Hi guys,
I've gone through 3 audio interfaces trying to find one that does what I want, have a 4 channel output from a 4 channel card, not twin stereo.
Focusrite 2i4 2nd gen - This worked, you could set it to have front and rear left and right, all 4 channels as a single device, but it has no thump protection and i fear for my tweeters every time my pc goes into standby, it also had awful noise rejection
Motu M4 - Loved everything about this, but the outputs were 2 sets of stereo outputs, which is not suitable for my needs
UA Volt 476 - Loved this unit too, but same problem as above, despite their videos saying that it has 4 discrete outputs on the 4 channel outputs
Sound blaster AE-9 - Has the channels I need, but noise rejection is absolutely non existent and makes my speakers sound like a 90's modem when i scroll a website, also chintzy that they used different dacs and opamps in the main 2 channels to the rest
I looked at some of the other options, like the clarett+ 4, but that has thump protection only on 2 of the 4 outputs, why cheap out like this focusrite, this is supposed to be your "good" line!
I want something that's NOT rack sized, and around £300 or less would be great.
And no, running voicemeter or some other routing software to create a virtual multichannel card is NOT suitable for my needs.
thanks in advance, Tim
I've gone through 3 audio interfaces trying to find one that does what I want, have a 4 channel output from a 4 channel card, not twin stereo.
Focusrite 2i4 2nd gen - This worked, you could set it to have front and rear left and right, all 4 channels as a single device, but it has no thump protection and i fear for my tweeters every time my pc goes into standby, it also had awful noise rejection
Motu M4 - Loved everything about this, but the outputs were 2 sets of stereo outputs, which is not suitable for my needs
UA Volt 476 - Loved this unit too, but same problem as above, despite their videos saying that it has 4 discrete outputs on the 4 channel outputs
Sound blaster AE-9 - Has the channels I need, but noise rejection is absolutely non existent and makes my speakers sound like a 90's modem when i scroll a website, also chintzy that they used different dacs and opamps in the main 2 channels to the rest
I looked at some of the other options, like the clarett+ 4, but that has thump protection only on 2 of the 4 outputs, why cheap out like this focusrite, this is supposed to be your "good" line!
I want something that's NOT rack sized, and around £300 or less would be great.
And no, running voicemeter or some other routing software to create a virtual multichannel card is NOT suitable for my needs.
thanks in advance, Tim
You (as a user) are dependent on the drivers for the OS. From what you write and my own experience with some of these interfaces I get the idea you are using Windows. If the windows driver is not written to include a single mode in which all the channels are simultaneously available, you are outta luck.
Note that often times under Linux, when the interface is supported, you can send audio to all the channels at once or a subset of them. Again it depends on how the kernel driver was written, but IMHO Linux seems to always make it possible to use all the I/O of the interface at the same time.
You will definitely get some thumps from USB bus powered interfaces, so plan on looking for one with its own power supply. Another member of the Scarlett line might work well for you, e.g. the 8i6:
https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Scarlett-Audio-Interface-Tools/dp/B07QNZ3V34
At about 235 Pounds Sterling delivered that fits within your budget. Also, make sure you are using the ASIO driver and not the WDM one. Supposedly the ASIO driver exposes all the channels.
If it does not offer output to all four channels via one device even with ASIO then send it back to Jeff Bezos.
Note that often times under Linux, when the interface is supported, you can send audio to all the channels at once or a subset of them. Again it depends on how the kernel driver was written, but IMHO Linux seems to always make it possible to use all the I/O of the interface at the same time.
You will definitely get some thumps from USB bus powered interfaces, so plan on looking for one with its own power supply. Another member of the Scarlett line might work well for you, e.g. the 8i6:
https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Scarlett-Audio-Interface-Tools/dp/B07QNZ3V34
At about 235 Pounds Sterling delivered that fits within your budget. Also, make sure you are using the ASIO driver and not the WDM one. Supposedly the ASIO driver exposes all the channels.
If it does not offer output to all four channels via one device even with ASIO then send it back to Jeff Bezos.
it can't be ASIO unfortunately (equalizer APO usage)
and yeh, using windows.
The old 2i4 let you configure it as a quad channel in windows device settings, hopefully the new ones do too.
Unfortunately even though focusrite have mains powered units, they explicitly state that they don't have thump protection on all channels, hopefully that's only applicable to the mains power and not the USB connection.
