jbow
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Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
I am pretty much down to these two. I am very interested in the OC because of the Auto-sens function. I am at hobby level in my recording and the idea of one less thing to worry about is very appealing. I understand that the BF has cleaner preamps and a slightly lower RTL, however I wonder if I record 24/96 or 24/48 won't the RTL be lower and IIRC the RTL at 44.1 is 4.9ms on the BF and 7.2 on the OC a difference iof 2.3ms but again at a higher rate will the RTL be better on either of them?
Plus, I am not sure I would hear anything wrong with either of them and I am thinking that if the RTL becomes a problem recording on or tow inputs at a time I can always freeze some tracks or plugins, right?? or couldn't I copy a few tracks onto a stereo track, freeze the originals, record, then delete the stereo track... if I am having problems?
So the price is not a concern. RTL is a concern though I am pretty much convinced that either interface will do the job. Most of what I do will be audio anyway. Difficulty of any kind is a big concern to me and is why the auto-sensing function seems so appealing to me. I think my computer is up to the task and if not I will be in touch with Studiocat.. I probably will be buying a dedicated desktop before the end of the year anyway and I have an Audiophile 24/96 that I have used in a desktop for years. I just want something in a Octa or BF sort of desktop configuration, plus I cannot use the 24/96 with my lappy.
So bottom line auto-sens or lower RTL? Good enough pres or excellent pres? I guess the BF has better converters too... so, how much trouble is it learning to set correct levels?
Please correct any faulty thinking or false assumptions I may have. I am planning to order today or tomorrow.. I am open to other suggestions too. The BF @ 700+ dollars is as high as I want to go but heck, I don't mind saving a few hundred but not if it is going to give me heartburn.
Thanks in advance.
Sonar Platinum Studiocat Pro 16G RAM (some bells and whistles) HP Pavilion dm4 1165-dx (i5)-8G RAM Octa-Capture KRK Rokit-8s MIDI keyboards... Control Pad mics. I HATE THIS CMPUTER KEYBARD!
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LANEY
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 15:14:25
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Octa-capture!! The auto sens is way cooler than I thought it would be and I love the interface! I thought I wouldn't use it at all and once I tried it and loved the sound I use it all the time. You will not be sorry.
i7/16GB ram Win 7 x64 SONAR Platinum Producer x64 VS-700 C&R Octa-Capture and VS-100 for live recording
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Beagle
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 15:23:18
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I'm intrigued by the auto sense, but I'm not sure I would want it.
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 15:25:57
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but again at a higher rate will the RTL be better on either of them? RTL drops as the sample-rate increases. Other than reducing the load on the system, Freezing tracks will have no affect on RTL. RTL is strickly determined by the audio interface. Working at higher sample-rates is one way to mitigate higher RTL (as long as the machine can keep up). Doubling the sample-rate (roughly) cuts RTL in half (it'll be slightly higher than half). If you need the additional preamps and like the auto-sense feature... then the OC is likely a better fit. Both are solid audio interfaces.
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Stone House Studios
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 15:30:20
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My advice (for what its worth) asks more questions than gives answers. Here's why:
Do you need all of the I/O that either offers? If not, don't pay for them. If you don't need 8 ins and 8 or more outs, get something less expensive that has what you need.
I almost bought the OC myself after my UA 101 blew an input, Edirol is good gear.
Brian
Core i7-6700@3.40Ghz Windows 10x64 16 GB RAM Sonar Platinum/Studio One PreSonus Studio 192
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jbow
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 16:19:29
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My advice (for what its worth) asks more questions than gives answers. Here's why: Do you need all of the I/O that either offers? If not, don't pay for them. If you don't need 8 ins and 8 or more outs, get something less expensive that has what you need. I almost bought the OC myself after my UA 101 blew an input, Edirol is good gear. Brian I dont need that many but I have heard things about some other interfaces not working as well with a laptop and that the newer Ultra is not as fast as the old ones... but I could be confused. I had come to the conclusion that the Octa and the Babyface were the two best choices for use with a laptop. I need to be edumacated more, that is why I am asking a little more before I spend money. I do like the idea of having at least three mic inputs but it isnt a must have. Thanks and tell me more. Julien
Sonar Platinum Studiocat Pro 16G RAM (some bells and whistles) HP Pavilion dm4 1165-dx (i5)-8G RAM Octa-Capture KRK Rokit-8s MIDI keyboards... Control Pad mics. I HATE THIS CMPUTER KEYBARD!
