I'm buying my first ever audio interface TODAY. For the price, does anyone...

B

BrianBurke

New member
Think I'd do better than the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 MKII 2019 Black? I'm a beginner so I'm not pretending to know about this model, but a friend who's played for decades raved about the MKI of this interface and I just read an article that the MKII is a big upgrade. I have a MacBook Air with a USB and Thunderbolt 2 port but may upgrade in the future if that matters.

I guess I'm asking, at this price range, is there something that's obviously better or would it be a matter of opinion? Is there any general consensus?

Thank you.

Brian Burke
 
You should be good with that. Has everything you could want. What DAW are you going to use, not that it really matters. And what instruments?
 
BrianBurke said:
Thank you! Are GarageBand and Logic Pro DAWs? If so, those. Electric guitar only and maybe a mic eventually.
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GarageBand is generally considered more of a intro/consumer DAW, though it has been used by many to produce full length, fine sounding releases. In its current form, it's really a de-featured version of Logic Pro X, which certainly is a pro DAW. If you already have that, I would go straight to that and learn from there, because while it doesn't hide things from you (i.e., as GB does), one result of that is you will actually understand what's happening, once you can produce a track. The downside is that it might take you longer to produce that first track.
 
May i also suggest the Steinberg UR22c or UR44. Exceptional at the price. Also comes bundled with Cuase AI and Cubasis. Worth a look.
 
Hi Brian, I am perhaps rather well known as a bit of a champion of the KA6 around here!

One of its greatest attributes is perhaps not quite so important when used with a mac? That is its very stable drivers but I don't have a mac so I cannot tell you. I CAN say that if you need to use the interface on any other operating system you will be fine. The KA6 is the least fussy AI I know off.

It is a fact that since the NI box came out a lot of manufacturers have 'upped their game' in AI quality especially in the sub £200 area but I think the Mk1 KA still stands as good as any of them and the Mk2 builds on that quality. Shame IMHO that they dropped the Cubase freebie but that does not seem to be an issue in your case. Do give Reaper a try btw.

You might think "why am I paying for two extra line inputs I don't need?" Well, you never know in this music game! For the outlay of a modest mixer you could run a stereo mixdown of say 4 more microphones and a couple of line inputs from a synth and you still have the front inputs! The digital connections are again probably of no use to you now but plenty of kit has digital outs, my telly does! So 'future proofing'.
You might own an 'audio system' aka 'hi fi rig'? If so the tape outs of that can go to inputs 3/4 and you can dub stuff from said rig.

As you can tell I am a bit keen! I am sure you will find the NI KA6 will do all you need now, very well and you will find more to do with it in the coming months and years.

Enjoy,
Dave.
 
Thanks for all that info. One bugaboo is that the deal I could get on the MKII, the guy isn't replying. So now I'm looking at things like the Focusrite 4i4, PreSonus 26c, Audient something or other, Steinberg UR22c. Sorry for any confusion. I was all set on the MKII at a great deal. Btw, I'll buy new or used. Doesn't matter to me. Anything non-NI from this list jump out at you?
 
BrianBurke said:
Interesting. The 44 is more than I need and want to spend. The 22 looks cool.
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I use the UR22c when at home and can honestly say that i have previously spent a lot more on other interfaces and this one impresses me the most at this price point. Outperforms my Scarlett, Tascam and Presonus by far as far as stability and preamps go. Plus the dsp fx while recording works flawlessly and saves a bit of cpu.
 
Most, if not all, of the consumer level AI's do a really great job these days. Pick the one that has the features you like or need and at a price you can work with.


Dave likes the KA's and for good reason. The focusrites have a great reputation that permeates down to their consumer products.

Keith is too kind when he says GarageBand is an "intro/consumer" DAW. It is a toy and once you get to a point where you want to step up your game, GB won't give you the latitude to do more. Logic is the real deal, as is Reaper, Cubase, Protools, etc.

The one thing I would like to advise is whichever DAW program you select, you will have a huge learning curve. Stick with it and get over that curve. Once you do, you can concentrate on being creative.
 
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