Allen & Heath Zed 10 instead of Scarlet 6i6

frank_1

frank_1

New member
Hey guys, so I have to return my Scarlet because its not working with my computer the way I wish it would. I guess if I had a Mac I wouldn't have the same issues.... Anyway some on sugessted the Allen & Heath Zed 10 mix board but that bad boy is kinda large. I mean I heard the preamps are great on that..... So any thoughts, I just record at home in a small room. Is it worth it????
 
I believe that user ecc83 has experience with both of those devices, I'm sure he can get you sorted out. But I don't think that the 6i6 has a reputation of being disagreeable with Windows boxes. It's a good device from what I know. What kinds of troubles are you having with the 6i6 and Windows?

The main thing to know about the difference between the Zed 10 and the 6i6 is that the Zed 10 will only let you record 2 tracks at a time to your computer. Now those 2 tracks can be a mix of all 10 inputs of the mixer, but bottom line is that it only sends a stereo output to the computer for recording. The 6i6 can do 6 channels at a time into your computer. Plus it has MIDI. It's a good unit. If it's overkill for your needs, then definitely move to a smaller unit, but I have a hard time recommending USB mixers when the playing field is so vast for multi-channel audio interfaces.
 
Yup. Tadpui is spot on.

First, the 6i6 should work fine in a Windows environment--there are probably more Windows users of Focusrite interfaces than Mac. Until you can sort out what the actual problem was, I'd be hesitant to spend more money

Second, the Zed 10 is a lovely mixer and, like most A&H products, the pre amps are very nice indeed. However, as Tadpui says, you can only record two outputs at a time to your computer.
 
Thanks guys. The problem I'm having is that the 6i6 has caused my system to crash a couple of times and the fact that I can't switch from my sequencer to windows media player to play music. In fact even when my sequencer is not loaded I still can't play any music. Not only that but I could of sworn that my delta 44's play back sounded way better on my monitors than the 6i6. So now I just didn't know what to do, I was thinking about installing the 44 back or buying the 1010 because it has better converters than the 44.
 
Yes the ZED 10 is a nice mixer and AS a mixer I would certainly commend it to anyone.
But as a replacement for the 6i6? No.

First off the 6i6 SHOULD work! It is AFAICT a re-vamped version of my 8i6 and that works fine on my two desktop and one laptop Win7/64 PCs*. As for sound qualities? Well I am mutton but son ain't and he has never noticed any difference between the sound quality of my 2496 cards and a Fast track pro. When he gets home and auditions the KA6 and 8i6 against the cards I very much doubt he will tell one from t'other.. I certainly can't.

Note also that the Ten is a 16 bit only converter. Now, because the analogue support 'tronics is so good it is a VERY good 16 bit device (I shall drag it to Jam Night one night where a 90dB DR will be totally wasted!) but you really need that extra "legroom" that 24 bits gives you for general recording.

If you are determined to go for the PCI card there are few better mixers at the price (none I know of!) but even tho' it is a system I use, AI s are now vastly more convienient and flexible.

PM me if you want any tests done (then I can attach short .wavs, can't in daft HR!)

BTW there is a very badly played guitar out of my ten here in "guess the mic"

*Not done anything much but test for function. Let me know if I can do other things to help.

Dave.
 
If you're having trouble switching from playing Windows audio and playing audio from your DAW, I would first suspect a sample rate mismatch. In Windows, under Sound->Playback, find your audio interface, look at the Advanced tab on its properties. See if you can select a playback sample rate that matches what you have configured in Reaper and/or Focusrite's ASIO control panel.

Even as rock-solid as my RME is, it freaked out once when moving from Reaper to Windows Media Player, and it was a sample rate mismatch that caused it. Their suggestion was to not make the interface the default playback device in windows and instead use the internal sound card as the playback device (easy since I have a small mixer) to avoid such mismatches. I didn't like the dual sound card setup, so I went back to using the RME as the default device and my ASIO device in Reaper. But I record/playback at 48 kHz in Reaper now, and have Windows set to use the same sample rate/bit depth and I haven't had any issues since.
 
frank_1 said:
Thanks DAVE!!