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Beagle
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 16:25:15
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if you don't need that many I/O and you like the other features/specs of the octacapture, why not look at the duocapture or quadcapture? they're basically the same interface with fewer I/O, and I would bet hard money that they run the same drivers.
the FTU's latest driver update did away with the lowest sample latency settings.
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jbow
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 16:32:49
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RTL drops as the sample-rate increases. Other than reducing the load on the system, Freezing tracks will have no affect on RTL. RTL is strickly determined by the audio interface. Working at higher sample-rates is one way to mitigate higher RTL (as long as the machine can keep up). Doubling the sample-rate (roughly) cuts RTL in half (it'll be slightly higher than half). If you need the additional preamps and like the auto-sense feature... then the OC is likely a better fit. Both are solid audio interfaces. Thanks Jim, I thought I had read that about the RTL . The auto-sens interests me but being a newbie (for all intents and purposes) I have the newbie tendency to want the Marshall stack of everything... the 4-wheel drive 12 cylinder version... I am sure I will be happy with either and shoot... I could always buy another interface down the road. I really appreciate the help and I hope to be talking to you later in the year about a desktop. I think I will jump on the Octa-Capture and use it until I either hit a bottleneck or think I need something else (GAS) but a new desktop will probably be next. I can use the Octa for some months then buy the Babyface and say, "Dang. Jim was right, this thing sounds great!". Right now I really have no point of reference so I am going to go with the one that I think will be easiest. Julien
Sonar Platinum Studiocat Pro 16G RAM (some bells and whistles) HP Pavilion dm4 1165-dx (i5)-8G RAM Octa-Capture KRK Rokit-8s MIDI keyboards... Control Pad mics. I HATE THIS CMPUTER KEYBARD!
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jbow
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 16:45:38
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if you don't need that many I/O and you like the other features/specs of the octacapture, why not look at the duocapture or quadcapture? they're basically the same interface with fewer I/O, and I would bet hard money that they run the same drivers. the FTU's latest driver update did away with the lowest sample latency settings. I think the Quad might be on par but I think the Duo is a bit of a lesser interface... I am not sure though. I thinkI will be happy with the Octa, I just wanted a little more input (bad pun) before I jump. Thanks! Julien BTW, when I married my wife they had a passel o beagles. They hunted deer and rabbits with them. We used to let them go out at her dad's house and they would run way back in the woods across the fields. Pretty soon you would hear it when they got on a rabbit... they sing like crazy. After a bit they would get louder and closer and pretty soon here would come the rabbit through the yard with the pack behind him. Great dogs!
Sonar Platinum Studiocat Pro 16G RAM (some bells and whistles) HP Pavilion dm4 1165-dx (i5)-8G RAM Octa-Capture KRK Rokit-8s MIDI keyboards... Control Pad mics. I HATE THIS CMPUTER KEYBARD!
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Beagle
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 17:18:30
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yep - my uncle who lived next door to us had a bunch of beagles when I was growing up and they did the same thing. we lived out in rural area and listening to them howl and bay at the rabbits was unmistakable.
but I have never owned a beagle. it's just my nickname...
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jbow
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 19:39:46
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but I have never owned a beagle. it's just my nickname... Well, life ain't over yet... go to the pound and get one! Julien
Sonar Platinum Studiocat Pro 16G RAM (some bells and whistles) HP Pavilion dm4 1165-dx (i5)-8G RAM Octa-Capture KRK Rokit-8s MIDI keyboards... Control Pad mics. I HATE THIS CMPUTER KEYBARD!
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Beagle
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 20:01:22
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jbow
but I have never owned a beagle. it's just my nickname...
Well, life ain't over yet... go to the pound and get one!
Julien
oh, no! they're loud!! and I already have 2 dogs and my wife says after these are gone we're not getting more!
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jbow
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 20:10:13
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my wife says after these are gone we're not getting more! My wife says the same thing, laff. (the cat too) Julien
Sonar Platinum Studiocat Pro 16G RAM (some bells and whistles) HP Pavilion dm4 1165-dx (i5)-8G RAM Octa-Capture KRK Rokit-8s MIDI keyboards... Control Pad mics. I HATE THIS CMPUTER KEYBARD!
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Stone House Studios
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2011/05/13 23:32:42
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listening to them howl and bay at the rabbits was unmistakable And probably unsleepable (as we have been with a couple of black labs lately!) Brian
Core i7-6700@3.40Ghz Windows 10x64 16 GB RAM Sonar Platinum/Studio One PreSonus Studio 192
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odmsteel
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/24 17:53:26
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As a user of the Octa Capture since it came out, I am about to let it go..... I do love the Auto Sens feature and thats one of the only reasons I have kept it around for so long.
