zabs291
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Audio Interface Recommendations
I recently updated from Win 7 x64 to Win 10 Pro... and my Tascam US-1800 didn't really take to the new environment. I had very odd occurrences where it would work flawlessly for about 10-15 minutes, then the audio signal would turn noisy and weak. I troubleshooted, tweaked Win10 for audio, changed cables, ports, and even monitored the processor temperature thinking there could be overheating issues that are causing the problem (I have a virtually fanless system, but the temps never passed 42C - peaks around 50% processor usage). With the US-1800 being discontinued, I figure it's time to update, and upgrade.
I found that I used the Tascam as my audio card, rather than the interface (disabled all other audio drivers)... I primarily run VST's, so don't need inputs but for a couple of mics for acoustic guitar... I'm a piano guy, so latency is hugely important... running Ivory off a second SSD. Also using Quantum Leap RA, and Sonar's suite of VST's.
I'm looking for recommendations for a 24/192 interface that's STABLE with Win10 x64 and SPlat... was looking at the UAD Apollo Twin USB, but they seem to be more Thunderbolt folks than USB - I wonder how stable their WIN/USB products would be. For some reason, I wanted to stay with USB3.0 (perhaps they'd be supported longer, I don't know what draws me in). Anything in the Apollo price point is fair game.
Someone, talk me into something... I'm open to suggestions.
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zabs291
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/15 10:52:28
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Sorry, system specs...
Sonar Platinum 64
Win10 Pro64
Intel i7-4771
16GB RAM
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H
Corsair Force LE SATA III SSD 1TB
Zotac GEForce GT730 Fanless
TASCAM US-1800 USB
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Jim Roseberry
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/15 10:59:09
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☄ Helpfulby zabs291 2016/06/26 16:10:18
MOTU Ultralite AVB is a great choice - Low noise-floor
- Super low round-trip latency
- Extremely flexible routing/monitoring
Anything from RME is exceptionally good. Apollo Twin USB is a nice audio interface. Not the lowest round-trip latency... but pretty good. Drivers are solid
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JonD
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/15 11:38:04
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A couple of others to look at...
Zoom UAC-2/8 -- USB 3. Very low latency. Hasn't been out for long, but the few reviews available have been good. Note that even though it's USB 2 compatible, you need to be on USB 3 to achieve low latencies.
Focusrite Scarlett Series (2nd generation) -- The first gen Scarlett series is still hugely popular, and the next gen promises improvements across the board. The most significant of these are the cleaner specs and low latency. The lower-end, bus-powered models are already out, but the top three models - 6i6, 18i8, 18i20 - aren't due for a few weeks yet. (A few stores did get a couple of units early, so it *may* be possible to get one before the mass release).
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
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wst3
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/16 10:21:38
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☄ Helpfulby zabs291 2016/06/26 16:10:26
Depending on your budget, and your I/O requirements I can't recommend the Apollo Twin USB highly enough! In no particular order: - It has been rock solid for me using ASIO and WDM driver models.
- It sounds great going in and out. And yes, I can hear a difference between different sample rates, I did not expect that! I still work mostly at 44.1k because the difference is small, but it is there, and I think I will be migrating to 96k as I wrap up old projects. Disk space is not so expensive anymore, and my computer does not complain.
- I love the Unison models for preamplifiers and guitar amplifier sims.
I probably would not buy it just for Unison, but since it sounds great and it works that is a pretty nice bonus! Only one minor quibble - you have to monitor the input side directly, which means near zero latency, which I'm not complaining about, but when I am not using plug-ins on the Apollo Twin I have to get clever to avoid hearing my input twice. It would be nice if they added a feature to disable input monitoring in the Apollo. My other gripe is that 2 in is limiting, I really didn't think it would be, but it is. My choices are limited, I can get an ADAT-S/Mux box to add 4 more inputs, or I can wait till they extend their aggregation to include USB and buy an Apollo rack mount interface. I prefer the later, but they don't seem to be in a hurry to do this. Definitely look at the Apollo Twin USB. Billy Buck posts here sometimes and I know he is using one too. There are certainly others as well.
