Budget Audio Interface

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Ok. I think my preferences changed now to get something which really works well in terms of latency with Windows 10 coz that's the only OS I have.

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I'm sure all of these play well with Windows 10 (maybe a bit unsure about the M-Audio M-Track, because it's older):
sarincv wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:24 pm 1. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
2. Behringer UMC 202HD
3. Presonus Audiobox 96
4. M-Audio M Track 2 (Old model)
5. Steinberg UR22 mkII
They all should have Windows 10 drivers (i know for certain the UR22 mk2 does, and, it works perfectly on Win 10).

By the way, i wouldn't focus so much on low latency. Unless you want to play in piano pieces, or other instruments, live, there's no need to have lower latency than 10-20 ms. If you only do MIDI sequencing, it's completely secondary. IMO, it's more important to have good drivers, and low CPU/system froot print, so you can have lots of tracks without crackles.

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as chk says, id imagine any of the currently on sale items will have up to date drivers.

as to latency on the focusrite, i honestly haven't noticed any issues and i do plenty of live audio recording.
not saying it doesn't exist, but with the right settings it can obviously get down to unnoticeable.

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My list has become even shorter now with the below options.

With Monitor Outputs
1. Steinberg UR22 mkII
2. Focussrite 2i2

With only RCA outputs
1. Steinberg UR12
2. Focusrite Solo

:)

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I have the UR12 and I experience drop outs quite frequently. It's more common outside of my DAW - Cubase 9.5 Pro, but still annoying.

My number 1 choice for a new interface is the Audient Id4. Any reason it's not on your list?
It costs the same as the 2i2.

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For me no more Focusrite, I've always had driver issues with my 2i4 on Windows with occasional BSOD's. I also had to switch off my monitors before rebooting my PC because there were some loud noises during startup.

I now own a Steinberg UR44 and the drivers are rock solid. I also don't need to switch off my monitors anymore before rebooting.

The loopback function on the Steinberg interfaces is also a nice bonus, makes it easy to record any PC audio (for example Youtube) into my DAW. It's also very useful if you want to make video's with sound using ASIO.

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Armadillo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:09 am I have the UR12 and I experience drop outs quite frequently. It's more common outside of my DAW - Cubase 9.5 Pro, but still annoying.

My number 1 choice for a new interface is the Audient Id4. Any reason it's not on your list?
It costs the same as the 2i2.
ID4 costs more here in Australia, around 70 dollars more than that of 2i2. I was looking for used 2nd gen 2i2. new one would be out of my budget.

Here goes the official price list:

Behringer UMC 202HD - 129
Presonus Audio box 96 - 169
Steinberg UR22 Mk2 - 175
Maudio M Track 2 X 2 - 189
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen) - 194
Komplete 6 - 269

Steinberg UR12 - 107
Focusrite Scarlett Solo - 125
Behringer UMC 22 - 89

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Armadillo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:09 am I have the UR12 and I experience drop outs quite frequently. It's more common outside of my DAW - Cubase 9.5 Pro, but still annoying.
I had frequent dropouts with my former wifi card. Wasn't easy to figure out what it was, i thought it was driver related. I replaced my wifi card then (which was a cheap TP-Link card) with this one: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00JNA ... UTF8&psc=1

The only dropouts i experience now are the obvious one when you run out of processing power. If you have wifi on your computer, deactivate it (you gotta deactivate the adapter), and see if the dropouts are gone. Or try the interface on another computer, and see if the dropouts occur there as well.

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chk071 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:08 pm
Armadillo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:09 am I have the UR12 and I experience drop outs quite frequently. It's more common outside of my DAW - Cubase 9.5 Pro, but still annoying.
I had frequent dropouts with my former wifi card. Wasn't easy to figure out what it was, i thought it was driver related. I replaced my wifi card then (which was a cheap TP-Link card) with this one: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00JNA ... UTF8&psc=1

The only dropouts i experience now are the obvious one when you run out of processing power. If you have wifi on your computer, deactivate it (you gotta deactivate the adapter), and see if the dropouts are gone. Or try the interface on another computer, and see if the dropouts occur there as well.
Thanks for the info.

My desktop PC doesn't actually have wifi connection, so that doesn't help unfortunately.
Luckily audio interfaces are fairly cheap these days, so it's not the end of the world.

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If you have a Bluetooth card, or anything which has to do with wireless, it could be that as well. It's pretty hard to figure out though, so, if you can't be bothered, i'd just go for a new interface indeed. No idea why some interfaces are prone to get disturbed while others don't.

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does that mean maybe even having your phone with you could cause issues?
or is it only where the hardware is within the pc?

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Only the PC's hardware, i guess. Would surprise me, if the phone did it, i usually have my phone on my desk as well, when i have the audio interface on. :D

My guess is that the wifi card i had was very badly shielded. So, if you have proper cards, and no cheap stuff, i doubt you'll run into trouble. On my laptop, for example, i never had an issue with my UR12 and UR22. Wifi, Bluetooth and everything running.

It was pretty hard to figure out. I tried a lot of things before having the idea to turn off the wifi card... guess you have to trial and error, if you want to find the cause. There was a thread about dropouts on the Steinberg forums, and there were people who literally tried everything, and still had dropouts. Now, i don't want to say it's a general issue with the UR interfaces, it surely only happens to very few people. At least there were a mere handful posting in that thread. There wasn't much Yamaha/Steinberg could do about the issue as well, because they couldn't really reproduce it, and it seemed like the causes differed from person to person.

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chk071 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:30 pm If you have a Bluetooth card, or anything which has to do with wireless, it could be that as well. It's pretty hard to figure out though, so, if you can't be bothered, i'd just go for a new interface indeed. No idea why some interfaces are prone to get disturbed while others don't.
Nope.
I had a look in Device manager and Network and Internet settings and I don't have anything wireless.

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chk071 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:42 pm Only the PC's hardware, i guess. Would surprise me, if the phone did it, i usually have my phone on my desk as well, when i have the audio interface on. :D
tbh i wasn't sure it could/would??
just wasn't 100% sure, as its emitting the same freqs as a wireless card.
as you say though, if its not shielded and internal, its going to be possibly more problematic.

thanks for helping clear it up 8)

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The Focusrite Scarlet Solo sounds just about right for your needs. I've never had a problem with one of these units.

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