Hello! I 'm new in DAWS and everything and I was thinking of buying one of these two audio interfaces.
I am a windows user with a quite good PC. AMD Threadripper 1920x | 32Gb Ram

At first I was thinking of buying MOTU because it has very low latency and good preamps,
but in my country will not be available till September.
So now I am thinking of buying EVO 8 since it has some great feautures on it like good preamps, 2 headphones 4 mics, interface, loopback etc.

The main difference between the two of them is the latency
MOTU M4: 48kHz /64 buffer size ~3.7ms Roundtrip / 1.8ms output
AUDIENT EVO 8: 48kHz /64 buffer size ~ 8.9ms Roundtrip / 4.4ms output

Do you think latency matters?
I want to use it mostly for vocals and with Ableton Live.
I have watched some videos explaining and giving solution to the problem of latency within Ableton Live using "Delay Compensation" and "Reduced Latency when Monitoring" but I don't know much about these.

I really like EVO 8 with all its features but its latency issue makes me hesitate.
What do you think I should do?

 

Are you sure you have the right numbers? 8,9 ms RTL is a lot more than my old audient interface can achieve.

I think I saw a youtube video in which the evo was measured 6ms RTL 48kHZ 64 samples and 5ms at 16 samples. I remember that because I thought that's an upgrade to the older audient interface I have around.

Edit
I found the video (11:40).This guy measured the evo 4 (which is basically the 8) and it achieved 5,5ms @ 48khz 64 samples.

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

I have watched these videos...

But my question is should I choose my interface regarding latency ot not?

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

On the Motu m4 not the m2 you can use direct monitoring with a mix knob in Front of the Interface so don't use Abletons monitoring.thrn you have no latency. I have test many Interfaces in the last months even Audient or SSL.For me the Motu is the best with this drivers .You can even push Ableton more to its limit without drop outs...the problem is the m4 is not available for some months already

 

Audient has direct monitoring too via Mixer interface. It has many great features. Plus two headphone jacks...

Still my question remains unanswered... Is low latency such a big issue? Can't I handle it with Ableton's "Delay Compensation" and "Reduced Latency when Monitoring"????

 

I would get the motu

 

You are very informative... Thank you

 

Buy and test it if its fits for you...Most shops have return policy nowdays....With Audio Interfaces ist like with Woman ...all are a little imperfect....I look tests all around the net and everone says the SSl is the shit...and then test it and by me I hear the Mouse Scrolling in the Monitors so its go back....My advide test yourself

 

I recommend Presonus Iostation 24c.
Good ASIO, Good preamp, Good converters etc.

 

The thread below is your one-stop-shop for benchmark latency info from @TAFKAT @ Gear"space".

https://gearspace.com/board/music-c...erface-low-latency-performance-data-base.html

IMO, would have recommended the MOTU M2/M4, but now I would lean toward the Audient.

And...RME will always dominate, so consider saving up some cash if you're in this for good.

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

I've owned both Motu and Audient interfaces over the years. Both companies make excellent products and I think you'd be pretty happy with either of those interfaces.

One thing I will say, I am somewhat partial to Motu. Ive owned several of their audio and midi interfaces, and currently own an 828es which is probably the best interface Ive ever owned (I rate it even higher than my UAD Apollo interface). I'm not a fanboy and I don't fetishize gear, but you really cant go wrong with Motu gear. Their stuff is no frills, work-horse gear that just does what its supposed to do. They've been making audio equipment for some 40 years so it makes sense that they have it down to a science.

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

if by "vocals" you mean an actual singer, then latency would probably suck. for them... but how much do those miniscule numbers actually bother them with audible lag? what is 27 milliseconds to a singer?

there is plugin latency compensation. it corrects the end to end delay time of the chain and then adjusts the recording. a ping round trip is different as it corrects the timing from midi data going out to a external hardware device and then the audio returning back and being recorded by the DAW. it's more accurate of a guess, because the round trip time has already been calculated when the plugin sent the ping.

with the numbers being as close as they are, and what you can do with well recorded audio in a computer; I'd get whatever has the best convertors for the price range. figure out I/o after that. The .5 ms difference between either is going to be nothing.

