SSL is gonna give you the biggest and best pro console sound out of all the interfaces. If the Neve audio interfaces emulates their Neve pro console boards than Neve would be best possibly because they have the best sounding consoles. But SSL was the best so far from hearing just about every low budget audio interface on the market.

 

For anyone interested, I went for the Audient ID14 Mk2, which I managed to pick up used for £65 (about $78).

Cheers all for the advice!

 

Last edited: Jul 26, 2022

Bruh, you cannot get that pro "console" sound with only portable interface (SSL 2+, Neve 88M, Steinberg Neve UR-RT2), except you are blessed with good sound engineering skill or willing to spend hours of tweaking with plugins (if you're lucky), their budget portable interface only give you little taste of their sonic characteristic and the rest is marketing, but doesn't mean their interface is not good.

Good choice mate, hopefully still in good condition.

 

Last edited: Jul 26, 2022

I'd shell out for this: £85 - Audient ID14 Mk2.

Well, I really appreciate the ADAT I/O cos I use them all over the place. I don't think you need it, but you never know and the price is great.

Ha ha, I just saw your post @Bunford . Great price! Happy for ya, mate. Cheers!

 

Yeah, and seeing that my MOTU 828Mk2 is firewire version, I may even be able to use that for ADAT connection. Firewire gear almost worthless now in resale market, and if only using as input via ADAT, not sure if that works or would I still need to hook it up to a computer (using firewire, urgh)?

 

"Yeah, and seeing that my MOTU 828Mk2 is firewire version, I may even be able to use that for ADAT connection."
I am pretty sure I have used my MOTU Traveler piped into my RME gear and other MOTU gear. The FW chip went but it works great to extend number of ins and preamps.

 

Yeah, this is how I'm envisaging it. As the ID14 only has an ADAT input, I assume it's a case of running the MOTU 828 Mk2 FW as a standalone unit, set to be ADAT Master, piped into the ID14 as an ADAT Slave, rendering the FW non-relevant and giving me 8 extra inputs into the ID14, so long as I remember to manually change the 929 MK2 FW's sample and bit rate to be the same as what I set the ID14 to be using the software (which will probably be 44.1kHz @ 24 bit, for now at least).

I'm assuming this should, theoretically, give me full 10 inputs should I need it then....

 

I can suggest what I have and know
I use at home a now old fireface UC (discontinued I think). Both The hardware and the software are "gold". If you like a good sound and performance I really recommend RME, just choose the model that will fit your needs (as here reported bear in mind that you can use the ADAT to connect to other one in the future and to have more audio in/outs if needed). I think that even expensive in a long term will not be as expensive as you may think because it will not be obsolete in a short time (I was really tired of buy interfaces that were obsolete of discontinued in a short time, Soundblaster´s and DMX fire....lost money...

For live play I use a Yamaha/Steinberg UR RT-4. It makes the work without trouble...

Not headaches with any of them...

 

I have a babyface pro and I'm very happy with it, very portable (you get a very useful case with it), I use it in the studio and for my live gig and it's so much better than my previous interfaces (presonus audio box not bad and focusrite scarlet which I don't recommend at all, maybe it's good with a mac but with windows it isn't).
If, for some reasons, I couldn't get an RME I would look at audient... ;)

EDIT: Ooops I've missed some post! ^^ Congratz @Bunford for your finding! ;)

 

my ears aren't good enough to hear a difference between the cheapest interface and the best, unless there's some high pitched USB bus noise or something.

what i do notice are:

drivers, class compliance, and:

can they drive 250 ohm headphones or not.
usb powered generally don't have the juice to drive 250 ohm headphones.

many will say they can, but even i can hear a difference between a real headphone amp and a usb audio interface's.

 

Even my ones also are not in "perfect condition" since a time I like to think that even your ears will not be in the best condition still you will be able to appreciate some difference between the interfaces.

Both I mention have their own power supply but I really do not know if they are able to provide the required power, because as you know for headphones with an impedance higher than 50 ohms it is recommended an amplifier to get the best of them. (http://musicianshq.com/can-you-use-250-ohm-headphones-without-an-amp/), so for headphones with a impedance of 250 ohms that is a critical feature you must consider, as even they will work the sound will be worst.

My models are old now, specially the RME, so check their homepage and the technical specifications of those models you may be interested...

 

Portable and best?
I never subscribe to that word 'best' because it's a marketing ploy by either salespeople or the manufacturer themselves. best in specs? Best for which style of music? all styles? all needs? all wants? All laptop configurations on ANY platform? Come on - does not exist.
It's personal preference but build specifications/quality, features and consistency do count and there are many which fit that category.

If money is no object for PORTABLE - the UA Apollo. Again, that is only MY personal opinion, not necessarily anyone else's.

 

UAD interfaces stick you with ILok
Got the Volt 2 before I knew this.
May trade for the new Zoom with floating point 32 bit and f++k the UA free software.

 

Just a reminder that you should always use the best Recording Music Equipment

 

Last edited: Mar 6, 2023

There are comparatives around regarding technical specifications, that is a good starting point.
They change the ranking as new models became available in the market.

It have sense to ask for the best because you will get a list of the better ones, but as other people have said there is not one that could be considered the best because between many other factors there are big differences in their technical specifications and there is not easy to compare many models between them.

Just bear in mind your needs and then look the hardware quality and both the software "quality" and support, as well as the customers experience background of the company.

 

Last edited: Mar 6, 2023

You get what you pay for

 

As a general rule that is true, but not always. In the top there are not surprises but in the middle and low cost market you can find many "abandonware" examples, if a company do not maintain the sofware/driver support it may happen that you have nothing more than headaches in a short time.

 

There is some truth in that. There are a few companies like Avid who forgot to support their customer base which helped get them a name in the first place and is subsequently slowly deserting them. Fortunately that does not apply to all .
For the greater part, high end gear is just what it says and it rarely comes at a low price unless you can get it 2nd hand or in a Black Friday sale.

Most of the audio interfaces, even the cheapest ones do a good job. It also comes down to what any given individual needs and what idiom they are writing or working in. For example - There is no point buying a 64 channel expandable interface if it is never going to be used to its abilities, when a 4 channel or 8 channel will do the job. Even the 19" rackmounts are theoretically portable, depending on whether a person wants to do live band recording or not (I have seen an engineer go into a gig to mix a band with a backpack containing one with his laptop and a pile of XLR cables all in the backpack).

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2023