-- Bill Audio Enterprise KB3KJF
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TerraSin
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/16 12:09:10
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☄ Helpfulby zabs291 2016/06/26 16:10:30
I've got the new Apollo Twin Duo USB and it works fantastically. Very stable and works very well.
As wst3 said, 2 inputs is limiting but if you're working mainly with plugins, you'll be fine.
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zabs291
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/16 12:34:53
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Thank you guys for the recommendations and information... this is kind of a big purchase, and it is really nice to get some trusted advice from respected folks who are on the same platform. I think I'm leaning toward the Apollo, and looking forward to getting my hands on some of their plugins too...
Thanks again to all for the advice -
Mike
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MacFurse
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 06:42:55
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zabs291
Thanks again to all for the advice -
Mike
Mike, just keep in mind the following, in case you have any further problems. Win10, GeForce and USB. Your system specs are very similar to my own. I gave up trying to get my Nvidia drivers to work with WIN10, SONAR, and USB devices, 2.0 or 3.0, now use onboard graphics only, and everything has been sweet since. The amount of people who have had similar problems to you, including your present interface, are enough for me to declare it's mostly a graphic's issue that relates directly to GT cards. It seems to come down to having exactly the right drivers, not necessarily the current ones, to get things harmonious, and it seems to change between what MB/CPU people have got. I only know I spent way too much time and paid way to much attention to issues on many forums, all coming down to one common thing, GT cards and the drivers. I would suggest, unless you use your PC for other things, that you give serious consideration to removing and disabling all things GeForce, and see if your current interface begins to behave itself, if your happy with it otherwise. You certainly don't need dedicated graphics for SONAR with your current CPU as long as your MB supports your required monitor support. Most these days support 2 or 3. I can highly recommend the Scarlett series too, and will be upgrading to the 2nd gen when it hits the shops. My next choice would be the Apollo. I've since built a dedicated graphics/video editing PC with my GT card, which works brilliantly on it's own and with WIN10. Just wouldn't play with my interface or SONAR. Best of luck to you. Dave
Platinum. i7 4771 3.5ghz. ECU H87 mobo with 3 monitor support. 16gb Ripjaws 1600mhz. Focusrite 18i20. 2 x 250gb Samsung EVO SSD's OP/Programs. 2x1TB Seagate Baracuda sata3 data drives. 200gb sata2 bootable drive for online and downloading only. Seagate 2tb USB 3.0 backup drive. 2x27in monitors. Rode K2 valve mic. Sontronics STC-1 pair. Studio Projects B1 condenser. SM58B. SM57B. Presonus Eureka Preamp.
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Billy Buck
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 07:53:57
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☄ Helpfulby zabs291 2016/06/26 16:09:57
I've been successfully using the new Apollo Twin USB for the past 3-4 months without any issues using similar specs (i7 4770K, Win 10 x64, SONAR Platinum x64). Recently added a Satellite OCTO USB and simply connected it to the same onboard USB 3.0 port pair as the Twin USB. It was quite seamless really.
Cheers and good luck in your journey,
Billy Buck
Win 10 Pro x64 | i7 4770k | ASUS Z87 Deluxe/Quad w/ TB 2.0 | 16GB Corsair RAM | Apollo Twin Duo USB | UAD Satellite Octo USB | UAD-2 Quad + UAD-2 Solo PCIe | SONAR Platinum x64 ∞ | REAPER 5 x64| TranzPort
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fret_man
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 08:16:37
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RME is notorious for rock solid drivers and excellent pre's. Their UFX+ has USB 3.0.
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Jim Roseberry
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 11:00:36
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fret_man
RME is notorious for rock solid drivers and excellent pre's. Their UFX+ has USB 3.0.
The UFX+ is not yet available... at least not in the US. I have no doubt it'll be a fantastic audio interface... just like the current UFX.
