Hi! I am looking to upgrade my interface from an M-Audio M-track 2X2M to use with my Windows 10 PC for home use(tracking, mixing, mastering). I work mostly in the box(Use soft synths and guitar effects VSTs) so minimal latency would be a My current options are:

Antelope Discrete 4
RME BabyFace Pro
SPL Crimson 3
UA Apollo Twin USB

What's your opinion?

 

I went with RME Babyface Pro *audio interface (having pretty much the list of options as you) and never looked back. Super happy with the Babyface Pro.

 

They're all good and there's nobody here who has used all four and can mystically understand your production requirement. You have to make your own mind up. And if you're going to use a Thunderbolt interface on Windows you need to check compatability very carefully.

 

RME all day

 

I have used all four though. But as you said, I don't know the requirements/needs of the OP, so I just shared my subjective opinion.

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2019

@Fudsey Plange Yes, i have used them all and installed them in home and project studios. Anyway he's not talking about some multi thousand dollar cards. These cards are amongst the most preferred cards in the small interface category.

-The Discrete 4 (and 8) has the best pre-amp to my ears from every card in the market. But, their driver is a bit quirky and their plugs are on the costly side but less than what UAD charge. apart from this, their plugs although most of them are quite good, they lack diversity, UAD has a myriad to choose from. If it works (we weren't very lucky with all systems we tried it in the studio), you can easily achieve 1-2 ms of roundtrip latency depending on your hard/soft config.

You can use the plugs in the DAW but that is quirky too. You gotta use 'em as external fx insert. They now, have released an app called AFX2DAW that lets you run the plugs straight in the DAW but it is currently available only for MacOS & Thunderbolt. Plus the fkrs are selling it for about 200dlrs lol.

-The RME is the most stable choice of all. Set and forget it with RME, although they are slow on releasing new drivers. Good mic pre although a bit on the thin side to my ears, it does have just a few analog i/o like the UAD, unless you have a use for the ADAT i/o.

-The UAD, another popular choice with very good pres, i have installed a bunch of them, a couple of things bother me with it, only a pair of i/o, although they sound good but it runs stupid hot all the time. The Apollo Twin Duo is the only card from the four that is USB3.

-The SPL Crimson 3 is -imho- the best bang for the buck. You get an audio card+a monitor controller. It has the most comprehensive i/o of all the other cards, the pres sound very good and its built like a tank. The Crimson has what they call an "Artist mode" which can be used to provide separate mixes for control room/engineer and recording musician/artist with zero latency. You can even use it as a monitor controller without a computer. One minus, their driver interface could be better although it works fine.

Cheers

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2019

RME BabyFace Pro Nothing else !

 

RME Babyface.
The 3 others are not bad either but no Adat I/O if you want to add some outboard stuff further,and -for me the most important- their drivers are not RME drivers.And no midi I/O on the UA and the Antelope.

Do you think the 3 others have bette converters and preamps?I doubt you'll notice a big difference,they are all in the same category,so none of them is high-end..

 

Audient ID44 in the price range you're in....

 

Apparently I do, but well yeah,

If you fancy the RME more, good for you, it is a good product, no doubt. As I said, their driver is superb. The converters were good, clean but in my opinion not stellar. Same goes to their preamps.

So yeah in my experience, I do think Antelope sounded better than RME to me, but it could just be my preferences and taste.

Don't listen to me, I am not an audio God.

 

Thank you all for your opinions! I am going to have the money to buy them in about 10 days and I'm still considering between the Discreet 4 Basic(discontinued but it looks like they are giving the premium fx pack for free) and the Babyface. If anyone is interested here's what I'm creating: youtube.com/watch?v=vC6smrHDmKk ( timestamp 1:27 if you want to skip to the main part)

 

I beg to differ. When you pay 700 euros for what is practically a 2 ch card, you are actually paying about 350/channel. If this was a 32ch card it would cost a bit less than 12.000 euros. I do understand that less costs more in this case but consider this:
Avid Pro Tools HD pci-e card plus a Pro Tools HD 16 i/o interface with ProTools Ultimate soft, cost a little under 11.000.
Apogee Symphony 32 i/o costs around 8500.
The 64 ch Antelope Goliath costs around 6000.

Still not convinced that 700 for a stereo card is indeed the high end ? In a time where Behringer sells UMC 1820 allegedly with 8 Midas pres,10 analog outs, ADAT i/o ,SPDIF, MIDI and 2 headphone outs all for under 200, then i am pretty sure that this is definitely the high end mate

 

I listened to your song and liked it and am sure that whatever you choose, the newfound clarity and more sophisticated soundstage will be noticeable and enjoyable compared to the now.

 

Neither I am!

Yes I know these interfaces,11.000....
I agree if you look their price per channel number they are not cheap.Anyways if you're looking for a decent audio interface $700/800 is the minimum(but maybe "decent" is relative,according to all of us..?).

I meant they are not high end converters compared to Prism,Lynx,etc...

 

I have the Babyface Pro, and I'm very happy with it!

 

can you add an Thunderbolt card to your motherboard?

 

RME

 

Well, 2 different approaches here. All 4 interfaces have professional quality.
Ask yourself do I want to dive into the effects palette of my audio interface developer or not?

If so the Antilope comes with 36 realtime effects I think.

If I had to decide between one with (without) simple effects.
SPL has a build-in Phonitor and probably, because of the hardware experience of spl, tiny bit better preamps, and analog stages compared to rme. Do you mix with headphones?
Everyone knows RME. A happy user here. RME simply works. Best drivers in the business. The Babyface has great I/O possibilities and professional build quality and sound.

 

Well, in general i do agree. But there are some differences.
Audio interfaces should be distinguished as for the purpose they intend to be used for.
Prism cards are made in England and this alone puts a hefty premium over a card's cost (RME and SPL are made in Germany and this puts a premium too).
Now, the top notch, outstanding feature of the Prism interfaces is the clocking (lowest jitter in the industry) and this is something musicians who produce ITB and maybe record 2-4 tracks in a home/project studio wouldn't care less really... Prism Titan and Atlas have about similar specs (difference in i/o) and with 118dbA in A/D and 116dbA in D/A in real world metrics, these cards are high end indeed, which suits them more in a mastering environment rather than a recording one. Same goes for the top high end class leader, the Apogee Symphony 2x6 which even Apogee themselves pitch it as a mastering interface. But again, Apogee is Mac only and designed in California, built in USA (lol).
So in short, there is a higher end than the cards mentioned in the OP, but i find very little benefit for the case this post is intended to "solve". In the end, if you want the highest end A/D/A, you buy a dedicated converter alright, something like a Lynx, Lavry or Grace Designs etc, imho of course.
All the best

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2019