USB Interface Advice? SSL 2+ vs MOTU M4 vs Steinberg UR-RT2

[GLA]

Hello everyone.

Looking to set up a small home studio (imagine that lol) and debating audio interfaces.

DAW will be a dedicated DAW (I think this is still the "done thing" in having a dedicated DAW that does nothing else, certainly was back in the day) on W10 and running Cubase Artist 12.

Will be mostly recording guitar through it, very very rarely vox through a Shure SM57.

Not sure entirely what I'm asking aside from "what would you get in the £200-£400 range and why?" I was previously dead set on the MOTU but the stories of MOTU and Windows drivers are legendary, and heck they were in the early 2000s when I last picked up the hobby. The Steinberg interface looks a reasonable bet, but the SSL 2+ seems to to the business also, but for the second pair of headphones (hooray) you get a desktop space-eating footprint (less hooray.)

Anyone passing with any opinions talk me into/out of one or more?

Thanks for any and all thoughts!

 

[mjbphotos]

Unless you have all primo gear (monitors, treated mixing space, etc), you are not going to hear any difference between recordings through a $200 interface or a $500 interface or a $1000 interface. Choose based upon driver reliability (most name brands are good these days), the number of inputs you need (including number of mic preamps), number of separate outputs needed.

 

[TAE]

Unless you have all primo gear (monitors, treated mixing space, etc), you are not going to hear any difference between recordings through a $200 interface or a $500 interface or a $1000 interface. Choose based upon driver reliability (most name brands are good these days), the number of inputs you need (including number of mic preamps), number of separate outputs needed.

Good advice. TBH based upon you just recording your guitar and sometimes vocal, you might skip the "interface" for an inexpensive usb mixer with built in interface. Behringer, Yamaha, Zoom and Tascam are all quality brands that will get you going fast n easy on the cheap with Cubase or any other daw software...and you get the hands on tactile experience of faders, eq and effects set up in the mixer if you so choose. I Like doing it this way rather than adding in the box..Get it sounding the way I want before I push the red button then all I have to do is go through and clean things up. no brains no headaches...

 

[TAE]

I have been lusting the UAD and Apogee interfaces because of the alleged magic voodoo of their preamps and software....In the end it is a LOT of marketing hyperbole. Like MJB says, unless your whole chain is high end stuff you're not going to hear a difference.....so probably not

 

[keith.rogers]

Hello everyone.

Looking to set up a small home studio (imagine that lol) and debating audio interfaces.

DAW will be a dedicated DAW (I think this is still the "done thing" in having a dedicated DAW that does nothing else, certainly was back in the day) on W10 and running Cubase Artist 12.

Will be mostly recording guitar through it, very very rarely vox through a Shure SM57.

Not sure entirely what I'm asking aside from "what would you get in the £200-£400 range and why?" I was previously dead set on the MOTU but the stories of MOTU and Windows drivers are legendary, and heck they were in the early 2000s when I last picked up the hobby. The Steinberg interface looks a reasonable bet, but the SSL 2+ seems to to the business also, but for the second pair of headphones (hooray) you get a desktop space-eating footprint (less hooray.)
.....

Like others, I believe that anywhere under $1k, you're in a commodity market, and you basically get what you pay for, meaning the components are all quite similar, and, ergo, manufacturer costs are similar, outside of volume breaks some get, or money saved on marketing and support (the "B" brand comes to mind). So, read current reviews with a focus on sifting out for users that are using in a similar way and space, if you can find them.

I haven't used a Windows system in some years, but if you stick with the interface route, the latest MOTU units have been well reviewed and I don't think their Windows driver issues are markedly different from other popular brands. I have a Steinberg (UR44C), but use it only on Mac, and it's been trouble-free. The MOTU does have a better (lower) noise spec, though I've never noticed anything above the already present ambient/background noise in my home recording space. (Strictly IMHO, I don't think interface noise is, or even can be, an issue in most home recording environments, but I obviously have not been out measuring them..)

I'm not sure what you mean by "dedicated DAW" in your post. Do you mean a dedicated computer? Having a stable setup, i.e., only install critical, security OS updates, without a lot of other software coming and going, and can exist without internet access, at least for your recording/mixing sessions, will eliminate many of the headaches folks encounter, especially on Windows.

 

[GLA]

Thanks all! Yes leaning towards the MOTU M4 and very grateful for the opinions.

And yes to be clear I mean a dedicated DAW to be install Windows and sequencer, get it updated, then use offline from the point it's stable onwards if at all possible.

Room (and likely the whole rest of the setup) will be probably typical of a home studio with "prosumer" kit. Treatment will be bass trapping and a "best effort" type deal.

Cheers everyone for chiming in.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

I have been lusting the UAD and Apogee interfaces because of the alleged magic voodoo of their preamps and software....In the end it is a LOT of marketing hyperbole. Like MJB says, unless your whole chain is high end stuff you're not going to hear a difference.....so probably not

I have an Apogee. Don’t notice any different in sound from my Komplete Audio 6