You are correct that the converters have become so much better than even a few years ago. See Julian Kraus's YT analysis of this issue. The differences among current interfaces in this regard are inaudable. However, there is a difference among preamp quality. Again, consider Julian's technical analysis of this. Drivers have also improved across the board although some of the cheap units are not up to par. Lastly, headphone amps vary quite a bit in quality. The software is also important. My choice is Audient for overall best quality and functionality.
I sold my HD 2 rig back in 2015 and went Apogee Ensemble and PT Native and haven’t looked back since. Invest on your front end, Pres, comps, EQs and mics. This is what’ll make the biggest impact. The converters today literally blow away anything from 15 years ago. And treat your room! This is probably the most critical and overlooked area. Great video! 👍🏻
I had my UFX for 7 years. Even after 7 years I sold that thing for $1100 on Reverb. RME interfaces are insane. Its like they never figured out the "planned obsolescence" thing. hahahaha
@@bladykrizis Have the smaller discontinued brother; Quad-Capture. Found it for chead second-hand. Awesome little thing. Really nice converters in there. Never had crashes or dropouts either. What an upgrade from Scarlett 2i2!
Excellent video Barry. I'm really liking your channel and you've given me a different perspective from the happy positive reviews with no faults. The rabbit hole can be deep if not looking further within YT. I greatly appreciate your experience and telling everyone straight up what you think.
Hi Barry, great review/vid once again! RME UCX Neve 1073 SPX Pre-Amp & EQ Warm Audio WA76 Compressor Neumann TLM102 Total cost $3500 give or take assuming second hand where possible. Add a laptop and DAW and you’ve got yourself a pretty hefty 3 mic-pre, 8 line-in input studio in a very compact form enabling you to make top notch professional audio recordings for under $5k. Honestly speaking, considering man’s nature, would you need anything else? Keep ‘em coming!
Just recently I was after an audio interface in this price range and considering I/O, premp quality and features overall Artiria Audiofuse Studio came on top for me. Onboard DSP is the only thing missing but plug-in bundle you get with it makes it worth.
In my modest Home Studio I have a MOTU 8M Interface as the main core interface, a MOTU 16A connected to the 8M via the AVB connection using a CAT7 ethernet cable, this combination gives me tons of possibilities to connect preamps and outboard gear, the 8M and the 16A have 2 ADAT channels each and I already have a Focusrite Scarlett Octopre connected to one of the ADAT channels of the 8M. I have to say that the stability and performance of the MOTU interface are georgeus and I know that this setup will last for a long long time in my Home studio. Many thanks for your videos Barry, I really appreciate the effort you put on your channel to help the people who loves to work producing audio.
@@BarryJohns I have to say that my first choice was a RME interface but at that moment I couldn't afford it, so I buyed the 8M and actually I don't regret this decision becase the possibilities that I have now working with an AVB network connecting a lot of outboard gear are really priceless.
Great Video! I decided to get the Motu 828 mk3 and within a few days i was recording and mixing new songs. For many years used the Apogee One with no issues. Got a new Sub .
Great video very I am at this point when I’m ready to upgrade to that I’m calling it upper mid to semi pro interface. What I’m seeing, the interfaces that have the conversion rates that I think is important the connectivity which is super important. Seems like I’m looking about 7 to 800 bucks minimum and I’m fine with that. This was super helpful. Appreciate your detail appreciate your honesty.
Good video ! Just one thing , actually i think the best money value interface for a 8 mic line , thunderbolt '' 3 '' was the presonus Quantum 2626 ... all of that for about 600$ us...
conversion and preamps on it are not great. it’s what I use also and I downgraded from a Motu 828pre…Night and day. and honestly, even though the motu is only thunderbolt two, it was just as fast. the selling point for me to downgrade was that the quantum has spdif inputs that I could use direct with my fractal and motu mixer environment was both convoluted and w/lots of bugs. I figured I was paying a premium for that mix environment and did not think that the preamp quality and conversion would have been so drastically different.
