how many people here need 8 outputs when they only have 2 inputs?

[treymonfauntre]

it seems blatantly obvious what people want in an audio interface.. yet companies keep pushing their 2 XLR input / 8TRS output interfaces like they're something special. nobody that only records 2 channels at once is mixing in surround sound, especially not 7.1. nobody with 2 inputs is mixing 8 channels outside of the box. i'd really love to know what the point of it other than an old bad habit.

 

[MadAudio]

They took one look at your avatar and said, "Man, this dude is sick. Let's keep the two input thing just to piss him off."

 

[xstatic]

Headphone mixes, mix stems etc.... With midi being so popular today, there are lots of people out there who need more outputs than inputs. I however, am on your team here. I would much rather have more inoputs than outputs.

 

[gcapel]

What if you were doing rap. Layering vocals all you need is one or two inputs. You could use the 8 outputs bussing out channels in your multitrack app and hardware mix on a console.

 

[RAK]

I think a lot of those boxes also have 8 line inputs, and/or ADAT I/O. It's not like it's only a 2 In/8 Out kind of deal.

 

[studiomaster]

I require 4 inputs at the most.

 

[travelin travis]

I've always thought a 2 in/8 out card was rediculous. I guess some companies just don't keep their ears open to customer needs. Or maybe we're the minority? I doubt that's the case. It's probably really cheap to add the extra outputs so it gets tacked on as a feature.

 

[treymonfauntre]

I require 4 inputs at the most.

and do you require 8 outputs?

i just really doubt anybody buying some >$1000 unit really has any outboard. i'd prefer to have 2 great d/a convertors in a unit than an overwhelming out of ones i won't use.

I think a lot of those boxes also have 8 line inputs, and/or ADAT I/O. It's not like it's only a 2 In/8 Out kind of deal.

not at all true. as a matter of fact i'm staring at a 2 in 8 out interface on my desk right now.

 

[MCreel]

I am a man and therefore have [EDIT: one] three outputs and no inputs.

 

[timboZ]

I use 8/16 outs when I mix on my bigboard and use rack gear.

 

[Robert D]

I've always thought a 2 in/8 out card was rediculous. I guess some companies just don't keep their ears open to customer needs. Or maybe we're the minority? I doubt that's the case. It's probably really cheap to add the extra outputs so it gets tacked on as a feature.

It takes about the same amount of silicon to fabricate a D/A or an A/D, and despite what we pay for these interfaces, the converter chips are very inexpensive to the manufacturers. There's generally a few more supporting components in a D/A than an A/D, so I don't believe there's a BOM cost advantage to having more outs than ins. I also doubt it's a case of them not listening to customer needs either, more likely that there's more need for that config than you realize. The smart companies offer three variations, more A/D, balanced, and more D/A. Some only offer as many outs as ins, which is what I think is dumb. Why should I pay for all those D/As when I only need 4. But there are people who need more outs than ins, for outboard mixing, for surround, for multiple feeds, etc.

 

[Projbalance]

I use 8/16 outs when I mix on my bigboard and use rack gear.

That's understandable. However, I think the issue here is who these particular boxes are being aimed at. I can't really imagine that someone recording using a big board would only need 2 mic inputs. Those particular needs are probably held by those of us who work solo in a small studio situation in which we are probably, for cost and space reasons usually, doing most of our work "in the box", so to speak.

I went through this very same thing when I was looking for a new interface and could not, for the life of me, imagine whay I would need that many outputs for. Even if I needed to run multiple headphone mixes, there are some very inexpensive headphone amps I could get to do that. It does seem rather strange, but what I found was in many of those devices the outputs are unbalanced. So it seems like the goal is to have an impressive feature on your sheet than giving any real use, especiall in a sub $500 dollar device.