Blacklist of Audio Interfaces/Devices to Avoid

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drtechno

Member
I've been waiting to post this for a long time, as this was going to be inevitable.
I knew something like this would happen eventually with the mass corporate built stuff. As over the years the audio designer is not the same type of people. These corporate people originally hired Electronics Technology people who specialized in audio electronics. They applied standards in equipment and find the best methods to build it. These were the guys who worked on equipment for decades before even going into the manufacturing sector. The degree that they had (Electronics Technology is an Associate in Applied Science) the corporate world (which came from a different industry) decided that an associate degree was not a real degree and started not considering anyone who doesn't have a bachelor's degree and laying off people they hired. Well there isn't a Bachelor's or Master's degree with Applied Sciences degrees. Because most of applied science is about applying the technology available while maintaining standards. And a lot of these people like me got booted out of the corporate world even though at one time they leaned on us for design guidance and referred to us as electronics design specialists. So, a lot of us either got out of the field, went back to repair, or like me being hired by boutique and high end manufacturers for consultation on a contract basis. But the corporate mass producers don't. But I'm glad they are screwing up their product. It leaves room for others like me to make better things on our own for people.

So this is the beginning of the Blacklisted items they are selling retail that are not pro audio devices because they break compatibility or somewhat compatible if adapted.
Will be adding to this list as I find people having compatibility issues online. But feel free to add items you found incompatibility issues.
Focusrite
Scarlett Series. Issue: 3K input impedance that causes most dynamic mics to suffer high frequency loss as well as gain loss that transfers into the form of noise.
Scarlett Solo
Scarlett 2i2
Scarlett 4i4
Scarlett 18i20
Scarlett 18i8
Scarlett 18i6
Scarlett OctoPre
Scarlett OctoPre Dynamic
trackmaster pro



Mackie
Big knob Issue: 400 ohm handling w/o termination with devices ranging from 200 ohms to 47K with some some self terminated. Heats up. Should have used 50 ohm pre terminated balanced line drivers like every other professional monitor controller.

UAD

Apollo Series Known incompatibilities with certain dynamic mics and transformer output condenser mics
Volt Series Known incompatibilities with certain dynamic mics and transformer output condenser mics




Zoom
H6 Known incompatibilities with certain dynamic mics
 
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That's a pretty long list of products you have added to your blacklist - many reviewed by people I would trust. What is the criteria applied to be on the blacklist? What rules have they broken that make their inclusion on a do not buy list valid?
I appreciate you are very skilled in this area, so please explain a little what is so bad they are on your blacklist? Is it something us mere mortals can hear, or only see with test gear?
 
Reads more like trolling, or someone that had a bad experience, particularly with Focusrite, especially since that company is probably one of the bigger ones in the consumer market, with a distinct pro-level line of equipment. But they even continually revise and update their products based on consumer reviews and feedback from all I've seen. (FD, I used a Focusrite interface for years, and also a Zoom H6 quite successfully.)

And, yes, no criteria or factual evidence, which is typical of most of this type of thing.

I'm reminded of the saying, "It's a bad workman that blames his tools."
 
rob aylestone said:
What is the criteria applied to be on the blacklist?
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To have failed to be compatible with the device that is connected to it.
Like if the mic pre doesn't accept all mics, then it goes on the list. If you have to put another device on it to make it work (like a cloudlifter) then it goes on the list as well.
for example.
If someone is complaining about their mic being too soft or noisy, the preamp goes on the list.
Since they dropped EIA standardization and quality control and got rid of people assuring this in designs, I'm sure this list will be big.
 
keith.rogers said:
Reads more like trolling, or someone that had a bad experience, particularly with Focusrite, especially since that company is probably one of the bigger ones in the consumer market, with a distinct pro-level line of equipment. But they even continually revise and update their products based on consumer reviews and feedback from all I've seen. (FD, I used a Focusrite interface for years, and also a Zoom H6 quite success.
Click to expand...
I am only listing what people are having issues with. H6 was put on the list for not being compatible with all microphones and someone complained about it online. Same with those particular focusrite units.
 
drtechno said:
I've been waiting to post this for a long time, as this was going to be inevitable.
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Troll much - I've used all the interfaces in Studios I've been in - don't have any problems what so ever - the only one I have had experience with is the Zoom H6 -
but I doubt that has problems.
 
This is patent rubbish - scouring the internet for opinion without any way of checking the validity? What a waste of time. For the record, my H6 works with EVERY mic I have, and my collection is pretty wide. So of course some people have had issues, and some haven't. Unless you have supportive evidence, of trends or reports from sources trusted - it's a niggles list, surely?

I sell via a website and online. I get a fair few sophisticated products returned as faulty - often angry people, and when I test them, they're fine and the trouble was user error - they expected something that is impossible, and often quite clear in the manuals.

If you like, I'll collect some gems for you. The Neve preamp that got slagged off for not having a USB connector, the omni mic that fed back so badly in a PA system that it couldn't be used.

