Edirol UA-xxx reviews?

[doofus]

I'm interested in buying one of the Edirol USB Audio Interfaces for use with a laptop.

In particular I'm trying to decide between the UA-25:
http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua25.html

and the UA-101 (at more than twice the price):
http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua101.html

and would be interested in hearing from anyone with experience in using these units re: opinions on quality (manufacture and sound), robustness, and issues running the UA-25 via USB power. At present I only have need for 2-in/2-out so the larger I/O capacity in the UA-101 is bordering on irrelevant (though I recognise that all available I/O somehow finds a convenient way of being used, and it's nice to have room to grow).

Basically, on paper the UA-25 fulfills my current needs and I am looking for confirmation from an experienced user/owner that this unit is not somehow deficient in a way that will leave me wishing I had bought it's bigger brother.

In particular, I notice that the UA-25 is made in China, while the UA-101 is made in Japan. Does this have implications for the quality of components used and associated lifespan of the unit?

TIA.
d.

 

[smtcharlie]

I've never used the models that you listed, but I've got one of these:

http://www.edirol.com/products/info/archive/ua1d.html

It's not the hottest converter in the world, but it works fine. The only thing that I can compare it to is ADAT lightpipe, and this isn't as good or smooth, but it's in the same ballpark. So I'd imagine that the models that you lsited are okay.

 

[jgourd]

My experience teaches me that Firewire is much better than USB at capturing high resolution audio reliably. If you are interested in the UA25, try the N66 which is a Firewire interface.

 

[doofus]

Guys,

Thanks for the replies, it's good to get your points of view and nice to have a reference point in terms of other gear, SmtCharlie.

jgourd: when you say you've had better results from firewire than USB, are you also including USB2 in that analysis? I don't doubt you for a second but can't see any inherent reason why firewire would outperform USB (2.0) as everything is already in the digital domain by the time it reaches the interface and thus the limitation should only be in transfer speeds (which if course limit sampling rates in the case of USB 1.1). That said, I have no actual experience with firewire and would like to hear more of your opinions on the matter. My laptop only has a 4-pin firewire port which I believe mean inability to run remote powered devices. Are there other differences between the 4 and 6 pin interfaces that I need to be aware of?

Edit: OK, it seems that in at least one test situtation USB does not perform at it's rated speed of 480Mbits/s, and is substantially outperformed by firewire 400, with a rated speed of (not surprisingly) 400Mbits/s:

http://www.barefeats.com/usb2.html

I have no idea whether this difference holds true with devices other than the ones tested but in that case it is definitely enough to give firewire the edge that you mention. I will check out the FA-66. Thanks for the heads up!

Any other insights welcome.


Cheers!

 

[jgourd]

In terms of USB-2 vs Firewire, on my computers, Firewire devices have always been rock solid. The USB 1.1 & 2 devices (control surfaces, hard drives, Audio interfaces, etc.) tend to magically disconnect and sometimes cause a BSOD.

Hey, thats just my setup, yours may prove quite different.

 

[TexasMusicForge]

I have the UA-20. Noise floor isn't as bad as some reviews led me to expect, operation has been stable and worry-free. Signal routing is good, especially for a unit in this price range. Frankly, it beats the heck out of the continual sound card/driver problems I had with my AP 2496 and Emu - I'm spending a lot more time making music and less trying to get everything to play nicely together.

Hope this helps,

Tio Ed
Austin, Texas