Great video Barry. I am a multi instrumentalist and vocalist who has been recording in pro and home studios on both sides of the glass, as well as having been a FOH sound engineer, since the late 70's and you have yet to say anything I disagree with. You know your stuff and I really REALLY appreciate that. There are so many wannabes online that have no clue what they are talking about. I use a Focusrite 18i20 interface which has S-PDIF and ADAT Lightpipe digital connections. I also have a Focusrite ISA428 with the digital option which has ADAT, S-PDIF, and AES connections, and an API A2D with 2 channels of 312 pre's with S-PDIF, for mic preamps. I use the converters in the preamps when tracking and digitally connect them to the 18i20 when tracking. I wouldn't hesitate to use the mic preamps in the 18i20 if needed but I never record more than 3 or 4 channels at a time so there is no need. I can get 6, digitally connected, high quality mic input channels between the 2 external preamps. I use the analog I/O on the 18i20 strictly for using external analog hardware. I leave the analog hardware connected to the interface most of the time but I have to re-patch something it's all in patch bays anyway so the effort required would be minimal. I don't have a space large enough to record real drums here at home so I am locked into using drum libraries. I would like to upgrade my interface to have better converters and less latency but I have work-arounds for the latency I can live with that I can do in the blink of an eye. For me an upgrade would be strictly for better conversion quality but I can get superb results with what I have so I can't justify the expense since I am now retired and this is primarily a hobby. I have numerous exceptional high-end mics and instruments so the big expenses are already taken care of. Keep up the good work. I'm always looking for new information to expand my knowledge and it's hard to find things I don't already know but I look anyway. I can learn SOMETHING from almost everyone if I look long enough. For me these day's, I don't look as much for tutorials about how to use gear as I do conceptual ideas about different ways to approach the thought process when deciding when to use it. Thank you for your no BS approach.
Remember: USB C is just the connector type, not the protocol. Most interfaces with USB C are still on USB 2.0 standard. Which is fine for a couple of channels. USB 3.0 / 3.1 etc just gives you higher bandwidth for interfaces with more than 30 channels of total I/O. It does not necessarily give you better stability or lower latency. It's all in the driver and USB implementation. RMEs FAQ section gives you great insight on this stuff. Their UFX+ has thunderbolt and USB 3.0 and both connections perform equally well regarding latency. That does not apply to other manufacturers though, where thunderbolt may give you better results. Another reason to get an RME :)
Small note, USB C is just a form factor and not a specification. You will look for an USB 3 (3.1 or 3.2 are faster) port. Those do come often as USB C, but not always. Just make sure to use an USB 3 cable on a USB 3 port.
this is true and many companies tout the USB C connection but don't bother to give the actual transmission rates to indicate it's actual status. USB 2 is so prevalent and widely used even on some upper end interfaces and it simply doesn't get the job done anymore. Too many folks at entry level and above are being mislead by this business model.
Great video, good advice! I love used gear I have tons of it and I used to do street buys for a music retailer. But I would recommend you buy new or demo audio interface from a retailer like Sweetwater. I pretty much pay the street price (sometimes less) on demo gear at Sweetwater and it comes with a 2 year warranty and tech support for life. That’s worth it’s weight in gold when you run in to a technical problem with your interface which you will. If you are new to recording it’s extremely dangerous to buy used gear because you could be buying a $1-2k brick with no support. Even if you are experienced you could potentially be buying a head ache unless you are allowed to test it out for a while. Even then it could develop issues down the line. Regardless, I love used gear but I’m extremely cautious on audio interfaces cause they are the heart of the studio.
I have stuck with my old Digi 192 blue boxes and HD native card. I just have not felt the need to upgrade as my external gear, room acoustics and mic placements seem to make a much more significant difference rather than my word clock and converters. I know there are better ones out there but at some point I have to make that decision to tap the brakes with the interface. If I ever decide to jump ship it will probably be towards a Focusrite Red 16Line. Great video as usual Barry :)
@@BarryJohns, you should make a video on a realistic cost to build a studio, I estimate around 50k minimum price range. We both understand it adds up, very quick.
Focusrite is inexpensive, very reliable and sounds totally fine (particularly the clarett line). On Gearspace a decade ago I LMAOd at a thread where there was a shoot out between the $6K apogee symphony vs. a $100 behriner ad8000. In the blind test most of the pretentious jerks thought the behriner was the apogee. Don't worry about brands and pro names and stuff. Just like this guy is saying you can get pro results with most decent gear.
@@accentontheoff had no issue with mic input levels but granted, I use external Pres. Now reliability? My Clarett 8Pre died at the beginning of the year after about 5ish years of service. That pisses me off tbh. Quality wise I had zero issues up to that point, thing kicked ass. However, I'm saving up for an RME UCX II and will use a little Scarlett or Clarett for travel. RME I intend to make my main interface from now on
@@LordDRockMusic Oh well I was hoping for a clear insight into whether the Clarett mic preamps are good enough or not - i do believe they can be a problem. But thanks for the reply. Too bad about the reliability. As to the RME I too am considering the Babyface as an alternative. Or the UAD Solo maybe - but I suspect the UADs are not too great minus the plugins.
