Hello everyone. It's time for me to purchase a new interface. I have a refurbished Scarlett 2i2 Gen1. The line input runs hot and occasionally I have to re-connect, even after replacing cables and upgrading to a new computer.

I've always wanted an Audient iD4, particularly for its low-latency and the quality of its preamps. With the release of MKII, its particularly enticing with USB3.0.

However I'm having second thoughts after watching Julian Krause's video on interface headphone amps. The iD4 has high headphone output impedance, which is concerning since I use Sony MDR7509-HD (24Ohms) and Grado SR80e (32Ohm) cans, and I do my mixing through the former.

I'm now eyeing the Motu M2 for its low output impedance, but I'm dubious on the sound of its preamps and latency. I might be one in a million, but as useful as it is, I'm not keen on having the LCD illuminated all the time.

I'd like to hear your opinions. Thank you.

tl;dr I need an interface for mixing with low-impedance headphones and that works well for playing with my electric guitar.

 

Both good. Take the one you get a bit cheaper, or you like more in terms of design. You will not notice any difference. Not in the headphone amp or in latency.

 

For Ultra low latency with quality in/out at an affordable price, check out the Zoom UAC-2

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1116979-REG/resident_audio_zuac2_uac_2_usb_3_0_audio.html
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UAC2--zoom-uac-2-usb-3.0-audio-interface
https://www.thomann.de/gb/zoom_uac_2.htm

 

stay away from zoom hahahha

i bought a behringer yes behringer for my home listening. i got the 404 with its 4 inserts there is a 204 with 2 inserts

Headphone amps sound clean
the preamps too
The main outs are not as potent but i just use the Headphone amp if needed
Im as surprised as you, great build, Midas Preamps, phantom Power over XLR but not over TRS!!!
the 404 for 108€ new and the 204 for 85€ i think, i got the 404 for 75€ used with thoman warranty (2 years)
The guy who sold it got himself the 1820

For 180 buks

i always say Audient or Spl
But this is good stuf

stay also away fom the smaler steinberg and presonus stuff
The prees are loud trash!

 

How is the driver performance (ASIO, latency) when you want to play virtual instruments in realtime?

 

There exist those who would stay away from Behringer for some very good reasons. I would say stay away from most entry level audio device because of component choice used to build those devices.

The Zoom from what I understand is a mid-tier device quality and feature wise.

 

not the quickest like my pro stuff
but good enough
5ms 64samples 44-192 (depending on your machine)

i heard/read horror stories about their drivers

 

Those were the early drivers. Gen1 & Gen 2 I believe.

 

I bought a umc404hd for a little podcast project i was part on. Definetively good sound and conectivity for the price, but the build quality was awful. not a couple of months of use the monitor button stopped staying in place, everything from the knobs to the enclosure felt cheap and fragile. The drivers were good enough for the podcast but for music production were pretty bad compared to the ones from a Scarlet 2i2 and an Arturia Audiofuse, which at the time didn't even have dedicated drivers.

To be fair that was almost two years ago so they may have improved them, but i doubt they improved the build quality. that said, i'm a brute when it comes to handling audio stuff, but even then i never had such issues with other interfaces, not even on that price range.

As for OP's dilema. The ID4 has low impedance headphone outputs too. Honestly both look like very good options.

 

Last edited: Jun 19, 2021

dont know but metal enclosure feeling cheap, its heavier than expected
even the button feel nice, to me at least

thought i chime in with my findings.
but Audient is a clear leader in this segment, by merit!

 

Do not make your decision based on headphones concerns. A good headphones amp is cheap, and great ones really aren't very expensive either in the greater scheme of things. The interface you use determines a big enough portion of what is "your sound" that you should focus solely on what interface you get being the best for you and your budget. Once you commit to one, it is involved in every sound you make and it's generally not a factor you have much control over. (convertors)

I can't say anything about Audient at all. But I can say in 20+ years of dealing with Motu I have very little bad to say, if any at all.
I had a less than great experience with UAD; they seem to treat their Solo and Twin like they are toys that just have their name on them.
(not entirely unfair)

The only way you are really going to make your best decision is to use both of them for a decent period of time in person. Just buy from a reputable retailer with a good return policy. Worst case scenario you have to pay to ship it back to exchange it.

 

Last edited: Jun 19, 2021

Hi! Made the leap from a PCI card (AP24/96 by m-audio) to the Audient Mk I (yeah, I thought I was getting the Mark II but I wasn't ... just me being stupid on Amazonk). Anyway - NOT disappointed in any way! Hardly have any crashes with multiple plugs and antics going on now. I think my latency issues are nil - I seem to have my Win10 system tweaked to really have the Audient perform more than adequately (and I'm a 24/44.1 kinda user). Yeah, sure - you can get lower latency with 48khz and 96khz settings, but even on the Mark I it's negligible.

I have/use ATH-M50x headphones and you know what I love about the Audient? You can crank that sucker up to 11 and you will hear NO noise - not in the cans, not through your speakers. No hiss ... it's amazing really!

There's my 2 pence worth, laddie.
Cardamom

 

i record my music using the input from the computer.

 

Both interfaces (Audient iD4 MKII, MOTU M2) are great.

Some subtle differences:
- M2 has separate volume controls for monitors / headphone outs;
- M2 has power on/off switch;
- ID4 has more powerful headphone output. But M2 is also fine so when I use Beyerdynamic 770 pro 250 Ohm I set volume knob to 12 o'clock. It's required to connect ID4 to USB 3 or even Type-C port as it uses USB power supply line. It works on USB 2.0 but with just less output power.

 

add SSL2 also .. you might want to think about it

 

rme babyface

 

Got the Zoom UAC-2 because it was the only USB-3 audio interface available at L&M at the time.
It's served me well for years now on all aspects of audio.
Popular myth is one thing.
Solid personal experience is another.

 

If you're somehow leaning a bit towards getting the M2, a consideration would be to look at the M4 variant. In case you haven't looked into them, one of the main differences imho is with their 'input monitoring mix' feature. The M4 has a dedicated knob for it while the M2 doesn't have a physical knob. The Audient iD4 has dedicated knob as well. However, the M2 still has that feature iirc. If I understood the posts from the other forums correctly, the M2's monitor button will engage the 'input monitoring mix' feature but is locked to a 50/50 mix. You'll need to balance it out from your DAW if you want to hear more of the playback or your direct signal. The M4 has a knob that let's you mix the balance on the fly. So depending on your needs and if having a knob for 'input monitoring' is crucial to your recording experience, you may want to consider the M4 alongside the M2 and Audient iD4 in that regard. Also, I think what most MOTU users are happy about is how exceptionally stable their drivers are. Based on the reviews I've seen, both of them are solid choices imho.

 

Thanks to all for your input. I really want the Audient, I'm still hung up on the headphone amp and M2 just has it beat in the features department. I will take your comments into consideration.

You make a good point. Are there any headphone amps you'd recommend for this purpose? I know little in this department.

 

Last edited: Jun 21, 2021

schiit magnius, thx 789, smsl sp200, thx one .... cheap one monolith liquid spark..