I am forced to abuse amazon returns, my local pro music store didn't know, just sucks that most of these will just end up in the trash when there's nothing wrong with them. truly is the worst of consumerism.
and yeh, using windows.
The old 2i4 let you configure it as a quad channel in windows device settings, hopefully the new ones do too.
Unfortunately even though focusrite have mains powered units, they explicitly state that they don't have thump protection on all channels, hopefully that's only applicable to the mains power and not the USB connection.
I am forced to abuse amazon returns, my local pro music store didn't know, just sucks that most of these will just end up in the trash when there's nothing wrong with them. truly is the worst of consumerism.
I had a brief look at camilladsp, and personally I like a usable frontend, it's not a "set and done" kind of setup that I'm using this for.
Unless there's something I'm missing about camilla? also would camilla let me use multiple devices?
I'm very surprised no-ones made a simple, minidsp style frontend for any digital crossover platform, again, unless i'm mistaken?
Unless there's something I'm missing about camilla? also would camilla let me use multiple devices?
I'm very surprised no-ones made a simple, minidsp style frontend for any digital crossover platform, again, unless i'm mistaken?
You might take a look at this software, which is probably closer to the simple interface you want:
https://rruitr.home.xs4all.nl/sxq.html
Supposedly it can be configured to use multi-output-devices.
https://rruitr.home.xs4all.nl/sxq.html
Supposedly it can be configured to use multi-output-devices.
Hi - consider looking at some used RME interfaces. Their Totalmix software enables a ton of flexibility in channel mapping and submixing. Example - I have a couple legacy PCI HDSP 9652 cards which still are supported and sound great. There are a number of external USB interfaces from RME to consider.
My PC is set to go into sleep with 5 mins of inactivity as electricity prices are mental right now. It starts back up in a couple of seconds so i can't justify leaving it idling, especially as i've got a very power hungry setup. Which is also why i can't use Voicemeter or similar to do virtual routing, as they stop the pc going to sleep.
Looks like the right kind of thing, but it relies on virtual cables, which stops the pc going to sleep, which is a necessity for me.
I don't think I'm that crazy asking for a 4 channel output card to actually have a 4 channel output, I've got a focusrite 8i6 on the way tomorrow, fingers crossed they didn't get rid of multichannel in their 3rd gen line!
If this next one fails then I guess I'll just bite the bullet on a minidsp flex and get any old 2 input interface for mic measuring and headphone usage.
If this next one fails then I guess I'll just bite the bullet on a minidsp flex and get any old 2 input interface for mic measuring and headphone usage.
M-Audio used to make some nice sound cards. I nearly bought a used one from a local pawn shop, but it was missing the expansion cable and overpriced. I don't remember the model (Delta?), but according to my notes the driver even supported bass management when used for multichannel surround sound.
@timreeves :
Motu M4 - the device offers only 4-channel IN/OUT streams - search for bNrChannels in https://gist.github.com/puleglot/ec75ff504b8727096c2de7c1a630864a Your driver vendor is responsible for the split to multiple stereo streams within your OS.
I could not find any comparable info for the UA Volt 476, but my 2 cents it's the very same case.
Motu M4 - the device offers only 4-channel IN/OUT streams - search for bNrChannels in https://gist.github.com/puleglot/ec75ff504b8727096c2de7c1a630864a Your driver vendor is responsible for the split to multiple stereo streams within your OS.
I could not find any comparable info for the UA Volt 476, but my 2 cents it's the very same case.
The Scarlett 8i6 seems to be doing the job so far, which is a relief, wish they did a 6 or 8 channel desktop sized device but you can't win them all.
The umc204hd looks like an awesome budget option for someone looking to play with active crossovers, but it is bus powered and $100, so probably thumps.
The umc204hd looks like an awesome budget option for someone looking to play with active crossovers, but it is bus powered and $100, so probably thumps.
I think this is entirely a Windows driver/sound architecture thing. The old WDM audio stack in Windows used to see multichannel interfaces as multiple interfaces with two channels each.
However, wasapi works just like ASIO, where each audio channel is independant. So if your application can use wasapi, you should make this work.
However, wasapi works just like ASIO, where each audio channel is independant. So if your application can use wasapi, you should make this work.
ASIO tends to keep audio stream ON, even no audio stream send, if not set to shut down (released) when not needed (this release feature can be found on many/most DAW's as for an example) so maybe this prevents Windows to go sleep...?