So sadly, I reject your blacklist as a pile of random nonsense collected from strangers with axes to grind in the main. Based on your usual high tec and solid opinion posts, I'm surprised you've been swayed into Chinese Whisper territory.
 
Papanate said:
Troll much - I've used all the interfaces in Studios I've been in - don't have any problems what so ever - the only one I have had experience with is the Zoom H6 -
but I doubt that has problems.
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Not really trolling. I think its time to set up the list of items that people over the years have had issues But maybe I need to add posting the reason for incompatibility discovered. This will help people in the future on things known to cause issues or devices to avoid entirely. I seen too often incompatibilities other people run into.
 
Yo DrTechno

EVERYTHING is subjective. What is "good" "Bad" or in between. There are Rolls Royce's and Yugo's and a lot of cars in between.
Combatable? With everything?

Sorry but when I saw the list included UAD's and Focusrite's stuff ya lost me.

Compatible schmatible The O'connell's (Billie and Finneas) won 5 Grammy's in one year ( Total of 9 so far) using that crap as their tools to produce. Here's a link to the gear they used

Lying with statistics is an old marketing game. It's all about the end results and it's hard to validate that XYZ brand sucks when folks are winning Grammy's with the crap gear.

Yeah a thread like this is just asking for a shit show. A lot of folks here spent a lot of time and energy choosing gear you say is crap because of some standards devised as a benchmark of good and bad....subjective. I don't own any of the blacklisted stuff but I'm supposing the Behringer XR18 ( that I do own) which the pro audio world is falling in love with for live music equally sucks when put to the standards set.
 
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rob aylestone said:
So sadly, I reject your blacklist as a pile of random nonsense collected from strangers with axes to grind in the main. Based on your usual high tec and solid opinion posts, I'm surprised you've been swayed into Chinese Whisper territory.
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I reject your opinion on this post because you are probably sponsored by cloudlifter or any of those $5 mic adapters they sell for $100. Any mic pre that needs that one goes on the list.
 
Creating a blacklist based on other people's "incompatibility issues" is pure lunacy. There are a lot of people who post about problems when it's obviously operator error.

How stupid can people be? I was looking at computers and someone complained that it was "Very difficult to set up and it does not transfer Google Chrome stash of information. You have to be willing to use Microsoft and Bing......not nearly as good as Chrome! Sometimes improvements are not improvements!" Ever heard of a download? It might take 3 minutes to do it.

Looking at faucets for a bathroom remodel I saw someone complain that "the faucet wouldn't output hot water until after almost a minute". DUH! Have you ever figured out how much water is in that pipe between your heater and the shower?

There are well over a thousand different microphones out there now. Microphone makers vary their specs at least as much as the interface makers. Dynamics with and without transformers, condensers with and without transformers, ribbon mics. So maybe you should start a list incompatible microphones as well.

How about blacklisting all microphones that specify frequency response without tolerances when there are variations of 10dB or more, or roll off 15dB on the extremes. Electronics generally are in the +/- 0.5dB or less. Why do microphones get +/- 10dB? FAIL!!! REJECTED!!
 
Well drtechno, you produce your list, and waste hours on it. It’s your time. If the feeling is the list isnt accurate or based on dubious or incomplete data, we won’t host it. We have hundreds of happy Focusrite users, so nobody will pay any attention to a list that says they’re no good? Why not tell Shure they’ve got it wrong? For the record though, the cheap Chinese preamps are surprisingly good. You can laugh all you like, but I only slag stuff off that I know for certain is bad, not take a random 13 year olds tale on the net, when he’s pretending to be a studio owner. I wonder how many of the complaints you’ve collected came from studio people?

Please, don’t waste your time on this list. If members are happy with it, cool, but if they start hitting the report button because they feel it’s inaccurate, it goes.
 
rob aylestone said:
Why not tell Shure they’ve got it wrong?
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Oh I have for several devices, and they paid me to do it before.

Its not my fault they didn't put a dynamic mic transformer in the SM7b. Instead, they came out with some sort of other version. Because they didn't want to reveal their mistake.

Just like focusrite scarlette. They are never going to admit they made that mic pre at the wrong impedance for dynamic mics. 3K is out of 10 times tolerance (some people call it the 10 times rule). But there should be a lot more on the list considering how many are above 1500 ohms.
 
I’m just super glad that my focusrite interface wasn’t on that list. Despite having gotten years of trouble free use out of it , would have had no choice but to pitch it in the trash if it was on that list.
:D
 
I looked up a few of those interfaces on your don't buy list - some reviewed by people I really respect for their pedigree of technical expertise. Stabbing at the list at random - these technical authors and reviewers found little to complain about - and what they did not like were things like knob positioning, ergonomics and things like that. Not one review found anything negative - the closest I could find was a comment about a built-in compressor not have time adjustment!

So my OK to buy list would be your don't buy list? See the problem here - you cannot research without evaluating the source. Unless you are a mickey mouse university selling degrees for the student loan, when clearly, advanced and detailed research is optional.
 
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