Which audio interface (budget) for use with Studio One 3? Help appreciated.

[wltchris101]

I didn't see these last few replies until this morning after I had already ordered the UR22 MKII (I really need to keep the cost down if possible,so the UR44, as nice as the included extras would be, for my normal usage I think the UR22 will be good enough). chk071 you have worried me a little. There does seem to be quite a number of different possible causes for the drop outs some people seem to be experiencing. I will have to hope that I'm one of the lucky majority. My ASUS motherboard is not one of the problem chipsets listed, and I very rarely have my music pc online (usb wi-fi dongle for the rare occasions I do). And if it's USB bus power that causes the problem then I'll just use the AC adapter. I don't use any PCI cards apart from my graphics card, so if that causes me a problem (it is Nvidia, which is mentioned as a possible cause in the Steinberg thread) I'll have to get another card. Or perhaps my on board graphics will suffice. I believe my new motherboard has pretty good on board graphics capabilities. Ah well. Hopefully I will not be affected by this, and as most users seem to be heartily recommending the UR22, I should be a happy camper!

Thanks for all the advise!
Chris

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Yeah I wouldn't worry about it.. every interface on the planet has an incompatibility with some motherboards out there.. it's just the nature of the beast.

I know I already said it and I know you already said no, but I urge you to think about spending that bit extra on the 44. The 44 is an interface that will serve you for so many more tasks, and give you that zero latency monitoring with superb effects. There is no other interface on the market for that price that gives you that amount of i/o AND *good* quality dsp fx (as well as vst3 native versions of those plugins). Honestly the included plugins as native versions, would be worth most of the cost of the interface itself let alone the other features.

It's 150 bucks more man.. a couple good nights out..yep it IS alot of money but this is a lifelong sort of decision. You get alot more than double for it being double the price.

4 pres vs 2
6 a/d vs 2
2 Headphone VS 1
Realtime dsp zero latency mixer with channel strip, superb reverb, and rather decent guitar amps.

That's worth way more than 150 bucks. Again just think about it, sleep on it. Just think, one day you might buy a hardware synth.. it may just happen.. Ur44, bingo, plug it in and monitor it with zero latency in real time, with fx, no need for external mixer. Just an example.

I believe it's the finest interface on the market in that price range, i really do. I don't think there is anything better till you get to RME babyface pro.

Do you need real time monitoring of vocals? With the UR22 you will have to go through the DAW and in/out buffers if you want to use fx.. another example..

anyway, i won't say it again, but please know I only persisted cause i don't want you to regret it down the road and say damn i wish i bought the UR44.

Cheers and best wishes for whatever you buy!

[wltchris101]

Hi TheoM. I hear what you're saying, and it all makes sense. Alas, it basically just boils down to total lack of money at this stage. I know that I was originally considering the NI KA6, which is halfway price-wise between the UR22 and the UR44, but I was very much hoping to find a cheaper option. I currently only work part time you see, and I just spent a small fortune (for me), on a new CPU, motherboard, 32gb of RAM, SSD and CPU cooler (in fact all this little lot has been bought through borrowing, I actually only had enough money for a large deposit, and I'll still be paying it all off for the next year). To be honest, I completely didn't take into account that my TC Electronic Konnekt 6 (which I've been pretty happy with) was no longer supported, and so was not Windows 10 compatible. I could've really done without having to buy a new interface at all! I don't need to move to Windows 10 I suppose, but it feels like the right time to do it, while I can still do it for free. I don't often record audio - occasional guitar, and every now and then a vocalist friend who in the past has been perfectly happy to record dry. If I'm in a position to buy a hardware synth in the future (oh happy day ), then I'd probably be in a position to get a new interface also and sell the current one for perhaps half what I paid for it. But I thank you for your advise, and only wish I was in a position to take it.

Cheers
Chris

[chk071]

Yeah, no need to worry. If it happens you're unlucky, and belong to the few people who have those drop outs, and you won't be able to fix them, you can always send it back.

[EnGee]

There does seem to be quite a number of different possible causes for the drop outs some people seem to be experiencing. I will have to hope that I'm one of the lucky majority. My ASUS motherboard is not one of the problem chipsets listed, and I very rarely have my music pc online (usb wi-fi dongle for the rare occasions I do). And if it's USB bus power that causes the problem then I'll just use the AC adapter. I don't use any PCI cards apart from my graphics card, so if that causes me a problem (it is Nvidia, which is mentioned as a possible cause in the Steinberg thread) I'll have to get another card. Or perhaps my on board graphics will suffice. I believe my new motherboard has pretty good on board graphics capabilities. Ah well. Hopefully I will not be affected by this, and as most users seem to be heartily recommending the UR22, I should be a happy camper!