I was actually thinking about the Komplete Audio 6 or steinberg UR22 since I use Cubase anyway. Anyone heard anything about this? I simple just cannot bare with the Scarlett anylonger. I wish the scarlett worked for me but it's just not.
Click to expand...

I have read nothing bad about the UR22 and plenty that is good, like excellent pre amps for the money. But I have no hands on experience.

I DO have a KA6! This is in a different league to any USB AI I have used to date. The drivers are rock solid. Mine works fine on Win 7, XP, and even Vista! I loaned mine to a guy that runs Linux and on the strength of that performance he bought one.

You will not find another AI sub £250 + with lower latency. and you get MIDI, S/PDIF and 2 extra line ins (+4 line outs) so you could in the future also get the zed 10 and record 4 tracks (4 mics on the 10 would give you a basic drumkit stereo mix).

Dave.
 
Ok so I just picked up the UR44 and I will say that I have not had any compatibility issues like I had with the Scarlett. However I will say that when comparing the preamps I noticed that the UR44's were WAY noisier than the 6i6's. I'm talking around 13 db of hiss. So now I miss the Scarlett's preamps. Oh the humor! Generally speaking I do like the UR44 though and I got it for $254 off ebay NEW. I was leaning toward the Komplete audio 6 but read that there were some driver issues with it, however those posts were from 2 years ago. Still not sure if I will settle for the UR44 though I kinda want to try the Komplete but that's more Shipping + restock fee's that I have to pay.... hmmm what to do....
 
frank_1 said:
Ok so I just picked up the UR44 and I will say that I have not had any compatibility issues like I had with the Scarlett. However I will say that when comparing the preamps I noticed that the UR44's were WAY noisier than the 6i6's. I'm talking around 13 db of hiss. So now I miss the Scarlett's preamps. Oh the humor! Generally speaking I do like the UR44 though and I got it for $254 off ebay NEW. I was leaning toward the Komplete audio 6 but read that there were some driver issues with it, however those posts were from 2 years ago. Still not sure if I will settle for the UR44 though I kinda want to try the Komplete but that's more Shipping + restock fee's that I have to pay.... hmmm what to do....
Click to expand...

Very surprised that the Steinberg pre amps are so noisy? The UR22's pres were one of the strong points in the SoS review.

How exactly did you measure the noise level? What sort of input load and what was the gain difference?


Dave.
 
I have worn my mouse out trying to find a specc for the UR44 to no avail.
However, Barry Watson in the SoS review remarks...." Plenty (up to 52dB*) of gain was available and again I found the D-Pre amps to be low in noise and transparent"

The 6i6 has a noise specc' of -122dBu (CCIR wtd, 60dB* gain 150R term) Good but not startling. My ZED 10 speccs 127dBu at 60dB gain 150R but a flat, 22Hz -22kHz bandwidth.

*A plain "gain" figure is not a lot of use unless you know the input level needed for say -18dBFS in a DAW or the line out voltage said level would produce...And they ain't tellin'!

The ZED figure is for nominal 0dBu at the Main Outs.

Dave.
 
Dave, I'm actually not sure how accurate that figure is. I just played the hiss back in my daw and then in cubase I measured it through the decibel reader in the fader. However you can hear the difference in the hiss between both units
 
frank_1 said:
Dave, I'm actually not sure how accurate that figure is. I just played the hiss back in my daw and then in cubase I measured it through the decibel reader in the fader. However you can hear the difference in the hiss between both units
Click to expand...

But how did you allow for the gain difference and did you put a "silent" load on the mic inputs?
13dB diff is a hell of a lot. I have never found any two pres that far apart when you correct for gain.

Dave.
 
To be honest, I guess I measured it wrong. I did it by the noise coming from my guitar in Amplitube during a silent part. I can post a clip if you are interested.
 
I don't believe they were both pushed to the max, one may be pushed more than the other. I didn't test them scientifically.
 
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