 

Latency plays a role when you record with DAW monitoring. If you need effect monitoring during recording (e.g. a special reverb, compressor or autotune etc.) the latency produced by these plugins is added to the roundtrip latency of your interface. So a short latency is very important here.
The driver and the preamps of the m4 are absolutely ok for this price range. I would just see which features you like more and which sound coloration you like better.

 

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/pc-motu-m2-dropping-audio.94153/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/about-to-get-a-motu-m4-worried-about-all-the-windows-performance-issue-stories….19973/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...4-latency-and-firmware-update-problems.22758/

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

The M4 and M2 are thoughtfully produced audio interfaces that go further and tick more boxes than anything else in their class.

Pro: very good converter, good preamps, solid aluminum housing, Color display level meter,
strong headphone output, low latency, Price-performance ratio, double designed outputs,
Contra: no

I vote for the Motu M4.

Spoiler: Conclusion

Conclusion

With the M series, MOTU has achieved a small to medium-sized coup: There has never been so much sound quality in this price range! As far as converters are concerned, these entry-level interfaces are hardly inferior to much more expensive professional-class devices. The integrated microphone preamplifiers are also exemplary, clean and low-noise. Despite the bus power operation, the small MOTUs do not have any weaknesses in terms of phantom power and the maximum achievable headphone volume.

This is not easy to achieve with USB 2.0 - compliments to the developers! The M-Series interfaces collect additional bonus points with their graphics-capable color displays, MIDI sockets, fast drivers and a software bundle made up of two DAWs. Thanks to the sound quality suitable for professional use, the M-Series interfaces are by no means only suitable for beginners, but also as a second device for mobile use.

The price / performance ratio is extremely favorable for both models. The small additional expense for the M4 is definitely worth it, if only because of the additional mix control, which makes a great contribution to user-friendliness. In this price range, the M4 currently sets the standard by which the competition has to be measured!

https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/motu-m2-m4-audio-interfaces-im-test/

 

So, if the latency of the plugins (which usually is 30 - 50ms) are being added to the roundtrip latency then 5 or 7ms difference are not important because I will have latency either way.

 

Optimising your PC for Audio on Windows 10
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207355205-Optimising-your-PC-for-Audio-on-Windows-10

 

Would have picked the M4 before finding this while checking current pricing:

Best-in-class D/A, low latency, and ample I/O
Sweetwater and MOTU have enjoyed a long-standing relationship, due to MOTU's products offering our customers superb sound and solid performance. The M4 follows suit, packing top-notch sound, impressively low latency, and ample I/O into a single-rack enclosure. Renowned ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC technology delivers 120dB of dynamic range, ensuring that the M4's analog audio quality can hang with the most impressive gear on the market. Optimized drivers yield round-trip latency as low as 2.5ms at 24-bit/96kHz with a 32 sample buffer. The M4 includes all of the essential connections, including two mic preamps, four DC-coupled analog outputs, and an ESS-driven stereo headphone output. MIDI I/O is also included.

 

I use Motu M2 and with sample rate at 96khz and buffer size set at 32 samples (and the tick “uses better performance in latency” in the Motu driver) I have a latency around 1.8ms with nothing clipping etc... (I have a very good pc ;) ). I think Motu is the best audio interface for quality/price, I have a friend that have the focusrite Scarlett 8i6 (around 230 € (this is my currency ahaha) )and his latency with same configuration (96khz/32) has 2.8 ms of latency... So i suggest the first post guy to buy Motu M4... the audient Evo is made for who want an portable audio interface with some line/mic input/output. For delay compensation in Ableton I didn’t know much but in steinberg Cubase pro I have in the mixer an “delay checker” that it shows me the total latency in ms of the channel and the related plugins causing the latency with the relative latency of the plugin in ms and also in sample...from there I adjust the delay compensation, for example I use a lot of the linear phase eq lowband from waves which at 96khz has a latency of 42.7 ms (around about 8000 sample) and in the compensation I go to put the following value so as to eliminate the latency

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021