I'm currently downsizing, selling off my hardware and my studio PC to switch to Windows laptop based system. Due to this, I will be selling my MOTU 828 19" rack mounted audio interface and looking to switch to one of the smaller, more portable style of USB audio interfaces. Part of this is also due to the overkill of the MOTU 828 as I only ever really used 2 inputs and 2 outputs, so think I could get away with something much smaller. I mostly make techno and tech house type of music primarily using MIDI/soft synths nowadays, though do sometimes make recordings/demos using guitars, and on the odd occasion hook up stereo outputs from hardware synths.

This market seems to have so many options, and I'm totally overwhelmed in terms of which is worth my money over any other, with them mostly seeming similar-ish, bar one or two unique features. I'm ideally looking for the £200 (about $250) or under kind of market, and needs to be portable to chuck in a laptop backpack ideally.

I'm willing to pay up for extra quality, but also needs to be justified, or otherwise just happy to go for the cheaper option if the quality is equal/proportionately better bang for the buck.

Currently, I've narrowed down my options to:

• Universal Audio Volt 2
• Arturia MiniFuse 2
• Audient Evo 4
• Solid State Logic SSL2+
• MOTU M2
• MOTU M4
• Fluid Audio SRI-2
• Audient ID14 MkII
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
• Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2
• Steinberg UR22C
• Steinberg UR22 MkII
• PreSonus Studio 26C
• PreSonus Studio 24C
• PreSonus AudioBox Go
• Mackie Onyx Producer 2.2
• Donner Livejack Lite (which appears to be a clone of the Scarlett 2i2)
• Swissonic UA-2x2

There are obviously a couple of more premium ones I'd happily snap up if I could find preowned for the price referred to above, such as the RME Babyface, Apogee Duet, or Arturia AudioFuse 2, but I think that'd be as likely as finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Anyone got more knowledge than myself on any of the above able to offer up any optinions, thoughts, recommendations, or anything else useful in terms of advice regarding which is the best current one to purchase?

 

I'd get the M2/M4. Some of the ones you have listed (SSL/Volt), I would be apprehensive about putting them into a backpack and bouncing them around. For that one reason alone, the Motu. And of course they do what you want, no driver/software installation for the m2, at least on MacOS. They have the same outer shell as the 828es. And work great with your 828es still connected until you sell it

 

RME Babyface FS. Even at the higher cost.

 

I do love the sound of my 828 as it feels super clean and transparent, and the M2 and M4 are probably my preferred choices due to MOTU stuff sounding amazing and built like a tank. Just scoping out where the others are competitive on quality for price though, and particularly intrigued by the Arturia MiniFuse 2 (liking the addition of a USB hub port) and the Audient Evo 4 (liking the form factor and ease of use).

 

Last edited: Jul 24, 2022

Yeah, i think the RME Babyface would be my go to if price wasn't an issue, but not sure for my use case I can justify the 5x or more cost of it. Would be different if music was my full time job and I was making an income from it

 

I lean on the Audient side these days as they make incredibly good sounding audio interfaces and their prices don't break the bank. I call Audient "RME for the masses". Also, if you like the desktop form factor, superb. Maybe iD14mkII or iD22MkII? You can find them new at very attractive discount prices at times.

Otherwise, MOTU is always a solid choice. Sturdy casing for the road if you need that and most of the controls available from the front screen. That's what I really like about MOTU interfaces so they can work standalone. Small Audient iD14 can be easily packed, too and it works standalone, but it's less features for the money. Depends on what you need, I guess.

Cheers!

 

The Fluid Audio SRI-2 does intrigue me though. Looks good, and the few reviews available seem to suggest quality sound too.

 

Absolutely this! The drivers are unbeatable and they just work without any hassles, and they also update them forever.

Plus you get a fully featured mixer, and you can listen to various audio sources simultaneously, e.g. I've got a weird habit of playing my guitar while watching Sport and YouTube videos

 

Last edited: Jul 24, 2022

I justified the cost by accepting the interface is the heartbeat of any digital music system, so I spent more on what really counts, and less on other things like plugins, etc. I thoroughly test all software and only buy if it is indispensable to my workflow.

PS the Babyface replaced my Hi-Fi too, so it's a win-win whichever way you look at it

 

I think this is my first post..Hail RME babyface! Driver support, low latency, stable, digicheck, totalmixfx, adat in/out, loopback, midi in/out, and at last of course you can listen various audio source simultaneously (open DAW, while you watch youtube, playback media player)..

But sometimes i use Audient SONO for bass/guitar/vocal..tube inside + 3band broad EQ (only channel 1), separated output.. processed & Direct, you can also reamp with sono...

Sorry for my bad english

 

They don't list the pre-amp gain, SNR, type/brand of converters (just that they are "Pro grade") etc. It's probably good as a monitor controller, but I'm a bit doubtful if holds up for recording through. I would go with the Audient iD14 MKII or MOTU M2 in that price-range.

As many others have said, I would also recommend the Babyface Pro FS simply because it is the best portable interface you can get. However, I've had both the original Babyface, the Pro and now the Pro FS so maybe I'm a bit biased

 

If he sells the 828ES and gets the RME Babyface FS; he's out of pocket or somewhere near break even. It's certainly smaller, but not sure that is the whole motive for switching.

But from the described situation, I'm wondering how much "portable" is important. After all, the 828ES fits perfectly in your rack; right?

 

I did wonder that, but the few videos there are all give it glowing reviews, such as this one:

Yeah, finding them used is like gold dust though, which I guess is a testament to how good they are in itself. The new price is probably just a bit too much of a stretch for me to justify though, unfortunately!

 

It's not an 828ES, It's an 828 MkII. Still a class interface, but the older 828 version. It's also the firewire version, not USB, so gonna be a hard sale for anything decent as nobody uses firewire any more.

The portable element is more about downsizing, as looking to rid myself of clutter and hardware as much as I can, whilst also partly giving me the ability to take my setup with me when going travelling and/or visiting friends, family or on holiday etc, which you can't really do with a 19" rack

 

The Babyface Pro FS is also bus powered via USB, so no power-brick required, which is a big plus for me when I move my laptop around.

 

Buy from a company that has released other audio interfaces and received positive reviews.
Moto & Audient would be my picks. Make sure that your USB audio interface also has an external power supply.
This will give you a few dB more and everything will run more stable than USB.

 

Depending on the engineering design The Babyface isn't lacking anything compared to my SPL interface, and it is more transparent

 

as you are on Windows, I won't go for UAD or Motu, I heard about not a great driver compatibility.

on the other hand, Audient and Focusrite are mid-range-windows-driver kings on the market. ofc nothing beats an RME, but money-wise I'd go for an Audient (I don't like Focusrite, they drop support after 3 or 4 years, making your interface an old piece of garbage very soon lol)

I just bought an EVO 4, to play live, it is really the perfect form factor to have on the go. BUT they have a big hardware limit: you can use either the main output OR the phones, connecting headphones disable the main output. this is a big limit for me, it would be perfect to have main output to the mixer and headphones to monitor myself, but for this I should go for the EVO 8, so watchout for this if you need mainout+hp at the same time!!!

recap:

if you can't but an RME, go for a Focusrite, Audient or EVO

my 2 cents, nothing more

 

Focusrite is so incredibly overrated, I had nothing but problems with both of mine and I've heard plenty of others say the same. Got a MOTU M2 instead and it's infinitely better.