Well, at a sample rate of 44.1k, most plugins will produce a latency between 1.5 and 23ms. The average latency here is probably ~11ms.

 

Let us look to "Low Latency" VSTi / VST.

Plugin Latency (Example developer Waves)
Wavesupport | Tech Specs | Latency Chart

Bad Latency:
- Brainworx - Masterdesk VST = 6,9ms
- Native Instruments . Massive X VSTi = 1,5ms

Latency. The bane of every recording musician and producer. But it doesn't have to be a battle when adding plug-ins like delay and reverb that add latency thanks to as plug-in delay compensation.
https://www.macprovideo.com/article/audio-software/understanding-plug-in-delay-compensation

 

Do you have AMD or Intel? I have AMD Threadripper 1920x and 32GB RAM... I have read that MOTU's drivers weren't so good at AMD but they have fixed this.
I'm so confused... I want to be able to sign with some reverbs live and to have some I/Os... Maybe at the end I should save some money and go for the RME...

 

I have Intel (i7-7700k) and I haven’t problem in the sound (no clipping etc at buffer size very low 32/64 sample and with some spire instance (4/5) on my daw)... if you want to use live reverb like waves live reverb (I don’t know the right name), etc I suggest you to buy MOTU M4 (MOTU’s Asio drivers are very very optimize (compared focusrite and audient) for very low latency) or another MOTU with some input/output... (or if you have 500€ buy the Apollo Solo, this has one core Shark DSP for use UAD-2 with an latency around 0.8 ms)... for your PC specs I think you haven’t problem (clipping etc..) good CPU and a lot of ram... your pc is perfect for audio production ;)

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2021

User Review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-m4-audio-interface-review.15757/

Disadvantages of a PCI sound card
PCI sound cards may suffer from interference from mainboard components or the power supply unit.
(Depends on the PC). Noise or crackling noises are the consequences.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2021

Sorry a bit off-t.. don't want to bother w/ another thread. I have a question though:

I'm spoiled with RME/TotalMix FX excellence here (would advise it as a primary card anytime).. One of the features I love is the Loopback + Routing feature to basically send anything anywhere, sum channels etc

I have a second comp that I'd use for streaming, voip, teaching and unfortunately can't shell out for another RME, lol.. I also don't need top audio quality, just the functionality.

- I see both of these cards have Loopback, but has anyone tested it/ know about implementation (for like a music teacher), when you have to easily/reliably sum.. say a mic, YT audio, standalone soft instrument, audio player,.. and send it (loopback) to "input"?

- Does MOTU M2 come with the same (control) software as the M4 model?

If the audient could do it, it would be awesome (bc of the price..;))

 

Yes M2 and M4 have the same driver and control software

 

Motu M4 (259 €)
USB C Audiointerface / 24 Bit / 192 kHz / ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC (USB bus-powered)
Dynamic range of 120 dB at the outputs
https://motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m4/
ESS-Sabre32 https://apogeedigital.com/ess-sabre

Solid State Logic SSL2 (249 €)
USB C / 24-Bit / 192 kHz / AKM Wandler (USB bus-powered)
Dynamic range of 112 dB at the outputs
https://www.solidstatelogic.com/products/ssl2-plus

Audient iD14 MKII (239 €)
USB C / 24 Bbit / 44,1 – 96 kHz (USB bus-powered)
Dynamic range of 125,5 dB at the outputs
https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/overview/

Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (104 €)
USB2.0 / 24 Bit / 44,1 – 96 kHz (USB bus-powered)
Dynamic range of 108 dB at the outputs
https://focusrite.com/de/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-solo

Steinberg UR22C (149 €)
USB 3.0 / 32 Bit integer / 192 kHz ((USB bus-powered & power supply for USB 2.0)
Dynamic range of 96 dB at the outputs
https://new.steinberg.net/audio-interfaces/ur22c/

Presonus Studio 26c (199 €)
USB C / 24 Bit / 192 kHz (USB bus-powered)
Dynamic range of 108 dB at the outputs
https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-26c

USB bus-powered / No power supply
Audio interfaces with their own power supply usually have better audio values than those that are operated with
USB bus powering. This is simply because the USB bus (at least with USB 2.0) does not provide a lot of energy,
which inevitably means that saving power has a higher priority than optimal sound.

 

Last edited: Apr 28, 2021

I've never owned a MOTU but I've read that a lot of people are still experiencing driver issues on PC. I guess it's different from system to system but I just thought I would give you a heads up!

 

You also read much about Problems with Audient Driver....Motu M4 here with Ryzen 5800 not a single Problem

 

If I was going to be recording live singers, I would want to get whatever interface I could afford with the best sounding convertors.
To my ears, and in a realistic price range, that would be an Apogee or a UAD.

Round trip ping based latency compensation for external hardware devices in Logic is 50% of why I finally decided on Logic as my DAW. It works great! and my recorded external hardware synth tracks do not timing drift at all. This is not the same concern as plugin delay or other latency based compensation, because the ping from the daw to device measures the introduced round trip latency from Midi data being output to the external device and then the time it takes for the returning audio to begin being recorded. In Logic, it's very consistent even with hw synths of very different ages.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2021

I don't think MOTU M2 / M4 have any control interface.
I didn't see it anywhere. Just the drivers.
On the other hand Audient EVO has a control interface and is very good and simple.
It has mute control and even gain power is being controled within Ableton.
Of course MOTU M4 is doing less than EVO but is doing them excellent as mentioned previously.
I wonder if I must go for more inputs and outputs since I want to use it for live... Maybe RME is the solution.
I don't like Apollo Solo. Too expensive and with not that many I/Os. I maybe wrong.

 

Yes Apollo has not many I/O but has DSP for minor latency (practically nothing). For control interface of Motu I intended for the sample and buffer size control... (not for control software like audient, most articulated in functionality compared to Motu software )... In Motu there isn’t the software control like audient because there are all command in the hardware (gain,phanthom,monitoring etc are in audio interface unlike audient... remember audient is made for portable interface with some I/O and therefore all controls are in the software to save space)

 

MOTU is rock solid and the best overall as I read from posts.
I wonder though if I should go for more channels (?). It is so hard for me to decide what audio interface worths its money without any proper knowledge... I want to buy something that will be good for my needs and I will not regret it.

 

Depend if you use all channel input at the same time for recording all you want. If instead you rec a voice or a instrument (I say one at a time...because maybe you have one or in the project you only use one hardware) i advise you an 2/4 or 4/4 like M4 audio interface and an patchbay (always if you have many instruments but use one per project or you do NOT have to record voices at the same time). With patchbay you can switch instruments when you have to record that specific instrument/mic

 

It really depends on your current and future needs. But I would make sure to have at least 4 inputs and 4 outputs. Maybe more if additional outboard gear or multitrack recording is not out of the question in the future.

 

MOTU M4 - 259 € (Available in 3-4 weeks) 25.04.2021 - Germany
https://www.thomann.de/de/motu_m4.htm

- 3 year Thomann guarantee
- 30 day money back guarantee

 

They are lying and I can bet on this They claim this "available in 3-4 weeks" from December 2020.
I contacted MOTU myself and they said that there is no way to be available at least till September.

 

First time ever I heard this comparison

 

..yeaah, mine came with no makeup, no hidden relations with others, no shady "free" stuff.. she's just doing what she's supposed to do. Must admit tho, at first the ins and the outs were a little confusing, but eventually I figured it all out..