Audient iD14 mkII: what do you think about sound quality?

Discussion in 'Soundgear' started by mild pump milk, Sep 30, 2021.

  1. mild pump milk

    mild pump milk Russian Milk Drunkard

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    Hey guys.
    What do you think about Audient iD 14 mkII?
    Yeah, it has 120/126dB ADC/DAC respectively. So, it is f*ckingly cheap for such good numbers/measurements etc.
    What is your experience about sound quality, performance, stability, drivers? Is it worth?

    I have ESI Juli@ and M-Audio Fast Track C400. I still work with ESI Juli@ as monitoring, Fast Tracks c400 for my mic recordings, because I have no good separate preamp for my Rode NT2A mic. So, I want to buy Audient iD14 mkII, as it has way better converters (according to numbers and measurements) to sell M-Audio C400 only and use Juli@ just as an legacy/extra tool.

    Purpose of Audient iD14 mkII:
    - better audio quality than any of my interfaces.
    - for HQ recording (mic, hardware synths) monitoring, output for further analog processing in future. Better for Beyerdynamic DT770 pro 250 Ohm headphones, than with Fast Track C400?
    - better performance?, stability?, drivers (?) ...
    - cheap, but more than 120dB adc/dac = is it really mastering grade??.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2021
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  3. real.IMPOSTER

    real.IMPOSTER Newbie

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    Now is a great time to buy lower cost interfaces since they are good quality too. I also considered the Audient iD14 mkii but ended up picking up Motu M4 because you can't bypass the preamps on the iD14. I have my own mic preamp so I like to bypass the preamp sometimes, which you can do on the M4 since it has line in inputs. It's also good to bypass the preamps with line level gear to keep the signal clean.
     
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  4. hackerz4life

    hackerz4life Audiosexual

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    What the guy above said. Non bypassable preamps can be a pita.
    What are those Burr Brown converters or are they in their higher end interfaces?
    Save up a little and get a used apogee rosetta 800 and use it with your existing gear if you only want better converters.
     
  5. Olaf

    Olaf Platinum Record

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  6. TheRiddler303

    TheRiddler303 Kapellmeister

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    have an id44 and i love it. came from apogee. really cant say that the apogee sounded better, it just had the badest drivers ever. dont miss it at all.
     
  7. spncart

    spncart Producer

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    Hi guys, I was actually going to buy the Motu 4 which for me I think is a better deal because I need the Midi ins and outs on it.

    I owned the ID14 1st gen a couple years ago, so mkII is giving me a second thought - anyone tried both the Motu 4 and ID14 2nd gen?

    Apparently the bugs which annoyed me with ID14 1st gen are still present:

    [​IMG]

    One of the other important points for me is SOUND QUALITY, and the HEADROOM for my HEADPHONES. As far as I remember ID14 1st gen it was loud but not always crystal clear, and full of bugs as mentioned before (I'm using Mac). On the other end, Motu 4 seems to have a good sound quality according to reports but I haven't got to try it out.

    Though the ID14 2nd gen seems to slightly outperform the Motu 4 (only 120 dB dynamic range on outputs) with:
    • ADC dynamic range: 121 dB
    • DAC dynamic range: 126 dB
    What is the difference between ADC and DAC?

    Cheers.
     
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  8. Joe Crisp

    Joe Crisp Platinum Record

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    DAC is digital to analog, and ADC is analog to digital
     
  9. Joe Crisp

    Joe Crisp Platinum Record

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    I have an ID14 first gen, and couldn't be happier with the preamps......
     
  10. Cardamom

    Cardamom Platinum Record

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    I just traded up from the ID14 Mk1 to the Mark II and am happy as a clam. (Are clams really happy?)

    My guess (readying myself for the coming assaults!) is that most people who are disparaging the built-in preamps believe their ears are better than they are and that they can tell the difference between them all or that it makes a significant difference in the recording process.

    I strongly recommend you check out Ethan Winer's audio myths video on YouTube concerning that kettle of worms.



    When it comes down to it, how well you mix, EQ and enhance your tracks will make you sound good, bad, better or best.

