Help me choose an audio interface (the typical newbie post)

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e@rs wrote:
fluffy_little_something wrote:I think I will get the Steinberg UR12. It only has USB 2, but that should be enough for my humble needs :)
Test it first! I got a UR22mk2 recently and I get signal drops every time I load DUNE 2 or Breeze (no idea why only with these; they're not even the most demanding stuff I load: U-He stuff is more intense but works smooth).
There's a thread (actually a continuation of an older thread) on Steinberg forum full of people complaining of signal drops on various systems. Some are very severe. The dev still hasn't been able to solve it. Be warned!
Yeah. This is the thread: https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewto ... 57&t=96319

In my case, i get the dropouts on my desktop computer, with both the UR12, and the UR22 MkII, exactly the same problem. On my laptop, everything works fine... and, when i deactivate the wi-fi on my desktop, it's absolutely fine there too... really weird issue, and Yamaha seems to have a hard time repoducing, and fixing the issue, and, for everyone, something else fixes the problem, and for some, nothing fixes it. So, yeah, i'd also give a word of caution. On the other hand, in Germany, we have a 30 days money back guarantee from online shops, and you don't even have to name a reason why you sent back the product. So, no big risk there. The UR's are fine devices apart from that, nice sound, and low latency. And, if it works, it works.

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I just picked up the Roland Super UA, you can get it for $399 at Sweetwater.
I'm really impressed with the sound. It's 192/32bit too!
Definitely worth checking out.

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fluffy_little_something wrote:Oh, really :? Strange, I have read recommendations repeatedly. But thanks for telling me, will opt for another brand then :)
Well, if you can't test it first or return it, look for something else. But as chk071 said, if they work, URs are quality products. I decided to keep mine, despite those occasional drop-outs.

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Thankfully, i found the workaround with the deactivation of the wi-fi adapter, otherwise, i'd probably have sent it back too... thing is, i didn't really find a comparable interface in that price region. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (which about has the same features) doesn't have MIDI in and out, for example, and i bought the UR22 with the though in mind that i could one day decide to get a hardware synth, and then, i'd need the MIDI in and outs.

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You choice would be buying 2 cards: esi juli@ or similar as a main card and Universal Audio UAD-2 PCIe DSP Accelerator Card as hw acceleration card to have no latencies.
samplitude is the best daw for me. To have studio like sound before asking questions on any audio forums in the internet please read the book by alex unlocking fx creative potential

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chk071 wrote:Thankfully, i found the workaround with the deactivation of the wi-fi adapter.
This is a kernel driver interaction issue. The WiFi driver is starving the real-time demands of the Steinberg driver. WiFi devices still have relatively large driver stacks compared to wired NICs. Deactivating WiFi means the device is no longer interrupting the kernel with interrupts to process things like new SSIDs, background traffic, or any other events. This could be because the WiFi device may be cheaper which requires software to do more work.

I'm guessing this is a PC where you're seeing this problem. The adapters put in Macs aren't necessarily better. What matters is they are mostly homogeneous and that means the testing department of Steinberg likely QA'ed their drivers with those devices. Macs and Windows have very different driver stacks too.

If you need both WiFi and the interface at the same time you might want to try a decent USB2 WiFi dongle. You should also open a bug report with Steinberg giving them details about the WiFi driver and adapter type you have. Who knows, maybe they have a workaround for fix that may help.
Feel free to call me Brian.

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For some people disabling their WiFi did the trick. Unfortunately, not for me. In my case the problem lies somewhere else. Where? I don't know yet. But has something to do with certain windows open on top of other open windows. Maybe video card too weak?

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Finally went ahead and got an RME Multiface 1. RME sounds like they still keep their drivers up to date even for old things like this, and it should provide all I need for a long time coming I imagine.

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I'm very happy with my iTwo Presonus for more than two years now, so if I want an interface with 3 (stereo) in or more, I would mostly buy PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL (Actually, I'm thinking of it if I'm going take my music seriously :D ).

Edit:
There are warnings in the Review section (the same link). This is older generation than iTwo, so maybe that's why! So, there might be a risk.
For iTwo, it is great with Windows 10 64bit and Presonus has updated the driver just few months ago :D
Last edited by EnGee on Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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bmrzycki wrote:
chk071 wrote:Thankfully, i found the workaround with the deactivation of the wi-fi adapter.
This is a kernel driver interaction issue. The WiFi driver is starving the real-time demands of the Steinberg driver. WiFi devices still have relatively large driver stacks compared to wired NICs. Deactivating WiFi means the device is no longer interrupting the kernel with interrupts to process things like new SSIDs, background traffic, or any other events. This could be because the WiFi device may be cheaper which requires software to do more work.

I'm guessing this is a PC where you're seeing this problem. The adapters put in Macs aren't necessarily better. What matters is they are mostly homogeneous and that means the testing department of Steinberg likely QA'ed their drivers with those devices. Macs and Windows have very different driver stacks too.

If you need both WiFi and the interface at the same time you might want to try a decent USB2 WiFi dongle. You should also open a bug report with Steinberg giving them details about the WiFi driver and adapter type you have. Who knows, maybe they have a workaround for fix that may help.
Thanks for your post, only just noticed it. Obviously, Steinberg are working on a fix in a new driver, which may, or may not work here. Will have to wait and see. If it doesn't work, i'll send them a bug report.

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EnGee wrote:I'm very happy with my iTwo Presonus for more than two years now, so if I want an interface with 3 (stereo) in or more, I would mostly buy PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL (Actually, I'm thinking of it if I'm going take my music seriously :D ).
Of all pro interfaces Presonus have the worst rep, I wouldn't touch one with a shitty stick.

Rme everytime or if on a budget Focusrite
Amazon: why not use an alternative

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VariKusBrainZ wrote:
EnGee wrote:I'm very happy with my iTwo Presonus for more than two years now, so if I want an interface with 3 (stereo) in or more, I would mostly buy PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL (Actually, I'm thinking of it if I'm going take my music seriously :D ).
Of all pro interfaces Presonus have the worst rep, I wouldn't touch one with a shitty stick.

Rme everytime or if on a budget Focusrite
Actually, I wouldn't touch a Focusrite or M-Audio. I have bad experiences with them! RME is expensive here, so I have never consider it.

My experience says otherwise with Presonus! I don't have any problem with the iTwo for more than two years now! The sound is clean and clear on both headphones and monitors. It can be very loud as well. I trust their products really and my experience is more important than their reputation for me ;)

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Kineshewa wrote:... I was originally eyeing the Steinberg MR816X or CSX models....
I recently picked up one of the Steinberg interfaces and have been very pleased with it.
Since I work with Cubase, my thinking was this would be a good combination.
Indeed it is.

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^Which Steinberg interface did you get? No audio drops with it?

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Finally went ahead and got an RME Multiface 1. RME sounds like they still keep their drivers up to date even for old things like this, and it should provide all I need for a long time coming I imagine.
Silly choice to my mind. It has no acceleration for vsts, therefore it's useless and you could buy something cheaper. One of acceration cards was PowerCore PCI mkII tcelectronic.com/powercore-pci-mkii/
samplitude is the best daw for me. To have studio like sound before asking questions on any audio forums in the internet please read the book by alex unlocking fx creative potential

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