Will I benefit from choosing a newer audio interface?

[Tomas E]

Is that a pop I hear at about 22 seconds? However I don't like it. Something similar or identical appears later on as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IHLZsK-gsM

[bayswater]

Is that a pop I hear at about 22 seconds? However I don't like it. Something similar or identical appears later on as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IHLZsK-gsM

There's something there that doesn't fit. It's not the drum, not the spring reverb, ... Could it be an artifact from the compression used to get it on Youtube?

[Tomas E]

Beware of specs. While they may not lie, they cannot tell the whole truth. This is especially true in the world of analog where your mic, cable, preamp and interface— and how you set them up in relation to each other —each contribute to the overall sound.

Use your ears. Don't Rush out to buy brand Y just because someone else tells you he doesn't like brand M.

If you use the preamp outs only (as I do) that any switching advantages of the mixer don't mean a thing. I'm happy with the six in my 1402vlz Pro but they aren't the only ones I own or use.

Btw, remarks about disliking something that was last examined 15 years ago should be taken with a mound of salt. It's the same as my comparing the current Yamaha products to the horrible mixer that my band used on tour in the early '90s. The vlz-Pro was the 3rd generation of six preamps form Mackie — the present being the Onyx.

If you do feel you need something else, then go out, listen, bring headphones.

Yeah I know one has to bear in mind several parameters. But it's been awhile - 10 years or so - since I was in this world of checking specs, which is why I found it remarkable that the figures I presented wasn't the other way around.

The price tag tells you something initially. Then you have to further investigate and compare your needs to the units in question, bouncing ideas back and forth and so on.

Sadly there aren't that many people around were I live with the right knowledge, and the stores do not hold enough alternatives for you to just bring your headphones there and listen. But I'm beginning to get a grip on what I need and now it's more a matter of fine tuning my thinking so to say.

I also got curious about digital mixers and stumbled across the Yamaha TF1. I can't afford it and I don't need it but it certainly made me drool.

[Tomas E]

Is that a pop I hear at about 22 seconds? However I don't like it. Something similar or identical appears later on as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IHLZsK-gsM

There's something there that doesn't fit. It's not the drum, not the spring reverb, ... Could it be an artifact from the compression used to get it on Youtube?

Maybe, I don't know.

[mhschmieder]

Mike, be fair: it isn't the Onyx we were talking about. The Onyx is a serious upgrade from the previous VLZ models. But the Onyx wasn't being discussed, until you mentioned it just now.

My impression was that this was more about comparing what people already have, to current digital I/O's, and whether there is a gain in getting a new digital I/O vs. using a slightly older digital I/O or an older analog I/O in conjunction with throughput via ADAT expansion or just via the inputs of a Digital I/O and bypassing the gain stage (when possible).

One of my points about the Focusrite is that it has an advantage in offering an almost-nil gain stage for pretty close to what would qualify as true throughput. This comes in handy for combining gear and getting the best out of each piece, as well as ghost tracking via external gear.

Many interfaces start at a minimum of 16dB or more of gain. Usually this is because they offer larger maximum gain (such as to support ribbon mics); it is difficult to make an affordable mic pre with a TOTAL dynamic range more than 60dB, so usually a higher upper limit means a higher floor.

These are the specs that often matter the most in terms of people's actual needs, and yet aren't the easiest to come by. It is difficult to find out the minimum gain setting from user manuals as it often isn't listed. One can use a probe to find out for oneself, of course, if one already has the gear or knows someone who has one already.

S/N specs can be quite misleading. My own company doesn't publish "standard specs" because we don't believe they are useful and that they are in fact very misleading. We publish different specs that many companies are afraid to publish. It's a very testy subject (no pun intended) in the audio world.

[Tomas E]

I finally decided to go for a MOTU UltraLite AVB. Got it the other day, looks great, sounds great too