#41

Man now I am having doutbs about Motu…

#42

What about using a Zoom H6 as an audio interface? Has anyone tried that?

#43

Too many issues here…

#44

That’s super helpful!! Thanks for the insight!

#45

I have one [Soundcraft Signature MTK12], it could be great but it has two issues. There is a drop in return volume (-6 – -10db!) when using the USB inserts and channels record with some phase issues. You have to be extra mindful of phasing and adjust the recordings accordingly. The mixer has no phase options itself. I contacted support about it, they confirmed the decibel drop was a “bad design decision”, said they would look into the phase problem. Then they disappeared and never responded to my emails after that. Maybe there are new versions which fix this but i’d test for it either way. Otherwise it’s a great mixer for a really good price. Overdriving the inputs produces a distortion thats nice to my ears and it has plenty of headroom. I plug my modular directly into it.

Here’s the email exchange with support.

Hello. Few questions for you. Firstly, when I have an input on a channel it sounds nice and loud on my monitors which are connected to group 1 & 2 outs. When I engage the USB return the volume drops considerably, approximately 10db in the one basic test I did. The playback on channel 12 from a computer is also very quiet compared to other input channels. Is that normal? I can understand it not being precisely the same volume but the difference is very noticeable. Secondly, When i record directly via the usb, on say channel 1, I get a decent waveform as long as i have the gain fairly high. If I instead record from the master mix (13/14) the resultant waveform has a slight DC offset and the phase is inverted. In this test all channels except channel 1 were muted. See screenshot https://www.dropbox.com/s/iru6jj72ztfleqf/Screenshot%202017-07-11%2022.45.57.png%3Fdl%3D0 It’s happening for all channels i’m assuming. I tested channel 1, 4, and 9/10. All are phase inverted at the master mix. Is that normal? I’m guessing not. I don’t have any advanced routings or settings on. I’m using Reaper on a Macbook Pro Retina circa 2014 with MacOS 10.12.5. I’ve played out a couple of times with this mixer and had slightly noticed my sound was a little thinner and off compared to what I usually hear at home (I monitor with group 1 & 2). Phase issues make a lot of sense in hindsight. Please advise. Thanks!

The -10 dB return issue was a poor design decision by a previous team. J I think it’s actually more like -6 dB. It was thought it would help in the overall level settings but it did not work for all customers and will be addressed in the next revision of console…

This will be changed in future models but its standard for this unit. We are looking into the Phase reversal you have reported…Rick
Richard"Rick" Morris
Soundcraft Customer Service Technician

I see. So I just have to live with the drop in signal or is there another option?

Any report on the phase issue?

Thanks!

On Fri, Aug 4, 2017 at 15:05 Soundcraft support <Soundcraftsupport@harman.com> wrote:

Nothing yet on phase and Ill follow up but the levels are set and other than bringing them up in the daw I do not have a work around…Sorry

Richard"Rick" Morris
Soundcraft Customer Service Technician

Just checking in on this phase issue. Is an RmA in the picture? Or can your engineers suggest a DIY option to correct it?

Then :ghost:

#46

Is the drop in levels for the MK4 only or is it an issue on all versions?

#47

I was replying to an earlier thread about the Soundcraft mixer. I edited the post to make that clear.

1 Like
#48

What about Focusrite 18i8? It has a lot of inputs, has ADAT and it’s half the price of Motu Ultralite. They say the only con is that it has only a stereo out…but why would that be a problem?

#49

Just be aware that it only has ADAT input (no ADAT output).

I have the 1st gen version and I love it (although it crashes if I use it with a USB hub, have to connect it directly to the computer).

2nd gen version adds a bunch of nice routing/control features.

1 Like
#50

I connect my audio interface to my monitors via audiophones jack. What would be the outputs used for? Sorry about my ignorance…

I was also wondering what would be the best connection in fact…thunderbolt?

#51

Some folks use ADAT output for things like Expert Sleepers ES-3 to send audio and CV signals to a modular setup. Other folks use it for multi-channel output (surround sound or quadraphonic sound). etc

But yes, the 18i8 has 2 TS outs, 2 TRS outs (for a total of 4 channels) and an SPDIF out (bringing the total outs to 8) which is plenty assuming you don’t need an ES-3.

ES-8 can use USB, so no need for ADAT there unless you want it. Also some folks use ES-3/ES-6 with a USBStreamer, as I do, which is nice. But if you have another USB audio interface in addition to these, you then need to use an aggregate device (Mac) or ASIO4ALL (Windows) to use multiple audio interfaces simultaneously in your DAW, which some regard as a hassle.

None of the above considerations are likely to matter if you aren’t trying to create an in-the-box/modular hybrid setup.

3 Likes
#52

I prefer USB 2.0. It has PLENTY of bandwidth for audio, and if you dedicate a port to it, can have as low latency as any other protocol. It’s also more generic, works with more things, and usually costs less. For instance, the RME Fireface UCX is a USB 2.0 interface and its latency is incredibly low. The other benefit is that USB in some form is likely to be around a LONG time, and I’m not so confident that Thunderbolt won’t go the way that Firewire did in half a decade. Plus, if you really need it, most high-end USB 2.0 audio interfaces like the RME have class-compliant modes where they can plug into iPads or even Linux audio systems without needing additional drivers.

Since there aren’t really any drawbacks to a well-implemented USB 2.0 interface, I don’t really see the need to accept the higher costs and more limited use cases of anything else, but that’s just me.

5 Likes
#53

Thunderbolt connections are already on the way out on a few interfaces. The latest UAD Apollo X interfaces have ditched it in favor of USB-C.

2 Likes
#54

The outputs are handy for processing audio through outboard.

I always record all my signals dry, duplicate the track and send the duplicated track trough the outputs to outboard gear when I want to add EQ and effects.

This allows me to adjust everything to taste when I feel it’s time to start mixing without messing up my original recording.

There is nothing worse than to start mixing tracks that have effects printed on them.

3 Likes
#55

That is not quite correct: the Apollo X uses thunderbolt 3, which just shares the same connector as USB-C. The new Focusrite interface supports thunderbolt 3 as well, so no I wouldn’t say thunderbolt is on it’s way out at all.

3 Likes
#56

Thanks for clearing that up. USB-C is confusing me. I’ll just stick to calling everything with a USB-C input “USB-C” even if it’s a different protocol.

#57

Does anyone have any tips about integrating hardware send effects with a DAW based setup? For example I often use a small mixer with a hardware sent to add delay to a synth, with the output of the mixer sent to my audio interface. It would be ideal to record the dry synth and wet effect separately.

I could:

  1. Mult the synth to both my audio interface and the mixer/effect, connect the mixer/effect return to another interface channel.

  2. Connect the synth directly to the audio interface, then send out a copy of the dry track from an interface output to the mixer/effect, then connect the mixer/effect return to another interface channel.

Any other options? My mixer doesn’t have direct outputs.

#58

What’s your interfaces I/O like? If you have 2 in / 2 out you could just hook it up directly to the interface and send a channel from your DAW trough it.

#59

That’s what I used to do…but now I have 5 different external synths + I would love to expand into modular in the near future.

#60

This is a great tip! What Audio interface do you use and what gear do you use to apply effects? So you have your outputs running thru your effects and then? Back into the audio interface to record them in your DAW?