@@accentontheoff oh the preamps on the Clarett do sound great IMO. I can't really imagine them causing problems with anyone. I mean I generally record music through external preamps, but id do that with any interface. If I'm just doing demos or simply feel lazy if run through the Clarett all day they are fairly quality preamps, competitive with pretty much any other interface. I will say the Air feature I generally don't use. Adds some unnecessary high end that I usually end up rolling off in the box anyways. Doesn't sound bad tho I can see it working on certain sources. I'd say if you can get a Clarett cheap and used there's pretty much nothing that can beat it at that price point, but I am definitely mad mine died.
@@LordDRockMusic Don’t blame you for being mad. I have a Scarlett and the mic input volume is a little low on that, plus I saw a few reviews that said the same thing about the Clarett. Not talking about quality here, just volume, and it probably doesn’t affect all mics equally. But that’s the source of the concern. Also, I will be buying the device new, and where I live I can’t try it or return it (no kidding). Anyways, thanks for the replies, looks like I just might be overthinking it.
Surround Barry! If it’s pro, it should support surround, it seems so simple and almost no interface supports it, game and film audio engineering needs it. And some casual gaming and Netflix would welcome it too 😅
The behringer guy from the beginning comes to show, that the interface is not important, I use an M Audio for years and I would still upgrade many things before the interface. BUT!!!! if you read the comments, under his video he mentioned what gear they used. He used more expensive monitor speakers and headphones, He used Waves 2000 USD Bundle, ozone 9, and Superior drummer, Nord Stage Synth which is high-end, Amplitube 4. This comes to show that plugins are the most important. Everybody is clinging on to that Behringer, in reality, it is not budget gear.
I want to see a high end version of interface reviews like the atlas, the prism etc. I want to know about the interfaces in that price range like 3k and up. I want to upgrade my twin X Apollo
I'm on Focusrite, quite happy with it, I have ten channels going in. BUT I DIDN'T START WITH FOCUSRITE! My first interface was Tascam and was a nightmare. I'd always played around with Tascams starting with 4 tracks then had a chance to work in a studio with a Tascam 16 track so I trusted the brand but I'm pretty bummed about Tascam these days.
It’s the truth you speak, regarding ADAT and etc. for expanded I/O. In fact I’m researching on the best route (no pun intended) for my Yamaha DM2000 to Apple cMP. I’m currently between an Apogee Symphony I/O MK1 with 16x16 card, and a Yamaha MY16-AUD Dante card. The research finally concluded that I can in fact use either a Focusrite/Yamaha Dante PCIe accelerator card for lower latency (since Dante virtual sound card is 4ms minimum). The realization of DVS making Pro Tools’s Low Latency Monitoring unusable caused me to research further as to whether the accelerator cards are exclusive to their hardware/software is vague/underwhelming from retailer/manufacturer description. Hadn’t I found someone that knows first hand, I would’ve switched to AES16.
I find it interesting that Pro Tools users never seem to mention any products associated with the Steinberg / Cubase branding. It's as if they will be struck down into hell just for mentioning or even thinking about these products. Let's look at the Steinberg UR816C interface and see if it fits the criteria. Priced between $500 to $1000 USD - Listed at $739 Inputs 8 Outputs 10 SPDIF / ADAT in and out Word Clock In and out MIDI in and out USB C 3.0 connection 32 bit / 192 kHz audio resolution Loopback function for Streaming Built in DSP Can also be used stand alone without a DAW DIM and MUTE controls and Dual independent headphone out puts. So with all these features it does not even rate an honourable mention. Its not as if it's an obscure brand that no one has heard of. Just curious as to why it gets overlooked, predominately by Pro Tools users.
I was hoping for some actual product recommendations. Consider reviewing the Tascam Mixcast 4. This is the hot ticket now and should be for most of '22. Thanks Barry.
Giving specific advice is very very difficult. There’s so many variables in the questions that come up, how many mic inputs do you need, are you incorporating outboard hardware into your workflow, do you need or want DSP, what type of digital I/O do you need, so many factors.
