Will this improve my recordings?!??

[Phantasmagoria]

Well I had some amazon pay balance in my account and did 'nt know what to do with it...

Then I came across this...

And thought, at the very least it offers something different/new ('smart gain'/weird interface/controls)....

It's plastic and looks kinda tacky compared to the other stuff that's out there.

But the truth is I have'nt ever been really happy with the sound I'm getting from my current interface (Behringer UMC202HD) ....seems to be a bit brash and recordings often turn out too thin/bright for my taste (I'm no guru when it comes to recording either..) so the smart gain feature might come in useful.

Anyway, picked one up and it's due mid next week..


Anyone else have one of these. If so any opinion's/experiences ?

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Demo from Darell Braun

Honestly this may be geared towards noobs but simplicity/minimum work and speed has always appealed to me when it comes to recording (and pretty much everything else :laugh2

This seems to tick all the boxes. And the recorded sound quality sounds pretty damn good to me :bigthumb:

 

[misterwhizzy]

Scarlett Focusrite 2i2. Dead simple, not too pricey, sounds great.

 

[Securb]

Scarlett Focusrite 2i2. Dead simple, not too pricey, sounds great.

An awesome suggestion I would also consider the PreSonus Audiobox, it comes with software.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I have a tendency to avoid popular choices..what can I say..

Anyone who actually has some experience w/ one of these?

 

[Securb]

I use the PreSonus Audiobox it ships with a lite version of Studio One. I have been using both for years with not problems what so ever.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

It was one of those I considered, but would,ve exceeded what I had in my pay balance by $50 or so (so would other considerations like the Audient Id4, Arturia minifuse, Motu M2 etc). I did'nt really want to exceed what was already there...

This already costs more than twice what my Behringer did, All the reviews are pretty sweet, onboard pre's are supposedly on the warmer side (opposed to my Behringer which tends to be bright. Nothing wrong with that, it's what I was looking for.. different flavors) Thanks to the 'smart input gain' feature it looks to be idiot proof D) Plastic does'nt bother me since it's only going to ever sit on my desk...so why not?

 

[Bogner]

I have no experience with it but with as good as things are now a days I am sure you will get your money's worth out of it.

 

[NegativeEase]

Demo from Darell Braun

Honestly this may be geared towards noobs but simplicity/minimum work and speed has always appealed to me when it comes to recording (and pretty much everything else :laugh2

This seems to tick all the boxes. And the recorded sound quality sounds pretty damn good to me :bigthumb:

No idea how good it is, but I dont really want to judge on it's pretty sparse industrial design, as the components and ability to process signal with quality may not relate to the packaging at all.

Also, most of this inexpensive Chinese stuff are direct copies of brand name stuff, often made in the same factories with same components/

So give it a whirl! and report back.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Well technically this interface is only Chinese the way an iPhone is Chinese...ie. China's the 'country of manufacture'...

Audient are a British company and are pretty well regarded for their manufacture of studio equipment (mixing consoloes, interfaces etc). They've been around for a couple of decdes at least...

This one does'nt seem to be a copy of anything out there (kinda what drew me to it...plus it's cheap ). And reviews praise it's sound quality over the Scarlett's all day long..so I do expect it to at least be decent :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Things took a bit of an unexpected turn of sorts. On an impulse I also picked up an Audient ID4 Mk II that was on sale and that arrived a couple of days before the Audient Evo 4 that I'd bought on Amazon. Despite both being made by Audient they're different models /specs/preamps etc.. so..

I hooked up up the ID 4 a couple of days ago but the Evo 4 just came in yesterday (hooked up it works and outputs sound to the monitors, but I have'nt plugged in to it yet).

While the two Audientunits seem to work fine (on their own) when both connected simultaneously to my comp, my old Behringer would'nt ( no output to monitors) if I connected the Audient ID4 as well (and vice versa). Probably driver issues?

Anyway..first try at recording with the Audient ID 4 Mk II:

It definitely sounds different from my Behringer... bit more dynamic (notes stand out/pop more) and clearer...also bigger/thicker mix to my ears which is what I was looking for from a new interface.. The difference is'nt night & day but it's there...

Next up I will test the Evo 4 and compare it to the ID 4 :bigthumb:

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

I would probably build a proper toilet first before spending money on recording equipment.

 

[Securb]

I would probably build a proper toilet first before spending money on recording equipment.

I am trying to figure out how this comment benefits anyone in the SDUGF. It is not helpful, funny, or even smart.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

not helpful, funny, or even smart.

Yeah ...just like Obsessive C. himself :lmao:



Test run with my 30 Fret RG....

Definitely sounds a hell of a lot better to my ears than my old Behringer interface....it's a lot clearer & punchier, there's more definition & separation but also just a more warm round musical sound overall. Pretty sure I did the right thing upgrading my interface instead of my toilet :bigthumb:

 

[Top-L]

Well I had some amazon pay balance in my account and did 'nt know what to do with it...

Then I came across this...

And thought, at the very least it offers something different/new ('smart gain'/weird interface/controls)....

It's plastic and looks kinda tacky compared to the other stuff that's out there.

But the truth is I have'nt ever been really happy with the sound I'm getting from my current interface (Behringer UMC202HD) ....seems to be a bit brash and recordings often turn out too thin/bright for my taste (I'm no guru when it comes to recording either..) so the smart gain feature might come in useful.

Anyway, picked one up and it's due mid next week..


