The best audio interface?

A

andrewkim9711

New member
Hey guys I've been looking for the best audio interface for my home recording studio and I came across these four :

Allen & Heath ZED-10, Allen & Heath 10FX, Komplete Audio 6 or Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB.

I'm only going to be recording from one to two instruments at the same time, and editing different tracks recorded separately, just like SongeLeReveur does in his videos.

Which one do you guys think is the best overall with performance and quality? Price doesn't really matter.
 
andrewkim9711 said:
Hey guys I've been looking for the best audio interface for my home recording studio and I came across these four :

Allen & Heath ZED-10, Allen & Heath 10FX, Komplete Audio 6 or Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB.

I'm only going to be recording from one to two instruments at the same time, and editing different tracks recorded separately, just like SongeLeReveur does in his videos.

Which one do you guys think is the best overall with performance and quality? Price doesn't really matter.
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If price does not matter, then you have nothing in your list that would be recommended by me without more info. The first two you listed are a result of poor research IMO.

The Scarlet or the Audio 6 are the closest to what I would guess you need. Of course, you have not accurately described what it is you need. Why is it you think you need a mixer/interface?

There are many others available that cater to different users needs.

What software (DAW) do you intend to use? What type of music do you plan to record/create?
 
andrewkim9711 said:
Hey guys I've been looking for the best audio interface for my home recording studio and I came across these four :

Allen & Heath ZED-10, Allen & Heath 10FX, Komplete Audio 6 or Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB.

I'm only going to be recording from one to two instruments at the same time, and editing different tracks recorded separately, just like SongeLeReveur does in his videos.

Which one do you guys think is the best overall with performance and quality? Price doesn't really matter.
Click to expand...

I went from an RME Fireface UFX, which is considered one of the best there is, to a Focusrite Scarlett 18i6. For my use (untreated room and such) I did not notice much difference. A few ms difference in latency, but that is not really noticable. So unless you're gonna need all sorts of bells and whistles like onboard FX DSP etc. you're going to be fine with the Scarlett.
 
I'm with Dainbramage. The two acknowledged best interfaces are RME and some of the MOTU offerings.

However, having used both, much as I liked them I'd save my money and go for the Focusrite which is darn near as good for a lot less money. You can put your savings into better acoustic treatment and monitors!

Why not Allen and Heath by the way? They make very nice mixers and, unless there's something you haven't told us, you don't need a mixer. In any case, the Zed series is the economy, entry level A&H--and you're paying for facilities you don't actually need rather than any improvement in quality.
 
Bobbsy said:
I'm with Dainbramage. The two acknowledged best interfaces are RME and some of the MOTU offerings.

However, having used both, much as I liked them I'd save my money and go for the Focusrite which is darn near as good for a lot less money. You can put your savings into better acoustic treatment and monitors!

Why not Allen and Heath by the way? They make very nice mixers and, unless there's something you haven't told us, you don't need a mixer. In any case, the Zed series is the economy, entry level A&H--and you're paying for facilities you don't actually need rather than any improvement in quality.
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I'm going to record multiple instruments (but one at a time) and vocal. That includes electronic instruments like guitar and acoustic instruments like drums. After recording all the tracks, I'm going to put all the tracks together with the Reaper DAW and post them on youtube :P
If I do record multiple tracks at the same time, I'll only be recording two instruments so I guess I don't really need a mixer since I don't need to do live music shows or anything related to that
should I go for the Focusrite?
 
andrewkim9711 said:
I'm going to record multiple instruments (but one at a time) and vocal. That includes electronic instruments like guitar and acoustic instruments like drums.
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Are you saying you're going to mic up a full drum set? In that case the you will need additional preamps (which would be included in a mixer) with the Focusrite.
 
Whoa there! You're right that he would need extra mic inputs if he was going to do a full kit but the mixer he specified only has L/R stereo outs and only 4 mic pre amps (with no inserts or direct outs). Similarly, the Focusrite only has 2 line inputs anyway, on multi sockets shared with the mics.

