latency, Amps, Software etc

What I have looked at so far:
Apollo Twin X Quad
Symphony Desktop
ID 44 MKII
Babyface PRO FS
Prism Lira 1

Any other suggestions or thoughts about mentioned AI's are welcome!

[resistorman]

PC, Mac, or both?

[nastyp]

Both!

My Old PC broke, I got Neumann 310's with a sub so the Audio Card will decide wether I buy a new PC or a Mac Studio 64gig ram 4tb drive

[Drew Stephenson]

Basically, if you're buying an interface with that set of requirements in that price bracket you're going to get something excellent.
Along with the question from Resistorman above, probably the other thing to ask yourself if is you're going to want to track clean or apply effects on the way in. That used to be something of a selling point for the apollo stuff but there are other people doing it now as well.

[nastyp]

I guess If i had the opportunity to place fx on the way I would, but it's not a huge factor. I can just aswell record dry vocals/guitar and add fx in post

but i never tried doing it on the way in, maybe fx on vocals while recording can boost confidence, or give me a different sound which pushes my vocal performance to take another route which maybe i wouldnt think of if it was completely dry

So it's kinda hard to answer that question

[James Perrett]

I'd always recommend going for RME as your audio interface - even if you decide to go for alternative A/D or D/A convertors. Their drivers are excellent, the support software is excellent and they work on Mac and PC. They are also well supported when new operating systems appear - even 20 year old interfaces are still supported on the latest OS's.

[nastyp]

I'd always recommend going for RME as your audio interface - even if you decide to go for alternative A/D or D/A convertors. Their drivers are excellent, the support software is excellent and they work on Mac and PC. They are also well supported when new operating systems appear - even 20 year old interfaces are still supported on the latest OS's.

I have looked at the Babyface Pro FS, how do you think it compares to the apollo twin x (Driver/converter) wise?

I'm looking just to buy an audio interface and then be done with it for a while ,no extra stuff.

The only downside to Babyface is that it's limited to 1 pair of studio monitors, which means i wouldnt be able to use my cubes

Edit:
You guys seem really friendly and helpfull, im new to soundonsound and so far it has been a very positive experience!

[Wonks]

If you’ve got physical space for it, getting a monitor controller would solve the problem of limited outputs. Plus it is that bit more immediate than switching outputs through software.

[Kwackman]

The iD44 would give you all the monitoring options you're after...
The SSL-12 might be worth adding to your list too?

[resistorman]

I'm a RME fan I'd go for the UCX instead of the Babyface, buy a remote along with it and you've got massive amounts of control.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/rm ... ace-ucx-ii

The Audient looks good too:

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audient-id44

I don't like the Apollo range because unless you're buying into their walled garden of plugins you're buying processing power (and not that much of it!) you don't need.

Apogee has a great reputation, I've never tried their gear. Again, do you need processing power if you're not going to record with it? I personally don't, and you currently don't seem to. You could always buy "colorful" hardware if you want to explore tracking with EFX.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ap ... ny-desktop

But to be honest, all the converters are going to be good. Even the preamps will all be fine. What you need to look for is quality of drivers and support. My current RME UFX is still going strong since 2014, and drivers/ firmware are supported regularly. Even RME gear I had 20 years ago appears to be getting updated drivers.

[MOF]

I don't like the Apollo range because unless you're buying into their walled garden of plugins you're buying processing power (and not that much of it!) you don't need.

The X versions of their interfaces have their latest convertors and separate clocks for the multiples of 44.1 and 48khz, I’ve never seen any comparison with other interfaces but I think that they will be similar to other high end brands.
You can use their unison technology to record ‘through’ their channels, eq, compressors etc and you can switch between two sets of monitors using the monitor and line out jacks as feeds.

[Watchmaker]

These days you're spoiled for choice and can hardly go wrong.

The Apollo gear is great even without plug ins. Focusrite makes excellent pres as well. I use an aggregate device in Mac using the Focusrite 8PreX and an Apollo 8 which provides more than enough options.

RME is beloved in the EU/UK, almost unknown in the US. Now that I've said that, let's see if the SOS forumistsas can play nice.

[resistorman]

RME is beloved in the EU/UK, almost unknown in the US

Possibly. I've used Samplitude and RME for decades here in the US and get puzzled looks when asked what I use. Maybe because I'm in the tiny minority of PC users?