Don't worry and if there is a problem, take it easy because most of the problems are from the Wifi driver if you have enough PSU (power).

In my current system, I don't have any audio problem, but I had a problem with my previous laptop (i7 running Win 7) and I could solve it by finding a dirver in the net for my wifi adapter. Desktops are easier to fix of course.

Anyway, I attached the usb interface to a powered usb hub together with the midi controllers. I also have enough PSU for my system and I use a cheap TP Link PCIe Wireless card, which is not a great in downloading speed, but it doesn't make any interference with the audio

I do have nVidia card but it is a mid range (or low!), GTX 750. I use the desktop for playing games also, so it is not specially made as a music workstation. I also have my system optimized by not running many services, and only the default Windows protection and no 3rd party security. So, you get the idea that I have enough headroom for everything

[bronxsound]

^ by looking at your pc spec you might consider some trade offs towards the interface eg. 16gb instead of 32gb (do you really need them, will you ever use them?). not that I am telling you how to spend the money but having limited cash requires wise decision making. simply review your priorities

[wltchris101]

Cheers chk071.

[wltchris101]

Hi bronxsound. Well I've already bought the 32gb of ram. As I use a lot of big sample libraries this was a priority for me.

[sprnva]

For the record, you don't have to move completely to Win 10 to get it while it's free. You can just install and activate it before the free offer ends so you have the licence and then wipe the computer and reinstall Win 7. Then when you want to go to 10 later it will activate OK as you'll have a licence for that hardware.

[wltchris101]

Thanks sprnva - I wasn't aware of that. But I think I may as well continue with the course I've started on now - pc components all bought (just waiting for the weekend to put them together) and the UR22 MKII is ordered and probably getting ready to be delivered as I write. I think I'll update to Windows 10 as soon as the system is built, and touch wood, everything will work as it should and I won't have to roll back to 7.

[thecontrolcentre]

anyway, i won't say it again, but please know I only persisted cause i don't want you to regret it down the road and say damn i wish i bought the UR44!

I totally agree. The UR44 looks great at that price point. Might get one myself.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Hi TheoM. I hear what you're saying, and it all makes sense. Alas, it basically just boils down to total lack of money at this stage. I know that I was originally considering the NI KA6, which is halfway price-wise between the UR22 and the UR44, but I was very much hoping to find a cheaper option. I currently only work part time you see, and I just spent a small fortune (for me), on a new CPU, motherboard, 32gb of RAM, SSD and CPU cooler (in fact all this little lot has been bought through borrowing, I actually only had enough money for a large deposit, and I'll still be paying it all off for the next year). To be honest, I completely didn't take into account that my TC Electronic Konnekt 6 (which I've been pretty happy with) was no longer supported, and so was not Windows 10 compatible. I could've really done without having to buy a new interface at all! I don't need to move to Windows 10 I suppose, but it feels like the right time to do it, while I can still do it for free. I don't often record audio - occasional guitar, and every now and then a vocalist friend who in the past has been perfectly happy to record dry. If I'm in a position to buy a hardware synth in the future (oh happy day ), then I'd probably be in a position to get a new interface also and sell the current one for perhaps half what I paid for it. But I thank you for your advise, and only wish I was in a position to take it.

Cheers
Chris

Konnekt was a fine interface.. are they really not doing a win 10 driver? Typical TC just dumping stuff.. this is their absolute MO for a long time now.

I hear what you're saying, it makes sense. UR22 would suit you well then and try get them down on price. $149 is just map price.. I am sure you can maybe get it for 119 or 129

cheers

PS you could always sell your konnekt

[wltchris101]

Yeah it sucks that TC no longer support this line with Windows 10. But as you say, I could probably sell it once the UR22 arrives.

BTW, I already paid £95 for the UR22, which works out at around $127, so a pretty good price already.

Cheers.

[ceasless]

If I were in the market for a new small interface, I would definitely be doing research into the iConnect Audio2+ (they have really funny naming schemes): http://www.iconnectivity.com/products/a ... AUDIO2plus

Or, for a bit more, the K-Mix is supposed to be a bit of a game-changer.