I am looking for a new audio interface as my most recent one (MOTU Audio Express) has shit the bed - loud squealing noises, especially when buffer size is set low in the DAW, and everyone online seems to think it’s a driver issue. I’ve reset the drivers from the MOTU website, reset the firmware, did a factory reset, still had issues. Not dealing with that anymore and starting fresh, so I have something that I can trust and is reliable for performances.
What I would need from a new interface is:
MIDI 5-pin input/output
Low latency - and I mean LOW latency (as close to an RME without shelling out $1000 for an RME)
No hiss on the headphone jack
Ideally 1 or 2 XLR in with not terrible preamps. I will mostly be using the interface for MIDI in to control VSTs at low latency, but will occasionally use a condenser microphone.
Something in the $100-250 price range.
What I have been looking at:
Tascam US-2x2HR ($149) - The preamps seem nice from what I can tell. I’ve used a similar Tascam before a while ago and remember it being alright.
PreSonus Studio 24c 2x2 ($129) - I’ve used Presonus AudioBox in the past as my first interface and enjoyed the ease of use. I do remember a significant noise floor, but that was a long time ago.
PreSonus AudioBox 96 25th Anniversary ($85) - Full disclosure, I will probably not get this one, only because I’m not too sure about the audio quality and latency.
MOTU M2 2x2 USB-C ($199) - Not sure why I would buy a MOTU after what the last one did to me, but it’s possible the driver writing has improved in the years since the Audio Express was released. I do like MOTUs sound a lot.
Now aside from these, I did look into the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen USB ($199) and I am VERY impressed with what they did with the new 4th Gen as a lifelong Focusrite hater. However, this interface does not have MIDI in, so I would need to use a MIDI to USB converter parallel to it - I don’t know if this introduces latency to the chain on the PC side… My intuition is that it does but I’m not sure.
Any help with clarifying this decision would be greatly appreciated! I’m also open to other interfaces not included on this list.
There are sooo many out there now, and even more announced at NAMM. I say stick with the companies that has the best drivers…it’s all about that now I think. I never had the audio express, but I’ve been happy with my Motu M4 (as well as their TBolt 8pre-es). Even bought my daughter another M4. The sound quality is great, incl the headphone outs. I don’t know about windows drivers, but the Mac ones have been real solid, and very efficient, even through different OS updates. In the future I’d like to look at RME, since their reputation with drivers and support for older ones are very good as well. But since all my needs are met for now I don’t need to expand yet, if ever. But ya, don’t get blinded by the bells and whistles…it’s all about the drivers.
The MOTU M2 or PreSonus 24c are your best bet in that price range. I don’t think there’s an appreciable difference between the two at this level. I’ve read of some issues with TASCAM drivers, so probably steer clear of that one.
After some further research, it seems that while the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen does not have MIDI I/O, the 4i4 model DOES have MIDI I/O. It’s an $80 difference in price, so might be worth it for me since I really like what I am reading about the 4th gen models - the drivers on Windows seem to be recommended as well for low latency. Gonna have to mull this over.
I’ve used two PreSonus (Audiobox 44VSL and Studio 1810c) and one Tascam (US-16x08) interfaces in the past. The 44VSL worked great…until Win10. Then I bought the Tascam because they’d moved their driver development in house, the mic pre’s were very good and it had the extra feature of defaulting to mic pre IN to line OUT when no USB was present. Worked great…until a Windows update borked the drivers. Tascam never got the driver straightened out. Bought the 1810c. Loved it. Still have it in the box my RME Fireface UCX II came it. Bought the RME because I needed a multiclient ASIO driver for my main DAW. Pricey, but works great.
Then I bought a Microsoft Surface Pro Elite X and needed an interface with a Win11 ARM driver. Enter the 4th gen Scarlett 4i4. It’s my first Focusrite interface. Solid hardware. Clean mic pre’s with plenty of headroom and gain. The driver’s working fine and the mixer software that comes with the driver is quite capable, not RME TotalMix, but very usable. Bitwig 5.3 betas are now available in an ARM version, so I’m good to go there.
Like you, I am very concerned about driver support longevity and as a PC user I would like things to not break down the road like my MOTU did.
Your replies helped me narrow down to the MOTU M2, Presonus 24c, and the Scarlett 414.
After looking at technical reviews (including this very comprehensive one here) I discovered that there is a serious issue with the M2s that produces distortion in the preamps linked to the headphone fader pot. I timestamped the relevant part of the video. Also the driver situation on the Audio Express I had still has me wary. So the MOTU M2 is out of my consideration.
Then that leaves the Presonus 24c vs the Scarlett 4i4 and this seems like an obvious choice to me. I will be going with the 4i4
Thank you all for your generous help and advice, I really appreciate it!
Using the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 right now and it is phenomenal. This is the lowest latency I’ve been able to achieve on an interface (barring the RMEs which I have never owned). Absolutely no pops and clicks at 96 sample buffer 48000, even with some heavier duty VSTis like Keyscape, etc. I’m going to keep seeing how far I can push it but this makes me feel a lot more secure for live performance without worrying about the odd random pop or two every 20 minutes.
On top of this, the user experience is great. The Focusrite control app is very clean, easy to use. Achieving Loopback is simple. The knobs on the front of the interface light up to show a meter of your incoming signal, and are color-coded to let you know when you are clipping. There are some bells and whistles which I may or may not use, like the auto gain mode and “Air” toggle to add presence. Having a “Safe Mode” for automatic clipping prevention is very nice.
The drivers are fantastic. Easy to configure and they work politely with other Windows apps where the MOTU drivers I had did not. (Every time I opened Discord, the MOTU would be forced into a 44100 sample rate for some reason - this no longer happens, as the Focusrite driver deals with Windows exclusivity modes really well).
And on top of this, it feels like it was designed for use with a computer as a priority, using it as a standalone interface is possible, but you can just power the whole thing with the USB-C - the same cord it uses to send data. Now it just boots up with my computer, no going back and forth to check if I turned the interface on. The only worry is leaving it on for too long.
As far as preamps and audio I/O goes, I haven’t really tried it out too much but seems solid. The headphone jack is a very clean signal, which was most important for me.
Overall, with my 2 days of experience, this is a high recommend.
For your price range the Topping Audio Interfaces are very good, the sound quality is fantastic, very clean & better headphone amps than most costing twice the price. The routing options on the E4X4 are more than enough & the software is very straightforward. I have an Antelope Zen Q TB which I love and the latency is great, as is the on-board DSP but they’re not cheap. I bought the Topping as even though I’ve never had problems myself with Antelope I wouldn’t trust not having a backup as I’ve read horror stories about them.