Anyone else have one of these. If so any opinion's/experiences ?

I have a UMC204hd, its a fine recording interface with great low latency usb drivers, especially for the price. The mic pres are good, the conversion is good.

The problem is that it has a poor DI input. If you want the best quality recording direct, buy a high quality DI box.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I have a UMC204hd, its a fine recording interface with great low latency usb drivers, especially for the price. The mic pres are good, the conversion is good.

The problem is that it has a poor DI input. If you want the best quality recording direct, buy a high quality DI box.

I like my UMC 202 HD. For the price it's awesome,and I've certainly recorded alot of stuff I'm really happy about with it, but having said that this one just plain sounds better to my ears. Ideally I'd have liked to have them both hooked up ready to record with (different flavors) but I ran into driver compatabilty issues.which I will still still see if I can work out later.

I like to have as few things in the recording chain as possible so I can record pretty much instantly whenever the spirit grabs me...so my ideal interface is something that I can just plug straight into and have it sound "right' straight away rather than having to hook up other stuff like DI boxes and the ID4 does that. Still haveto check out the EVO 4 interface, butI'm hoping it's the same case with (it has the same JFET input so..)

 

[Top-L]

I like my UMC 202 HD. For the price it's awesome,and I've certainly recorded alot of stuff I'm really happy about with it, but having said that this one just plain sounds better to my ears. Ideally I'd have liked to have them both hooked up ready to record with (different flavors) but I ran into driver compatabilty issues.which I will still still see if I can work out later.

I like to have as few things in the recording chain as possible so I can record pretty much instantly whenever the spirit grabs me...so my ideal interface is something that I can just plug straight into and have it sound "right' straight away rather than having to hook up other stuff like DI boxes and the ID4 does that. Still haveto check out the EVO 4 interface, butI'm hoping it's the same case with (it has the same JFET input so..)

The UMC204 plays well with other things on my system. When I plug in my Zoom MFX for direct recording, it takes precedence. When I unplug it, the UMC takes over. You can't have two sound devices on windows. What you want is something that supports multi client audio, which means that multiple applications can use it simultaneously.

The UMC drivers were developed by TC electronics which is owned by Behringer.

My guess is that the primary reason you like the new device better is because it has a better DI input.

The only interface I've used which had stellar DI input was an RME UFX I used to own, but sold. That piece was overkill, essentially a rack mounted digital mixer/ live recording device. The pres were really good, but the thing I really miss is the DI. It was crazy to own a $2500 piece that I was only using for its DI. However I find that guitar MFX usually have a solid guitar DI. I will just use my Zoom as DI to my computer.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I was having intermittent driver issues with the UMC202HD as my soundcard ever since I bought it. There's something else on my comp that's alway's intefered with it.

Unexplainable sudden crashes, sound/monitors/recording cutting out when recording (the worst), noise/crackling..you name it (pretty sure I've posted video's up here of this happening before) . Now I'm not saying that was a fault of the UMC but it was'nt getting along with something else on there even though I deleted/removed anything else (driver's etc) that was sound/audio related on my computer.

It would work fine for long stretches (months) and there'd be a windows update or something and it would all start again (and then, one fine day things would mysteriously work again..).

That's another big reason why I wanted to get another interface. I'm no computer genius but I'd tried everything else..by the way this often affected ALL audio on my comp (Youtube, Prime, Netflix or w/e) not just recording /Reaper, though sometimes it was just Reaper.

Touch wood, I've faced none of that stuff in the few days since I uninstalled (and deleted the driver for) the UMC & switched to these two interface's (both use Audient driver's maybe even share the same one?).

I did get the two of them to simultaneously work (as in I could plug into one, output sound to the monitors, change my audio input/output preferences & then plug into the other and they'd both work fine) for a while, but I'm getting some hum/whine (ground loop) on the monitor's when I switch to the EVO 4 ..so I'll have to see if that's something I can work out and get to go away... or else I'll just have to unplug and switch between them if I want to use the other interface..

As far as the quality of recording goes, maybe it is the input that make the difference..I don't really know. I just know that there IS a difference although it's not night and day as I mentioned earlier. The Behringer is a cool interface and on a good day capable of making fantastic sounding recordings. The ID 4 however is noticeably more dynamic and clearer.Maybe cause it work's on USB 3 not 2 like the Behringer (...more power & headroom)

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Plugged into the Audient EVO 4 and recorded this clip using the "Smartgain" feature which works very well indeed. No need to mess around with setting gain levels...this does it for you perfectly every time :bigthumb:

This is using the same guitar and same amp "tone capture" settings /patch on my Mooer GE300 as the clip I'd posted earlier w/ the Audient ID4 (which I'm reposting below the EVO 4 clip for reference)..


Audient EVO 4

Audient ID4

I'd say there's a pretty obvious difference between the two.. Evo 4 sounds like a crisper version of my Behringer UMC (a tad crisper/brighter as opposed to the ID4's more "analog" sound..) so That's that. I'm glad there's a difference. Make's it worth switching between the two..

The Evo 4 was running off a USB 2.0 port instead of it's optimal USB 3.0 (which the ID 4 was plugged into) 'cuz I only have the one USB 3.0 port on my comp. I will test it later plugged into the USB 3.0..

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Oh, and I got them both to work perfectly without having to disconnect the other. (they do share the same driver). So all I need to do when switching from one to the other is change my "input/output" preferences for Reaper/Windows 10...