So with Rytm it is certain that the sound quality is much better if you go out of the individual outputs instead of via OB.
Is it the same with heat, does anyone know?
Wonder if you could point us towards some more background on this? Iāve seen quite a lot of complaints about OB performance but canāt say Iād seen the same about sound quality, at least to the degree youāre saying here. Perhaps Iāve been living under a rockā¦
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Some people swear by the ADDA converters and think they sound better.
IMO I havenāt heard a difference on any of my OB devices. The biggest reason Iād use the physical outs would be to cut down on latency.
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That was my own experience when I simply used the individual outputs of the Rymt in my sound card, which was quite a joyful effect.
But it could also be because my sound card has preamps with individual volume controls. That alone is much better for me because the sound has real volume.
So I am convinced of this from my own experience and will never use OB with rytm again. whether is then very suitable for synchronizing and CC.
Thatās why Iām wondering if this is also the case with heat.
what audio interface do you have?
Iāve spent some time trying to figure out OB vs my motu ULmk5 mics/line ins but eventually I reached a point of āyyyeah thereās some difference but not worth the time digging into itā, I tried record same thing with each method and null test them, what I failed to do is to proper gain match, there were some slight differences but nothing I could really pin point to, so I gave up.
eventually dealing with physical outs and interface ins was a win of a workflow (canāt beat effortless direct monitoring) so I too use the physical outs, itās just easier for me, I donāt have the heat yet but if I did Iād definitely use the physical outs, also it has only two of them so itās not like youāre missing extra channels like on DN for exampleā¦
I have often heard the debate about ADDA converters on the internet. Well, here I think that some professional producers donāt do it for nothing, e.g. Buy a Lavry converter for about 10k.
But I really donāt want to open this barrel here.
Itās all about the audio-USB sound.
It also reassures me that those who have written so far donāt seem to notice any difference.
But really, people, if you put the individual outputs into a preamp with a volume control before going into the DAW, thatās really a game changer. With the Rytm, depending on the sound design, I often didnāt have enough volume via audio USB. With the preamp you can simply ramp it up as desired and get really good recordings. I canāt imagine it without it, with any synth.
But I think that the heat has more volume. hence the question.
Behringer UMC1820 with ADA8200 Ultragain 
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Just to give a perspective. That is after they spend 200k+ on a professionally treated room, top end monitors, top end outboard , top end mixing desk etc etc etc , and then, maybe then get that 1% extra difference by getting better converters, which you can only hear the difference between because youāve got a 200k professional studio ;). And still then the opinions are very divided on this topic.
My 2 cents. I agree that opening the barrel is not very useful but itās good to keep this kind of perspective in mind.
Regarding OB: less conversions means cleaner sound in theory. Any shaping of said sound after that can still be done. But yeah in general the difference is not worth the trouble. But what youāre doing with leveling etc with outboard is of course totally valid. If only from a workflow and lower-latency perspective at the very least 
Regarding low level through USB: use utility plugins on the channels in daw to boost the signal. Itās really that simple:)
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buy high end converter for I/O and workflow not for some apparent quality gain
the 10k lavry you mention has a soft clipper in it, pretty magical thing but yea itās a luxury
more headroom, professional metering, lots of I/O option, and a solid master word clock - there are several reasons you may or may not need one but reducing it to āitās just a 1% gainā i think is a bit silly 
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Those preamps can also introduce noise, which can be way worse than just upping the gain in your DAW. It is still āreal volumeā.
This is the answer.
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Afaik the biggest difference with the individual outs in the rytm is that youāre bypassing the stereo compressor and distortion in the signal path which have a big effect on the overall sound. The individual outs are more raw, unprocessed.
Iāve found the heat to be the same quality as an average to good sound interface. Not as good the RME babyface though for example.
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Utility in the DAW is of course also an option to produce the sound with more volume. I like the version with the individual outputs in a preamp much better
There is a PAD switch to combat the noise.
Then you should definitely use it like that
Gonna add another vote for the Rytmās OB outs being good enough that thereās little or no advantage to using my sound card - UAD Apollo. Yeah, the unison plugins can be nice, but thereās no obvious difference from tracking through OB and then just applying the plugin, or at least for me not enough of a difference that would warrant the hassle.
A big factor here is that the OB outs can tend to be seem quiet, which at least in my case I think was a big reason for leaning towards using the jack outs - I have both my Rytm and A4 hooked up to a patch bay because of this, but tbh I basically never use it like this these days.
The main reason I see for avoiding OB mode with the Analog Heat is the horrible latency, but normally I get around that by only bringing it out as required then deleting the plugin again - certainly sounds good to my ears.
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I would recommend that everyone try this out, using the outputs in a preamp that has a volume control instead of making the signal louder in the DAW.
PAD switch eliminates disturbing noises, if they are noticeable at all.
In addition, if desired, some amps can color the sound, which is also really nice. like back then with the old mackie mixers in 90. but also high-quality lunch boxes like neve. Itās best to use EQ and comp right away. awesome stuff.
But now it was all about the heat. And if it doesnāt have that much power with USB audio and then also has latency problems, then the question is unnecessary anyway.
Normalise both recordings (thru preamps and thru USB) at the same level (letās say -6db) and then make a proper comparison.
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Using the pad switch is pretty much a must in these situations as your feeding a line level signal into a mic preamp. So itās not specifically lowering the noise, it lowers the entire input signal before the preamp. Without pad you probably had to reduce an output level in the rytm to not make it distort heavily (unless the distortion / noiseyness is an effect one aims for)
Preamps can definitely color the sound in a nice way. So itās definitely a solid approach. A lot of techno has been / is made by running gear through mixer preamps and adding saturation that way.
Converters are a different story though. unless you have the perfect studio environment (and even if you do have that) the difference between converters will be barely noticeable if at all.
So you could record your rytm through overbridge. Then run the recorded signal out from your audio interface back into the preamps and record that to pretty much get the same coloring effect that you love. Not that this is a useful workflow in every situation but just as an example.
And like @LCVL says. Unless you make a blind A/B comparison between the two signals and make sure that they are 100% exactly the same level, a minimal difference in level can already seem like one sounds better than the other even if thereās no other difference at all
Darn, can of worms opened anyway but yeah , preamp coloring can certainly be nice!
Regarding heat: through usb is the cleanest way to record what comes out of it. It in itself is a coloring device so the question then becomes: do you like to add more/different coloring on top of that through pre-amps?
No right or wrong here really.
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An obvious thing here that I donāt think anyone has mentionedā¦ if you are recording the physical outputs of the Rytm (or Heat), by that very definition you are introducing another level of conversion when you record the signal via the interface you are using.
100% it will be different than recording into your DAW via OB.
Different doesnāt mean better, in this case it just means āless cleanāā¦ the OB signal is the SAME signal thatās hitting the Rytm/Heatās D/A output.
So, if you want the extra preamp A/D colouration, run your device into a mixer/preā¦ or send your OB file through a preamp sim in your DAWā¦ easy. The talk of āwhich is betterā is futile though IMO.
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and what about the latency with heat? Can you share your experience? Someone here said that this was bad.