I’ve been in the mixer vs. interface vs. combo device conundrum for a while now. There are one (maybe two) devices that come up as the solution. The one interface that checks all the boxes (at a price) is the MOTU Ultralite mk4. The other one, that is a little weirder, but would work for my purposes is the Keith McMillen K-Mix. Though, at this stage, I still haven’t been able to pull the trigger. I’m waiting for the 3rd gen. Scarlett interfaces from Focusrite. The 8i6 might be the one I’m looking for.
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I’m in a toss up now between a focusrite scarlett 18i20 gen 2 / 3, motu ultralite mk3 / 4, or the Roland Octacapture. Seems like all of these will work in stand alone mode as a mixer for jamming (not recording) and the Motu seems to have the most on board fx out of the line up. I may end up going with a Motu. I’m worried that the Roland may not be supported much anymore, as it is a 6 year old device I believe. I’ll pass on the KMix, seems like a strange affair.
They’re very different, driver and software mixer wise, also converter wise.
The MK4 has sounded every bit as good as my old Apogee Duet 2 thanks to the Sabre32 DAC, and 3.99ms round trip latency at 64 samples, 44.1khz has been rock solid on my 2012 iMac i5
I have zero complaints with my UL MK4.
Since adding an old Traveler MK1 as an (inexpensive) ADAT appendage, it’s given me a similar workflow as my old Qu-Pac setup (lots of inputs with digital EQs and dynamics) but with the added benefit of using DAW plug-ins thanks to the very low latency driver.
I get a nice full realtime sound that sounds great during the creation phase of production, and this pushes me to finish arrangements.
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FYI you should also keep in mind that as a mixer, the Roland isn’t the most tactile device; things like changing levels for the various channels requires a bit of menu maneuvering. It’s functional, but you might find you need/want more controls/knobs/faders.
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Yeah, the lack of knobs is slightly concerning. However, I can typically adjust the volume levels at the source. Also, if I purchase the Roland, I can just use the Auto-Sens feature to adjust the input level I believe. I dont typically adjust the levels on my mixer too often.
while troubleshooting some annoying line noise this morning, i found this thread looking for recommendations. my current setup is pretty simple with beginner equipment for recording purposes. a presonus audiobox 96 gives me midi in/out, usb to laptop for recording, outputs to small powered monitors, and 2 line inputs. right now, i have all boxes plugged into a behringer xenyx 1202 mixer with output to the audio interface. it’s fine for messing around, but there’s noise from the mixer (i think). the mixer has 4 line ins paired up as stereo, which has been nice. those are always connected with pairs going to digitakt, typhon, se-02 (sometimes), analog four, cycles (sometimes), mc-303 (occasionally). so it’s more like 1 or 2 stereo ins at a time, but it would be nice to have everything patched all the time.
i’m considering either a focusrite scarlett 18i8 (lower cost) or motu ultralite mk4 to replace the mixer in the signal path. i’d like to be able to have 3 or 4 boxes patched in with stereo inputs and not rely on having everything attached to a computer, so standalone operation. something like rme or more capable interfaces with adat expansion aren’t in my budget (what’s that?) right now.
with overbridge, that could save me some inputs by routing audio via usb, but i haven’t figured out whether ableton can handle audio from multiple input sources like that. so far, it seems like either it can’t, or i’m doing it wrong.
what would be the most cost effective way to get a decent quality recording setup like this in 2020? or am i looking at this all wrong and being a super noob?
I currently use Focusrite Scarlette latest rev 8i6. Not to bad and works great with Mac. My previous Audient developed issues with in 2 years.