USB 3 Audio Interface?

[Syncretia]

I have a Focusrite Saffire USB 6. Very laggy for recording.

I want to upgrade. But, USB 3 doesn't seem to have a lot of options. Many people recommend thunderbolt but I'm reluctant because I don't have a thunderbolt PCI card and if I got thunderbolt, then suddenly I've got to track down a good PCI card as well.

I'm also up for buying a PCI card for recording but I don't know much in this department.

What options have I got? Zoom UAC-2?

A PCI card?

Thunderbolt? If so, why?

[Googly Smythe]

What's your budget and how many inputs do you need to record with?
USB 3 is only good if you need to record using a lot of mics all at the same time. No idea about Thunderbolt.
Otherwise I'd say go down the PCIe route (I would say that 'cos that's what I did ). The RME AIO card is a good choice. Drivers are updated every few months. Rock solid, very low latency. Might be too expensive, though... https://www.thomann.de/gb/rme_hdspe_aio.htm

[UltimateOutsider]

Unless you have one of the newer Gen2 models, your interface is literally the worst-performing USB interface in the official DAW Bench performance benchmarks. The drivers just aren't very good. (And even the new-and-improved Gen2 drivers are only middle-of-the-road, performance-wise.)

Prosumer PCIe audio interfaces are on the way out, and making PCIe (or even USB 3, in my opinion) a requirement would severely limit your options. I used to have a MOTU PCIe-424 and while it could handle something like 96 simultaneous channels of AD/DA, my RME Fireface UFX mk1 delivered slightly lower latency at the same sample rate/workload/buffer size in USB 2 mode than the MOTU did. (Note that the DAW Bench scores account for not just latency but throughput, which is why the PCIe interfaces are clustered near the top. When you look at just the latency numbers, the PCIe/USB interfaces don't have such an advantage.)

I hear the Zoom UAC-2 is quite good, performance-wise, but actually even Zoom's USB 2 interfaces deliver very low latency... I think Zoom just plain has good drivers. The latest version of the RME Fireface, the UFX+ has both USB 3 and Thunderbolt- but again, RME has always been famous for low-latency performance. There's also at least one MOTU interface with USB 3 (the 8A for sure... but it doesn't have any mic pres). I personally haven't tested any USB 3 models yet, but a couple of them were tested for that DAWBench thread.

[incubus]

Isn't the one the OP has usb 1.1?

From what I've heard, usb 3 doesn't help with latency at all, but could improve bandwidth as in how many channels. Not sure if I'm correct.

I have a babyface pro with about 7-8ms in and out combined and that is just at a 128 buffer. It's the drivers that matter most.

[Syncretia]

PCIE is an option but they all look ludicrously overpriced. The Zoom UAC-2 is sounding the best because everyone seems to agree that zoom makes good drivers. Pretty much gonna buy this unless someone talks me out of it.

Still willing to buy a USB ii alternative if someone knows an interface that performs as well as the UAC-2

[incubus]

[Mister Natural]

If you are a one-man-band, usb2.0 is plenty fast enough to handle the ins / outs. If tracking a band, then the multiple input bandwidth of usb3.0 comes in to play.
this one : http://tascam.com/product/us-20x20/

peace

[RichieWitch]

There's also at least one MOTU interface with USB 3 (the 8A for sure... but it doesn't have any mic pres).

omg.... THANK YOU!!! I have been on a quest for a USB3 AD/DA converter with at least 8 in/8 out, no mic pres, and doesn't cost $3k+.
Just went over to the MOTU site and confirmed it. This is *exactly* what I've been searching for. You just made my day.