Looking for a Solid ASIO Driver on Windows 11

[slotenvath]

Does anyone have experience with mid-range audio interface brands (under $200 USD) that offer stable ASIO drivers capable of handling large projects on Windows 11?

I'm not particularly concerned about the number of inputs and outputs, since the interface will be used primarily for music production rather than recording multiple sources.

The brands I'm currently considering are MOTU, Arturia, Audient, SSL, Behringer, Roland, and Zoom.

If you have first-hand experience with any of these brands—especially regarding driver stability, low-latency performance, and reliability with larger DAW sessions—I’d really appreciate your feedback.

Thanks in advance!

[drsyncenstein]

Define large. Large is dependent on how fast your computer is. More inputs and outputs demand more from your computer. If you need just stereo i would doubt that the interface differs in stability, as long as you shy away from the really cheap and shitty stuff.

From my experience motu makes really good stuff, at least in their pro line.
That's anything but the m series. No experience with those.
I also used cheap presonus. Was stable but tends to clip when you are close to 0 dB on the output.
I've got a very cheap Steinberg IXO22 that sounds good and is rocksolid. That's yamaha hardware with steinberg software, so decades of experience in digtial audio.

With stereo and windows 11 you should be able to have stability even without asio. The builtin realtek audio works fine, so do decent usb dacs that you can buy as an upgrade for your smartphone (shanling).

How much latency you will get is impossible to say. Large sets might need 256 or 512 samples. That really depends on how loaded your computer is by the set.

If you want to go below 64 or 32 samples i would say you have a whole journey in front of you. Especially with laptops. Probably will need to try multiple devices and make sure your computer has no software issues.
Companies that make their own asio driver tend to better at this.
RME, Motu for example. Behringer does not. Might be difficult to achieve with your budget.

[OscSync]

I was told several years ago there are only about 3 or 4 companies who code ASIO drivers and essentially every interface seller out there outsources to this small group.
Is this complete horseshit or does it have an element of truth? If so, I'm going to assume RME and MOTU are part of the group.

[drsyncenstein]

if you don't have a monitor controller (or anything like that) where you can set the output level in steps (so not continiuously, like a pot) then the best tip i can give is to search for an interface that can do that. Human hearing changes with the volume. Motu does it seperately for main output and headphones on their pro line. It's important because with a pot it's difficlut to set the level to the same value after you changed it and often the level for left and right is slightly different.

[drsyncenstein]

I was told several years ago there are only about 3 or 4 companies who code ASIO drivers and essentially every interface seller out there outsources to this small group.
Is this complete horseshit or does it have an element of truth? If so, I'm going to assume RME and MOTU are part of the group.

RME and Motu do. I'm not sure who else. The majority uses thesyscon; https://www.thesycon.net/eng/sitemap.shtml
That does not mean they are bad, but things are easier to fix when you develop the whole picture and you know both hardware and low level windows.

[OscSync]

I was told several years ago there are only about 3 or 4 companies who code ASIO drivers and essentially every interface seller out there outsources to this small group.
Is this complete horseshit or does it have an element of truth? If so, I'm going to assume RME and MOTU are part of the group.

RME and Motu do. I'm not sure who else. The majority uses thesyscon; https://www.thesycon.net/eng/sitemap.shtml
That does not mean they are bad, but things are easier to fix when you develop the whole picture and you know both hardware and low level windows.

Fascinating. So there is an element of truth to that, I've been wondering for years.

[BertKoor]

MOTU used to excel on MacOs, but had spotty performance on Windows.
Mind you, that was decades ago, when firewire still was significant. Things will have changed.

May I ask why Focusrite is not on the shortlist?

[drsyncenstein]

motu and firewire might be true. they cleaned up their act since. been using usb since windows 7 with a 828es. Back then i used echo audio. Solid if you had the right firewire interface. Echo is long gone, but their driver from 2013 is still working fine on the last edition of w11.
if you have experience with focusrite enlighten op. He might have just missed that.