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TheMaartian
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 12:12:37
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MacFurse
zabs291
Thanks again to all for the advice -
Mike
Mike, just keep in mind the following, in case you have any further problems.
Win10, GeForce and USB.
Your system specs are very similar to my own. I gave up trying to get my Nvidia drivers to work with WIN10, SONAR, and USB devices, 2.0 or 3.0, now use onboard graphics only, and everything has been sweet since. The amount of people who have had similar problems to you, including your present interface, are enough for me to declare it's mostly a graphic's issue that relates directly to GT cards. It seems to come down to having exactly the right drivers, not necessarily the current ones, to get things harmonious, and it seems to change between what MB/CPU people have got. I only know I spent way too much time and paid way to much attention to issues on many forums, all coming down to one common thing, GT cards and the drivers.
I would suggest, unless you use your PC for other things, that you give serious consideration to removing and disabling all things GeForce, and see if your current interface begins to behave itself, if your happy with it otherwise. You certainly don't need dedicated graphics for SONAR with your current CPU as long as your MB supports your required monitor support. Most these days support 2 or 3.
I can highly recommend the Scarlett series too, and will be upgrading to the 2nd gen when it hits the shops. My next choice would be the Apollo.
I've since built a dedicated graphics/video editing PC with my GT card, which works brilliantly on it's own and with WIN10. Just wouldn't play with my interface or SONAR. Best of luck to you. Dave
I replaced my original AMD Radeon graphics card with a 4GB Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti when I upgraded to Win10, and have had ZERO problems since. Sorry for yours. That said, have you installed ONLY the driver and PhysX? That's all you need, and that's all you should install in a DAW. Everything else is for gaming and will mess you up. nVidia updates the driver regularly, most recently on 7 June (389.39). Solid for me.
Intel i7 3.4GHz, 16 GB RAM, 2 TB HD Win10 Home 64-bit Tascam US-16x08 Studio One 4 Pro Notion 6 Melodyne 4 Studio Acoustica 7 Guitar Pro 7 PreSonus FaderPort Nektar P6 M-Audio BX8 D2 Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro NI K9U XLN AK, AD2 AAS VS-2, GS-2, VA-2, EP-4, CP-2, OD Toontrack SD3, EZK
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Jim Roseberry
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 13:07:47
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I'll echo TM's experience.
I've been running a GTX-960 with Win10 (using a MOTU Ultralite AVB and Fireface UFX - both USB-2 devices) for months without problems.
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Ruckman65
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 18:45:29
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For a cheapish option, I would throw the NI Komplete 6 audio interface into the mix. It has worked flawlessly for me and the sound quality is extremely good. No problems with the drivers and latency on my system is a quite acceptable 8ms.
Win10 64bit Sonar Platinum ASUS SSD 128gb i7 Intel 2.8mhz Toshiba Portable HD 2 gb x 3 16gb memory Nvidia 960M Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk II Komplete Kontrol S49 Focusrite Sapphire 6i6
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zabs291
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/25 21:18:15
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Well, I went ahead and got the Apollo USB... unboxed and had it all set up in one evening without any problems at all... I did all the recommended tweaks without any issues. I really does sound fantastic, and feels nice in the hands as well.
I'm primarily running Ivory II grand piano and East West's RA, and the difference in quality at 192k is noticeable. I haven't really put it through its paces yet, but it seems like the Apollo hasn't broken a sweat so far...
As far as latency, at 192k, ASIO is reporting 9.2ms round trip (haven't done any testing at 44.1)... As a piano player, I can't discern any delay at all. I'm going to stay at 192k as long as it'll keep up. It really is a lovely sound (although I do have to get around to putting up my bass traps).
As far as Nvidia drivers go, I haven't had any problems with it so far. It's possible that the drivers were my issue with my previous interface (Tascam US-1800), but since the US-1800 was no longer being supported, I decided to bag it and never really found a root cause.