    I previously mixed and mastered using the M-Audio AP/2496 and I'm now on the audient ID14 MK2 and think it is smashing! I think it sounds (or rather 'serves it's purposes') great.. anything you run through it - and if you do a fresh and clean install of all drivers and rid yourself of anything not related to it, everything will go well. The latency is incredible on USB-C and the loopback feature is astounding if you're going to do tutorial type videos especially.

    I'm extremely thrilled with my purchase.

    Cardamom
     
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  11. mild pump milk

    mild pump milk Russian Milk Drunkard

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    ADC - recording. Mic, hardware synths, etc to pc.
    DAC - monitoring/output audio into other gear for further outboard processing, for example.
     
  12. Bombadil

    Bombadil Newbie

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    I have id4 mki and it's good unless we're talking line input - tried connecting an ipad to it and souded like shit (really, cracks, noise and overall it sounded very diffrent from what it would if you were to connect the ipad to headphones). I don't know whether it was the ADC or what. Surprisingly, when i connected the ipad to the guitar input the result was a bit better but still quite bad.
     
  13. MrLyannMusic

    MrLyannMusic Audiosexual

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    I can't speak about the MK2 but i do own the MK1, and i have been using it for a few years now, and this is my honest review,

    Pros:

    -Build quality is nice, above average for sure, you can change the knobs if you want to, and the Pots are of a high quality.
    -Preamp quality is very good indeed, it's a solid 8/10, better than the Focusrite in almost every aspect of it.
    -even cheap mics sounds decent, and good mics sounds very good, high end mics sounds phenomenal.
    -I have been using it on a mac so i can't talk about Windows side, but on a mac it's a plug and play like everyother audio interface, so basically i almost never had an issue with it.
    -Guitars DI sounds good especially with passive pickups (which is the hard part to nail in every other audio interface i tested), active pickup sounds solid, translates good into Amps sims, sometimes i feel the need to use my DI boxes with low end guitars, but 80% of the time the DI is good enough to handle most of the situations.
    -Frimware updates are smooth and i hadn't encoutered an issue on Mac side, Windows side is full of bugs...
    - Ability to add 8 Inputs via the a-dat connector.

    Cons:
    -Sometimes using the Audio interface with the power adapter, can cause it to bug and stop working when i on/off the room lights, when using it with a low quality multiple socket, changing it solved the issue.
    -Frimware updates can be buggy if you attempt it on Windows side.

    The audio interface is good, and being cheap is just a plus.
     
  14. odod

    odod Rock Star

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    now i am stuck between buying this or the newest Arturia minifuse2 .. the audient id14mkII got a lot of praise for sure
     
  15. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    I just picked up an m2 today to check out. at least on Mac, it is running on just a driver and not Motu "Discovery" and http based control panel the 828 uses.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2021
  16. recycle

    recycle Guest

    I am a happy owner of iD14 MK1, (I use it with ADAT expansion), What makes Audient so respected are preamps and drivers: in both fields iD14 is among the best for the price, I highly recommend it. The difference in recording quality from your M-Audio will be drastic and you will notice it.
    Obviously then you can choose an interface with even better preamps and DSP on board, but the price will be A LOT higher.
     
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  17. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    Audient iD4 MKII and iD14 MKII - Audio Interface Review
     
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  18. spncart

    spncart Producer

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    What is Motu "Discovery"? Is this not as good as a normal driver?

    I'm on Big Sur and leaning between the ID14 2nd gen, the Motu M4 and the new Arturia Minifuse 4 www.arturia.com/products/audio/minifuse/minifuse4 available in 2022.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2021
  19. spncart

    spncart Producer

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    Judging by the specs how would you rate the minifuse4 and motu m4 vs. the Audient id14mkII?

    www.arturia.com/products/audio/minifuse/minifuse4
    https://motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m4/
    https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/overview/

    In terms of:

    - diynamic range db / headphone output
    - sound clarity
    - easy of use (universal drivers, no need to reboot at startup)

    I have no doubt about the preamps and sound quality of the Audient, but having owned the 1st gen one it lacks Midi and there were a lot of bugs/jams/restart needed back then, also you have to plug/unplug every time you open your Mac with the sound card as far as I remember.
     
  20. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    The "Motu - M4" and the "Audient - iD14 MKII" are both top technological products. You will have to choose one.
     
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  21. L0neWarri0r

    L0neWarri0r Noisemaker

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