Frankly, for full drum kits, the OP would be better off with something like a Tascan US 1800 or (if he has deep pockets) something like the A&H Zed R16.
 
That was where I was going... :)

Tascam will get you '10' preamps out of the box. Enough interface to get you going for little money. You would need other preamps to get you to 16 tracks, but I bet you would be fine with 8 XLR inputs, 2 Instrument/line in's with preamps (can be used as mic pre's by the way).

BTW: I have never understood why nobody ever seems to acknowledge this with the US 1800. I have said it like 50 friggen times on this forum. It is a '10' mic input capable interface. Only 8 can be phantom powered, but you can use 10 mics out of the box! The Instrument/Line In 1/4" inputs run through the same type preamps as do the other 8 XLR inputs.

Anyway, I have moved on from the interface for greener pastures, but the interface was completely worthy of good recordings for the first few years of my 'at home' start-up of recording. Every audio track on my website was recorded with the Tascam US1800.

I upgraded to two Steinberg UR824's, and could not be happier at this point. The cost is obviously not in the same range. The difference will be apparent soon as I will be posting recordings done with the new interfaces. Of course, many other things have been upgraded so if they sound better, it is likely the addition of many other things that combine to make things sound better. Probably just my experience I learned from members here.
 
dainbramage said:
Are you saying you're going to mic up a full drum set? In that case the you will need additional preamps (which would be included in a mixer) with the Focusrite.
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oh shoot! sorry I meant to say electronic instruments like guitar and drums, not acoustic drums. I only plan on recording electronic drums through midi. sorry about that
 
API A2D with Lynx AES16e with AES xlr breakout cables is a nice simple pro setup.

a Dangerous Music Source for the dac and monitor ctrl.

usb and firewire interfaces seem "not good enough" and often glitchy in some cases.
 
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drtechno said:
usb and firewire interfaces seem "not good enough" and often glitchy in some cases.
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Sorry, but I can't let that stand. Both USB and Firewire are widely used in professional audio and certainly not deemed "not good enough" or "glitchy". USB2 is extremely stable and Firewire, while sometimes needing some extra set up, is also rock solid once it's working.

It hasn't made it's way to the home studio market yet, but the "new thing" in multichannel professional audio is the use of standard ethernet technology with converters at the mic end and 1 (or sometimes 2 for redundancy) ethernet cables to the computer or digital mixer. There are a number of competing systems and I look forward to the day something suitable for home use is on the market.
 
I have been running a lynx converter through USB for a couple of years now - at times all 16 inputs at 96k (while monitoring with at least 4 of the outputs) for hours at a go - never had an error.
 
andrewkim9711 said:
Hey guys I've been looking for the best audio interface for my home recording studio and I came across these four :

Allen & Heath ZED-10, Allen & Heath 10FX, Komplete Audio 6 or Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB.

I'm only going to be recording from one to two instruments at the same time, and editing different tracks recorded separately, just like SongeLeReveur does in his videos.

Which one do you guys think is the best overall with performance and quality? Price doesn't really matter.
Click to expand...

The KA6 wins hands down IF two excellent mic amps, two further line inputs and MIDI and S/PDIF will do you.

The interface is very, very stable. I have used mine on 4 computers, XP Home, XP Pro, WIn 7 64 bits PC and laptop. I loaned it out to a guy who tried it on a few more including Linux and in every case, in like paint and no hassles.

The Focusrite "i" range have come in for some issues. Latency not as low as some would like, i.e. driver problems. Also at least two reports of poor headroom on the line/instrument inputs.

The A&H mixers are fine (got a ZED10FX) IF, as Bobbsy said, you need that sort of thing but they are not nearly so versatile as an AI as an, err,.. AI! They are also 16bit only and whilst the ZED is a very GOOD 16 bit device you really need 24 bits for the best results.

Dave.
 
I upgraded to a RME Babyface to years ago from a Focusrite PRO24DSP and the sound seems so much more full. Also, I've always run on PC and I had repeated issues with the Focusrite. I have never and I mean NEVER in two years had any kind of issue with the RME. Love it and not planning on making a change anytime soon.
 
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