Yes, you don't need an expensive interface to get good sound. Here's another example of a Behringer UMC202HD, but without any distortion added to the guitars. This is just natural tone. The drum is a cajon box. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ii2J0i8BCy4.html
Thanks great video. I am currently using a Scarlett 18i8 to record drums and add some tracks from a zoom I run simultaneously. For obvious reasons I want to expand to at least 8 tracks. I was looking at adding preamps with a Clarett octpre or Audient 800. I was looking for them used but they are all about 7 years old, which seems too old. I am staying away from Scarlett octpre because it is second generation preamps. Should I expand my 18i8, or should I upgrade to a better interface with 8 pres. if I buy used, how old is acceptable?
Barry, I currently have a Focusrite 6i6 and happened to get a deal on a TASCAM Mod 12 which has pretty decent Mic preamps, but neither has extra digital ports expansion capability beyond SDIF on the 6i6. I am looking to invest into an expandable interface and I am leaning RME exactly b/c of the compatibility support longevity history with RME. To that end and keeping in mind the current I/O count on my existing devices, which RME model would you recommend.
Hi Barry Ben here, guitar player, small home music producer. I need your advice on this please. I'm looking at upgrading my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen to either a Focusrite Clarett+ 4pre or an Apollo Twin X quad or even an Apollo X4 quad heritage ed. I really appreciate having the 2 headphones outputs and the extra inputs to easily collaborate, which are on both Clarett+ and X4. I've also just sold my windows laptop (+ cubase) and about to buy a macbook M1 pro (+ logic pro). Looking at the interfaces, I'm obviously aware of the difference between the Clarett+ and the Apollo with the added DSP, Unison, etc. With the introduction of UA Spark I was wondering if I need their expensive dsp interfaces or I could go for the Clarett+ which is a third of the cost and actually a flatter responses than the UA Apollos and still offering high quality pre-amps. What's your thought? Thanks, Ben
It is a common misconception that Thunderbolt is faster. It can pass more lanes but it is not faster. If one is not using more than 16 channels per unit, Thunderbold has no advantage. Check out some of the technical YT videos on this subject. You will learn a lot. Not using Thunderbolt avoids all of its disadvantages, which is why very few interfaces use it.
Hey Barry,, what is your opinion on using a standard mixer in conjunction with an interface. For me, I have an older mackie 1604 that is much better quality than the new Chinabuilt mackies. I have just started trying to utilize it in my studio with my Focusrite 6i6. Worthy of video?
Hey Mark, the 1604 is built like a tank, practically indestructible. I used one back in the early 90's for a while with an ADAT. It was great for its time, an incredible value for live use. That said, I wouldn't use it today, maybe for drums if I was short Mic Preamps, as the Mic Pre are the best part of the board. The EQ's are limiting and not very musical. The signal to noise ratio throughout the analog signal was great for the time, but by todays standards, not solid, not bad, but not solid.
@@BarryJohns yeah its queit I general for live use but I'm fi ding it carries some 60 cycle noise.in spite of the Furman power conditioner. Thanks for your response 👍
@@BarryJohns Hey Barry. I had one of the china made mackie PRO FX 8 machines and it was quieter but, as you know, they have a definite built in obsolescence. The pots and circuitry are dog meat I trash canned it this week as it's only usefulness at this point was as a speaker control while mixing through my second set of studio monitors. That being said, I find having a USB mixer pretty useful. To date I have not found a rack mount multi channel device that covers that particular service in quite the same way. But, how much do I have to spend to get one that is quiet, clean and reliable? Even the best RME interfaces seem to have their limitations within my price range and unless you go ADAT or Ethernet you have input and track limitations.
I have a antelope interface,and the pre amps are great. But their software is not. Maybe because I do use a M1 Mac and it's not completely there yet, I really don't know. I do have a PC and use the audient i44, works great. I have not tried the antelope on PC or the i44 on my Mac. I probably should just have not got around to do it.
@@levondarratt787 you are absolutely right. I still have mine, but it sits somewhere in a box. I just went back to my Apollo twin. I will look in to motu, never tried one. Options are limited in the country I live in, but I can get my hands on just about anything. Thank you for the recommendation.
I know this was posted months ago but wanted to ask if having the Focusrite 8PreX for ADAT expansion with Appllp x8 would be a good idea or it would be better to change the 8preX for the new Clarett plus 8pre? Thanks in advance!
I have a home studio with quality gear and lots of outboard too. However I only record myself so I dont need a pro interface . Ive never used more than 4 mics at once. I do want a quality interface however. Was considering a RME Babyface. Any other thoughts?