I did find that Nvidia had installed some sort of HD Audio component, but I properly disabled it and, so far, it hasn't reared its ugly head... Since I'm determined to stay fanless, my choices were limited anyway... thankfully for me, it seems to have worked out fine.
All in all, I'm very happy with my decision on the Apollo... thank you guys again for the recommendations...
Mike
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TerraSin
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/26 11:31:17
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Do yourself a favour: use the discount you get on plugins. I'm kicking myself in the ass for not using mine. :(
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TheMaartian
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/26 12:07:03
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zabs291
...
I did find that Nvidia had installed some sort of HD Audio component, but I properly disabled it and, so far, it hasn't reared its ugly head... Since I'm determined to stay fanless, my choices were limited anyway... thankfully for me, it seems to have worked out fine.
...
Happens every time the driver updates. You did the best thing (disable vs. uninstall). Still, best to check the status and make sure an update didn't reenable. Glad things worked out for you.
Intel i7 3.4GHz, 16 GB RAM, 2 TB HD Win10 Home 64-bit Tascam US-16x08 Studio One 4 Pro Notion 6 Melodyne 4 Studio Acoustica 7 Guitar Pro 7 PreSonus FaderPort Nektar P6 M-Audio BX8 D2 Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro NI K9U XLN AK, AD2 AAS VS-2, GS-2, VA-2, EP-4, CP-2, OD Toontrack SD3, EZK
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highlandermak
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/28 13:31:23
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Good afternoon,
I recently got back into recording this spring after a 10 year hiatus. I have a Delta 1010 which was working fine with the newer version of Sonar. However I wanted to upgrade my 5 year old PC. Unfortunately I discovered even after doing some research the new PC did not have a PCI interface even though the specs showed it did. The computer was a steal of a deal and my choices were to either return it and spend more and get less or to upgrade my audio interface. I decided it was a sign and started researching what was new. I came across a presonus 192 which looked promising and was usb 3.0. I've been using it for the past 2 months and so far have been very happy with it. The only downside I have noticed is periodically I have to reboot or reset the device which for the sound quality and features it has is nothing to complain about.
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Ibanez Laney
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Re: Audio Interface Recommendations
2016/06/29 02:14:47
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MacFurse
zabs291
Thanks again to all for the advice -
Mike
Mike, just keep in mind the following, in case you have any further problems.
Win10, GeForce and USB.
Your system specs are very similar to my own. I gave up trying to get my Nvidia drivers to work with WIN10, SONAR, and USB devices, 2.0 or 3.0, now use onboard graphics only, and everything has been sweet since. The amount of people who have had similar problems to you, including your present interface, are enough for me to declare it's mostly a graphic's issue that relates directly to GT cards. It seems to come down to having exactly the right drivers, not necessarily the current ones, to get things harmonious, and it seems to change between what MB/CPU people have got. I only know I spent way too much time and paid way to much attention to issues on many forums, all coming down to one common thing, GT cards and the drivers.
I would suggest, unless you use your PC for other things, that you give serious consideration to removing and disabling all things GeForce, and see if your current interface begins to behave itself, if your happy with it otherwise. You certainly don't need dedicated graphics for SONAR with your current CPU as long as your MB supports your required monitor support. Most these days support 2 or 3.
I can highly recommend the Scarlett series too, and will be upgrading to the 2nd gen when it hits the shops. My next choice would be the Apollo.
I've since built a dedicated graphics/video editing PC with my GT card, which works brilliantly on it's own and with WIN10. Just wouldn't play with my interface or SONAR. Best of luck to you. Dave
I've used GeForce cards for years with no problem over several operating systems. 9800GT, SLI560s and 970s. I would suspect the Motherboard is the problem and not the Graphics cards.
i7 2600k, 1 x Nvidia 970 + 1 x 560ti, 16GB RAM, 5TB of Spinning Thingys, Focusrite Liquid Sapphire 56 + lots and lots of cables. Sooo many cables.. I think they are breeding.
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