Now that I want to start using outboard gear I am so limited with the Octa Capture. 1 thing that I think is terrible is there is noway to bypass the mic pre's. I recently purchased a Tc Helicon Voicelive Rack and no matter what I do the signal is to hot! If I turn down the mic pre's on the Octa Capture you no longer hear the effect. I might take some heat for this but I am switching to a Presonus 16.0.2. which has 4 Aux inputs for some rack gear. I will also use the board live as well so it serves two purposes.
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stratman70
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/24 19:07:31
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I love my octa capture-works great with my new asus laptop.
As far as bypassing preamps-I need to look at that, but I can say that recording direct (AxeFXII) using my Echo Layla3G and then doing the same, same settings, the octacaprure recording IMHO is better (crisper, more natural) sounding-Just sounds better, but I do use the 1st 2 inputs that are designated Hi impedance. I really bought it for the outputs because I only need inputs for my guitar(s) and my vocal.
I will try recording on one of the other inputs and see how they compare.
That would be a drag I imagine for most, but for me it works.
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digi2ns
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/24 20:31:43
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What if you ran things through a decent mixer and then into to Octa? Would that take care of the hotness?
MIKE --Dell Studio XPS I7/870 2.93 Ghz, 8GB Mem, 2-2TB Barracuda HDs, 500 GB Ext.HDD, Win7/64 --X1 64 Pro Expanded, Dual 21" Monitors --PCR500 --MAUDIO FastTrack Ultra --Mackie 1604 VLZ PRO --Line6 X3 Live --Gibson, Fender, Takamine, Schecter, Washburn http://pogopoppa.wix.com/5thgear# http://soundcloud.com/digi2ns
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bobguitkillerleft
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 06:57:44
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While I think the Octo looks very cool with all the XLR's,I'd definitely like to to see a Round Trip Latency comparo,as I'm sure that ANYTHING RME makes is going to be hard to beat for that.
I'm on my 3rd USB interface in a year or so,and was all set to babyface it,but dentist bills etc and I ended up with the N.I. KA6 which is excellent for the price.
https://soundcloud.com/rks26https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitmen Lenovo W540 Factoryrefurb SONAR PLATINUM,Ozone 7 N.I. KA6 Komplete 9 SSD4 Platinum Epi L/H LP Custom Headstock broken twice and fixed.Gibson L/H Les Paul 2010 Wine Red Studio stupid Right Hand Vol.Tone for Left Hand?LH84Ibanez RS135 gen.FloydRose JB Marshall 100w 2203 4x25w Celestion Green backs "You are what you is"-Frank Zappa "But I'm gonna wave my freak flag high"-Jimi Hendrix
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Loptec
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 08:00:02
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I can't say anything about Octa-Capture, however:
I can really really recommend babyface! ..Or rather.. I really recommend RME as a company!
Last week I had to replace my old RME HDSP9652 (PCI) that I bought in 2004.
The reason for this was NOT that it's not supported anymore.. They still update the drivers for it!! (!)
The reason why I had to update was that I also bought a new motherboard and I couldn't find a motherboard I wanted that also had a PCI-slot.. And since I loved the stability and reliability of my old 9652-card so much I replace it with the RME HDSPe RayDAT (which basicly is an updated PCIe version of the 9652)
When investing in an RME prduct you can be sure you'll be well taken care of as a customer! They won't forget you after their next audio-device release (as many other big companies seem to do)
SAMUEL LIDSTRÖM
 DAW: Sonar Platinum (64bit) with Melodyne Studio - Controllers: Roland VS-700C, Cakewalk A-500 Pro, Yamaha P90Desktop Audio Interface: RME HDSPe RayDAT - Laptop Audio Interface: RME Babyface Pro
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gswitz
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 09:02:39
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I have an RME and I like it. Be careful of auto-setting the gain. My RME has 4 channels that have AutoSet feature. This works well if you keep your eye on it, but you wouldn't want the opening of a beer can to cause the gain to drop. Or turning off a wireless microphone (and subsequent white noise) to push the level down. So I find autoset is useful for the few minutes when you would normally be setting the level and then you might want to turn it off. It could save you if it were on and the musician changed how he was using the mic. Suddenly moved a vocal mic in front of a guitar amp. Be careful though. This can hurt as much as it helps if there is a noise spike that is not related to the music you want to capture. I can record a whole bunch of tracks now. If I wire up everything I can record 18 tracks concurrently. I find there are times that I want to do a whole bunch. It isn't often, but it's nice to have extra inputs when you want them. That said, I rarely use more than 6 inputs. [link=http://www.juno.co.uk/products/rme-fireface-ucx-audio-midi-interface/445883-01/]http://www.juno.co.uk/pro...i-interface/445883-01/[/link] I bought my UCX from a local store, but they matched this price which made it affordable. The UCX has onboard compressors and reverbs that are helpful.
StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen. I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
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gswitz
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 09:13:41
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StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen. I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
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rheil
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 10:34:45
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digi2ns
What if you ran things through a decent mixer and then into to Octa? Would that take care of the hotness?
That was going to be my next step. Im sure it would help. I have a buddy who keeps insisting to dump the Octa Capture and go with the vintage but reliable Delta 1010LT through a mixer with good preamps. Ive been tossing around the idea but cant see myself going backwards in technology?
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bz2838
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 10:40:18
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Purrrfect Audio: Intel i7 7700k (Kabylake), 32Gig DDR4/2133, Windows 10x64 Pro, USB RME Babyface, Sonar Platinum Current
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musicroom
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 11:22:37
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rheil
digi2ns
What if you ran things through a decent mixer and then into to Octa? Would that take care of the hotness?
That was going to be my next step. Im sure it would help. I have a buddy who keeps insisting to dump the Octa Capture and go with the vintage but reliable Delta 1010LT through a mixer with good preamps. Ive been tossing around the idea but cant see myself going backwards in technology?
From the research I've seen, the 1010LT is a solid card, but for the money difference on the used market, I would suggest going with the 1010 not LT. The noise floor and chipsets for the 1010 have better specs than the LT. I use the 1010 and it is still a very good interface.
Dave Songs___________________________________ Desktop: Platinum / RME Multiface II / Purrfect Audio DAW I7-3770 / 16 GB RAM / Win 10 Pro / Remote Laptop i7 6500U / 12GB RAM / RME Babyface
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Sacalait
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 11:36:42
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I don't own an Octa-Capture but I do own a VS700R. The software has a 20dB pad. I'm running a Presonus MP20 (external mic pre) into the VS preamps with no issues- especially no issues in quality. I'd be suprised to know the same doesn't exist in the Octa-Capture. But maybe the auto-sensing took the place of the pad? If the mic pres are close to the VS700R (says they're based in that technology), then it's a great interface for the dough. I use a pair of A-Designs Pacifica mic pres- running through a MyTek A/D converter into the AES of the VS. I wouldn't exactly say the VS preamps are 'as good' but I'd say they hang in there as 'professional quality' mic pres and I've used them a bunch in mission critical situations.
www.pershingwells.com www.facebook.com/pershingwells Sonar Platinum, PC- Intel i7-4770K w/16 Gig RAM Windows 8.1, Solid State Drive and eSATA drives, Mytek, RME UFX, RME Multiface II, Roland VS700, A-Designs Pacifica, UA LA610, Presonus RC500. A-Designs Hammer EQ, DBX, AKG, Neumann, Roland, JBL, Fender, Gibson, G&L, Marshall, Korg, Martin, Shure, Electrovoice, Yamaha, Chameleon Labs comps.
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Christopher D
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 12:00:41
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odmsteel
As a user of the Octa Capture since it came out, I am about to let it go..... I do love the Auto Sens feature and thats one of the only reasons I have kept it around for so long.
Now that I want to start using outboard gear I am so limited with the Octa Capture. 1 thing that I think is terrible is there is noway to bypass the mic pre's. I recently purchased a Tc Helicon Voicelive Rack and no matter what I do the signal is to hot! If I turn down the mic pre's on the Octa Capture you no longer hear the effect. I might take some heat for this but I am switching to a Presonus 16.0.2. which has 4 Aux inputs for some rack gear. I will also use the board live as well so it serves two purposes.
I haven’t tried this with my Quad Capture yet, but why can’t you just run your outboard gear via SPDIF into the Capture and out of the Capture into your DAW? This way you’d be bypassing the Captures’ pres altogether.
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Final decision time for interface... Octa-Capture of Babyface
2013/01/25 12:05:43
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1 thing that I think is terrible is there is noway to bypass the mic pre's. FWIW, Very few audio interfaces allow you to actually bypass the onboard preamp circuit. The MOTU 896HD does offer this feature (but it's been removed on the newer 896mkIII).
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