Hey there
I am looking for audio interface to replace my Presonus StudioLive 24 that does not work any more because of drivers issue. I need many analog Inputs for my hardware synths. I am looking at MOTU and Universal Audio, but they don't offer high input count. I am considering another Presonus, but I don't want to give them my business because they did not update their driver to support my 3 years old board that I paid a lot of money for- I feel as I would get the same thing but will be forced to spend another almost $3000 just to make something I already have work again. Presonus has this new Cat5 Ethernet based 32 ins mixer for about 3k. The mixer I have now is FireWire, and I get some audio dropouts on my old computer. It does not work with my new computer so I don't want to buy another FireWire interface. What is your experience with Universal Audio and MOTU? Any recommendations? Thank you.

Should check this thread IMO
http://forum.cakewalk.com...lk-to-me-m3579834.aspx

Not a make you mention, but RME are worth looking at. A combination of a UFX model USB/Thunderbolt interface and two 8 channel ADAT units (e.g. the Focusrite Octopre or RME's equivalent) gives 28 analogue inputs, 20 of them with mic pres in three rack spaces and can be controlled by RME's Totalmix software mixer. RME also have a good reputation for maintaining support for products over time.

You want the mixer too?  Look at the Behringer x32 or the ufx 1604

Hi,

No experience with Motu or UA interfaces.
 
I have been using a Focusrite Liquid 56 with both Sonar and Presonus Studio One and it is rock solid. The the Liquid 56 has 26 inputs available, but 16 are via ADAT I/O so not sure if that will help your input needs with the synths.

I recently purchased the StudioLive 32 board you mentioned and I am impressed with it. I mainly use Studio One and once they get the DAW functionality incorporated later this year it should be a great mixer/controller for Studio One as well as an audio interface for tracking.
 
Note - you will not be able to cascade the new boards as you can the older StudioLive boards (and it is a different design, so it is not compatible with the older StudioLive boards). Also, the new board will only support 44.1kHz and 48kHz sample rates. My understanding is that the new board will eventually support Mackie protocol, but not until after they get the Studio One support incorporated.

Friendly suggestion would be to contact Presonus Tech Support for your older Studio Live, they are really good people and they can sort out the driver issues better than you pulling out your hair. Also, if it comes to it, replacing an older PC with a newer one, may be both cheaper than a new board, and may make your setup work smoother - just saying.

Good luck and take care,

h

I love my Roland Studio Capture. 12 combo xlr in, an  additional 4 1/4" in, 1 rca digital in and out, 8 1/4" outputs.  Midi 5 pin in and out.  Ability to daisy chain 2 together.  $800.00 street.  Win 10 plug and play.  No nonsense install with great quality mic preamps and nice ui.  I recently upgraded from an old EMU 1820 which was quite a workhorse.  Roland Studio Capture still blows me away.  I'm a garage band guitar and bass player not heavy on synths but I'm sold on the Studio Capture.  Hope its of some benefit. 
 
 

Thank you for all replies. This is new computer and my Presonus Studiolive 24 does not work with it because they did not sign drivers with Windows 10, they may do it one day but nobody knows when or IF they will. Their support is not very helpful. After 3 e-mails they told me, sorry, they can not help me. I called few times, they told me- there is no need to call any more- they will not help. Check back for the driver update that may or may not happen one day.
 
I still strongly considering new Presonus 32 channels board, but the weird thing is they have 16 combo  1/4" and XLR channels, but 16 only XLR, and I don't know if it would accept line input if it unbalanced. And what is with 44.1kHz and 48kHz sample rates? I kind of felt like getting some Class A gear, but not at Protools HD price. Actually Universal Audio is very expansive. I hope their interfaces better than their headphones.
 
I am not Behringer type of person, not that I don't trust it- just not inspiring for me.
 
Just xcalled Asus for my Motherboard and they told me they don't have driver for Thunderbolt card. So I guess if I want Thunderbolt, I would have to wait for their drivers. And while waiting for Thunderbolt, I may as well wait for Presonus. Just saying. This is frustrating.
 
 

Before I bought the Studio Capture, I was concerned that a new usb3 compatible interface was coming to market and sure enough, the tascam line has one and so do others that I can't remember. Not Roland.  No 3.0, 3.1 or any discussion of an upgrade.
 
I was checking out what usb 3.0 and 3.1 was really about awhile back and thunderbolt was part of the discussion.  As far as I can tell, USB 3.0 means you don't have to worry about which way you plug in the cable right side up or upside down, it doesn't matter, but no improvement in transfer rate.  USB 3.1 however means a truly improved transfer rate akin to thunderbolt.  Apparently, there is some connection between the 2.  Just wondering if drivers that are usb 3.1 compatible might just be thunderbolt drivers in disguise.  I'm not a programmer in the least but I distinctly remember reading about the usb 3.1 and thunderbolt connection. 
 
All that being said, the transfer rate has not been an issue with Roland's older 2.0 usb connection.  The drivers from Roland for win 10 are spot on from what I can tell.  Roland Studio Capture and Sonar splat running on a win 10 laptop are getting along fine.  I'm not pushing my system at all playing guitar and bass though TH3 Overloud and some effects.  But I am running an entire 5 piece band into the studio capture with all 12 xlrs being used and 2 of the 1/4" inputs used for the keyboards and no dropout problems.  Heavy hardware synth projects you are running may have all kinds of issues of which I am unaware.
 
So maybe there are thunderbolt drivers coming that would work as there is a push in the consumer market for USB 3.1.  Just something to investigate before you drop  serious cash. 

I have heaps of Waves plugins so I went from RME to Digigrid. All audio is passed via a standard network cable.
 
http://www.waves.com/hard...fault-order~number~asc|views:view=list-view|paging:currentPage=0|paging:number=20
 
I was so impressed with this system that I sold my RME.
 
 

vladasyn
 
I am not Behringer type of person, not that I don't trust it- just not inspiring for me.
 

I understand your hesitance with the Behringer brand name. FWIW I had a Presonus Studio Live and purchased an x32 Producer as a second desk. A week later I sold the Presonus and bought a second X32 (Rack version). Pretty hard to beat both sound and feature wise in the entry level digital desk price range.
 
That said, I use an RME Fireface FX for studio use that leaves both the Presonus and Behringer for dead in recording quality and driver latency. Not as well suited for live sound though as it's FX are underwhelming to say the least.