These days you're spoiled for choice and can hardly go wrong.

So true.

Nothing wrong with Focusrite either.

[ef37a]

An RME of some description would be my first choice as well but, as someone else suggested I would give a (good, active!) monitor controller serious consideration.

Dave.

[Arpangel]

Possibly. I've used Samplitude and RME for decades here in the US and get puzzled looks when asked what I use. Maybe because I'm in the tiny minority of PC users?

When I bought my UCX an engineer who was recording every day, professional, said to me "who’s RME?"

[sonics]

An RME of some description would be my first choice as well but, as someone else suggested I would give a (good, active!) monitor controller serious consideration.

As resistorman mentioned, RME's own ARC USB controller is good. Speaker switching, DIM etc.

[nastyp]

Hey guys, thanks alot for the tips! I'm still deciding but my options have been narrowed down alot!

I'm looking at the RME + Controller, the ID44.

Also.. I have kinda been looking at the Neve 88M
https://www.thomann.de/se/ams_neve_88m.htm

Anyone has any experience with Neve?
They only support 1 set of monitors but the quality seems to be stellar

[ef37a]

Hey guys, thanks alot for the tips! I'm still deciding but my options have been narrowed down alot!

I'm looking at the RME + Controller, the ID44.

Also.. I have kinda been looking at the Neve 88M
https://www.thomann.de/se/ams_neve_88m.htm

Anyone has any experience with Neve?
They only support 1 set of monitors but the quality seems to be stellar

If by "quality" you mean very low converter distortion I doubt that the Neve 88 is audibly or measurably better than many AIs half its outrageous price.

Dave.

[nastyp]

Hey guys I just want to thank you all for your inputs and ideas!
I decided to go with the RME Fireface UCX II + Controller

Looking forward to work with my new gear!

[sonics]

Congratulations. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just spend some time to get your head around the TotalMix software. It's not that intuitive, but it's very powerful. There are some decent guides on YouTube.

You can look forward to a great-sounding and reliable interface with a very long working life!

[nastyp]

Since my order Is placed and my mind is set I am STOKED.

However I have to admit something, since I was mainly torn between UA and RME those are the two I researched the most, I have read EVERY damn thread possible on these 2 guys.

I'm not going to go into what is better, but I have to say that my gathered opinion of reading from both sides Is that UA people get very hurt and defensive around their product much more than RME people do lmao

[resistorman]

I'm not going to go into what is better, but I have to say that my gathered opinion of reading from both sides Is that UA people get very hurt and defensive around their product much more than RME people do lmao

UAD makes very good equipment and software, right up with the best of it. But the plugins are a huge investment that can't be transferred out of the UAD world, so people will naturally feel emotionally invested in that legacy circular system. Other interfaces are not tied to a relatively small range of plugins, so you have a lot less to defend

[ef37a]

Since my order Is placed and my mind is set I am STOKED.

However I have to admit something, since I was mainly torn between UA and RME those are the two I researched the most, I have read EVERY damn thread possible on these 2 guys.

I'm not going to go into what is better, but I have to say that my gathered opinion of reading from both sides Is that UA people get very hurt and defensive around their product much more than RME people do lmao

It has always been the case that audio manufacturers have two "departments" the engineering/research&design and then marketing. Obviously firms of the calibre of Neve, UAD, RME and so on have some of the best technical people on the planet working for them but there is often a 'power struggle' as to whose voice gets heard by us end users.

I am sure the words put out by marketing people are sincere and they truly believe them but these are very often simply subjective ideas and not hard, engineering facts. Such people therefore tend to get a bit upset when their beloved products are criticised even slightly.

Add in the complication that a great deal of hardware is now SO close to the physical limits of what can be made, even for quite a modest cost and one can see the adpuff's dept' dilemma? Hard to come up with something different/better to say and stay within the bounds of testability!

Dave.

[Arpangel]

Add in the complication that a great deal of hardware is now SO close to the physical limits of what can be made, even for quite a modest cost and one can see the adpuff's dept' dilemma? Hard to come up with something different/better to say and stay within the bounds of testability!

Dave.

Surely Dave, that old standby?

“The only limit is your imagination”