Do you think that the RME Fireface 800 still is a good mid tier interface for my project studio, or could i upgrade to a one with better converters for a reasonable price?
What are your computer specs? The Fireface 800 came out in 2004, at the time it was a leader in conversion compared to the competitors in its price range. That said, FW is a dead protocol today if/when you need to upgrade your computer. We have seen conversion quality improvement at a fast rate where interfaces today that sell for half of what the FF800 did when it came out with improved conversion. All that said, will you see a nugget and day difference in conversion sonics, no, but you will have limitations of the FW protocol. I’d say wait until you have to which will mean a new computer and a new interface, which when both put together is not cheap. Start saving, but yes at some point you will want/need to update.
Hey Barry, watching you video quite sometime but never commented but I see this world clock thing on back of the interface could you explain in a video a little about it.
@@BarryJohns I have a presonus studio mobile audio interface however there is a connection on the back of it title clock however I've never seen or hear any video talking about such connection so been as you aquire an astounding amount of equipment just wondering if you use such connection with whatever it works with ?
@@EldohRadoProductions OK now I get your question. Clocking is used for many different reasons, if you need to use multiple Interfaces at the same time to keep them all synchronize properly you do that via clocking. The type of connectors on the back of your interface are called BNC. All clocking is a digital source, you can clock VIA ADAT, you can clock via SPDIF, AES, Ethernet (Dante and the like), AES, and BNC. It’s also used to synchronize Audio interfaces with Video gear.
Any opinion on how the new Audient evo 16 looks? I’m looking to move to a rack Mount interface and need more expansion for inputs. It’s got 2 adat inputs for 16 more channels. Just a little worried about the quality of converters
Hello Please help me to buy a semi pro Interface , I now use a pre-amp ( golden age pre 73 )& microphone TLM 102 & and 2i2 for record RAP ; (my line record ) I want to raise my quality one step higher. In your opinion, between Apollo Twin X ,Apogee duet 3 and RME Babyface Fs ; Which one is suitable for the record? And What is your choice for me? Thank you 🙏🏻
Of the ones you mentioned, RME is the clear winner, you would have to learn how to use totalmix which is used with all RME interfaces, but once learned incredibly powerful.
If you want to get your quality higher and only rec vocal, i would get an interface that bypass preamp like the motu m4, maybe a compressor, i wouldn't look into better mic because the tlm 102 is already a realy good one. at the point were you are at i would look into the recoding environment tho, good acoustic is going to give you more than any pieces of gear.
I really appreciate you and your videos. Thanks. However......It looks like you have the same addiction that I do...... music equip. LOL. I bet the majority of us that watch you channel need to start a 12-step support group for music equip. LOL
Been there, done that. Still doing it with the intention of going all ITB. Funny thing is, if you really get down to brass tacks so to speak, with where the tech is currently, you would be hard pressed to find a piece of gear whether it's EQ, compressor, preamp etc, that isn't done pretty damn well in plugin form. In my personal opinion, gear still has it's place here and there but in terms of straight SONICS? Plugins are right there on the bleeding edge compared to hardware. Imagine what it will be like in a year or two, or hell 5 years from now. Do you prefer hardware mixbus compression, say VCA style? Pick whatever hardware unit you want, and I'll throw up the Cytomic's "The Glue" which can be had for 100 bucks and in a blind shootout not a soul could accurately decipher what is the hardware and what is the plugin over multiple tests. That's how close the tech is now, and it's not just with compressors. Don't get me wrong. Back when I started in 2005, some nice gear CERTAINLY made a difference. These days? Not even close to worth it to shell out 1,000's of dollars for hardware, unless you just like collecting things, prefer having physical knobs to turn, are after that "nostalgia" or just want to convince yourself that it's worth all the extra coin because you don't have to deal with plugin updates or OS updates et etc, if you fall under any of those categories, by all means, spend away! But don't kid yourself that you've got some sort of "magic" that can't be had ITB. I can't wait until the gear I do have, is gone and I'm fully ITB. Less space being taken up by racks, less cable management, less routing, less printing, etc. Streamlined. In closing, yes, gear can be fun, but I'll be damned if it's not a money pit. In these modern times, a guy could have a laptop, a babyface pro, a set of decent monitors and remotely treated room with one decent mic and he could churn out some very competitive recordings that rival guys with racks and racks of gear. It's a great time to be doing music.
I don’t spoon feed, I give people all the things to consider when “YOU are deciding on what to look for. If you don’t want to learn from that, no sweat here…..
