Do we have any new contenders for low latency USB (to be used with a PC laptop)?
My ideal was my RME Babyface Pro beyond the price. Native drivers were GREAT. I just didn’t need so many channels, it felt like a waste.
Picked up an open-box SSE2 recently because I’d hoped that it would be as quality an interface as the preamps, but it was glitchy and crackled even during audio from Chrome/Youtube. That may have been defective, but I returned it and I’m considering alternatives.
What is my best bet for Windows use and SOLID drivers (no ASIO4All!!!) without too many bells and whistles?
I have an Apogee Element already, I’m just looking to be able to work ITB with a decent D/A + headphone amp and low amounts of glitching in my DAW without paying $800 for redundant ports and a large footprint since this will be couch use only.
I’ve owned an Audient interface in the past, and the iD4 MKII USB-C sounds like it’s nearing what I’m looking for, but I’m irrationally discounting it for some reason.
Probably because I’m looking for an offering from one of the “established” brands, but I could definitely be convinced on the strength of their drivers, I suppose.
I’ve been looking at SERIES 208i | FEATURES | TASCAM - United States (haven’t actually used one).
They claim to have new drivers with very good Windows performance.
Specs are very good for the price, if so – lots of I/O options.
I had a smaller, older Tascam interface and on the whole it was fine but the drivers weren’t great. If they really have improved them a lot, it seems like great value.
I see some persons complaining about the drivers elsewhere for the 102i, now considering the MOTU M2.
After having some frustrations with the SSL 2 crackling with my slightly older (but not super old) laptop I’m a little shy on buying something and needing to return it (or doing another attempt at hyper-optimizing the OS and troubleshooting non-interactively with web support tickets.)
That, or save up for an overkill RME device with I/O I don’t explicitly need.
I know, but if i’m primarily working in Ableton on that computer and don’t explicitly need 8+ I/O i can’t justify ~800$ on top of the UCX II I have wired up to my console.
All I really care about is driver latency and compatibility, what have you heard on the Presonus models to that end?
…when i see polls of who’s the fastest in latency and there’s no mentioning of metric halo at all, well, then…
i had some early digidesign in use…back in the days when u needed to embed/connect ur converters like hardwired to ur motherboard…so latency was no real big deal…
rme was always fast but never stable solid…at least back then, in their early days no matter how neutral clean their converters tend to be…
if they all would run their business like metric halo, the world would be a better place already…
and i can totally agree on any antelope rant…they’re tryin hard to be uad but seem to fail forever…
if i had to buy another mobile audio interface these days…it would be motu or ssl…
I find him very entertaining for some reason. even if I only ever intend to own 1 audio interface at a time, his passion for testing every one reminds me of a guy who tries every bowling ball and never ends up finishing a game.
sometimes he’s so pleased with himself like when he thinks he said something clever about how old a dac chip is in a new audio interface, or like “I expect better performance in the 160 ohm headphone category 900mhz frequency range from an audio interface in this price range” and then he looks at the camera like he just farted
btw related to the thread, the Motu Ultralite mk5 is insanely low latency, on my mac studio I’ve never had any stutters on 64 samples so this is what I get in 48/96kHz sample rate:
