I got 2 x id14's fantastic interfaces Highly recommended. I'm running my Apogee ensemble via light pipe into one and it works perfectly. The onboard Pres are awesome, the Headphone amp is fantastic and I absolutely love the control panel mixer with zero-latency monitoring off the input.. The Di in is fantastic for instruments..Rock-solid drivers!!. can't recommend it more highly

 

Go for the Audient and treat your headphones to a proper headphone amp. Most integrated headphone amps on audio interfaces are not ideal for headphones with those sort of ohms.

 

Hello @marblesoda, please read it:
Audient Headphone Amplifiers & Safe SPL Levels
https://support.audient.com/hc/en-us/articles/205565985-Audient-Headphone-Amplifiers-Safe-SPL-Levels

 

Last edited: Jun 24, 2021

In late 2021. I would highly recommend the Audient iD4 II over the Zoom UAC-2 (iD4 up to 600 ohm headphones - UAC-2 32 ohm). Under that I would recommend the Steingberg UR22c (up to 150 ohm headphones). All three are true USB3 devices.

 

i have M2

 

One I would recommend for the next pricing level.

 

But USB3 is in most cases useless, see the new RME Fireface UCX II interface.
Still USB2 with 40 in/outs in full bandwidth data transfer!

 

Same with MIDI : they kept USB 1.1 for a LONG time
Because USB2+ was USELESS for MIDI bandwidth

But ppl speak about USB without even knowing the word "bandwidth" ...

 

Not as useless as that comment Although you're correct USB2 is great and I ditched all my firewire interfaces (I use my Apogee Ensemble in standalone mode into the Audient ID14 via optical); most manufacturers have moved onto the 3 or C standard.

 

Still loving my Zoom UAC-2 USB 3 interface.
Updated the driver and system software today.
Sounds better than ever with my new guitars and amp sims

 

Ah cewl, don't know that USB3 makes audio sounds better!

 

I love my Babyface pro FS. Has 2 headphones amps. Hi and low impedance.

 

Nice choice of options here
I just wouldn't want to have a separate headphones amp though, if an audio interface can't deliver a good one in 2021 then I'd skip it.

 

Motu M2 @ macOS 11.5.1, 44.1kHz

I love :

• The USB-C Connector, others have fragile mini USB <--- this one !
  
• The overall build quality
• The BIG smooth Volume Knob
• Build in phantom power
• The display
• The sound of the DAC (imo sounds better than my previous RME Multiface II) !
• Helpful support
• Its behavior when clipping or dropout, it sounds much smoother and less harsh than a RME Multiface II
• The Phone's output work s perfectly with my Sennheiser HD650

I like less :

• That you have to power cycle it, if connected to a HUB to make it work after restart. (connected directly to the computer is OK)
  (I sometimes use the interface with my PC to game a lil' bit so i have to plug it to the pc, it would be more convenient if I could just plug all stuff to a hub ...)
  MOTU is aware of this issue and hopefully fix it some day. Maybe I should just get a USB switch

 

Useless to you. For those who need steady bi-directional communication & transfer with minimal latency, USB3 (USB 3.1, Gen 1) & Thunderbolt 3/4 are very useful.

An older Firewire interface with a good driver puts USB to shame. Especially the Firewire 800 devices.

 

USB is a data digital data transfer protocol. Not an audio protocol. The s determined by the A-D & D-A converters at either end along with, sample rate and the inital quality of the audio.

There is an old saying in the audio industry. "BS in, BS out"

 

Think you meant the next, lower, pricing level. Yes?

 

Yes...you, are correct.