rock solid audio interface (for record and play)

JHendrix2 wrote on 4/1/2012, 4:49 PM

as I said the 002 has always been a problem

on windows 7 64 bit - especially with Sony Products

what is the most rock solid audio interface (for recording and playback)

- no pops / clicks
- no loose communication
- no lock ups
- can seamlessly switch between several audio apps without issues

Comments

Byron K wrote on 4/1/2012, 5:55 PM

RME audio interfaces are very good.

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_index.php

rs170a wrote on 4/1/2012, 7:13 PM

I have a pair of M-Audio firewire 410s at my workplace and they have been rock solid for me.
M-Audio FireWire Audio Interfaces

Mike

JHendrix2 wrote on 4/1/2012, 8:00 PM

rme...prolly great but too spendy

m-audio - if my digi box drivers suck with sony why should i try m-audio owned by avid?

rs170a wrote on 4/1/2012, 8:30 PM

m-audio - if my digi box drivers suck with sony why should i try m-audio owned by avid?

I have no idea about DigiDesign but M-Audio was a separate company eventually bought by Avid so there's no "we're better than anyone else so take it or leave it" attitude.
All I know is that any M-Audio product I've ever owned has worked and continues to work with Vegas (going back to Vegas 5 or 6) as expected.

Mike

PeterDuke wrote on 4/1/2012, 8:55 PM

I bought an M-Audio Audiophile USB unit years ago before the Avid takeover. From time to time (I think after the Avid takeover) I have downloaded updated drivers, which I think were intended to cater for Vista, (I use it on my XP box) but always had to go back to the original driver on the CD because of unreliability. However, the original driver didn't play well with SP3, so I stayed on SP2 for some while. It is only in the last year or so that I have a driver that works properly with XP with SP3.

So I am not too impressed with Avid's efforts with drivers.

Mike M. wrote on 4/1/2012, 9:18 PM

I really like my Echo Audio product. Firewire based. At the time Echo had the best drivers for Win7 x64. Great audio.

JHendrix2 wrote on 4/1/2012, 10:41 PM

yeah i had a pci layla24 and loved it...worth considering

hey i have an older yamaha o1v96....anyone know if it has good win7 64 drivers and works with vegas?

Hulk wrote on 4/1/2012, 10:59 PM

I'm using a Presonus Firestudio Tube that is rock solid with Windows 7 x64. I use Presonus Studio One for multitrack recording and mixing. It is unbelievably solid. Like I can't remember the last time it crashed.

NickHope wrote on 4/2/2012, 1:17 AM

I have an Echo Gina3G. One of them died on me after maybe 3 years, but I am in a humid tropical environment. Also the trim control is incredibly sensitive. Very difficult to get my mic level right.

I can't imagine I would get another firewire or pci unit now.

larry-peter wrote on 4/2/2012, 11:59 AM

Echo Layla on my older system has been flawless, as is a Tascam DM3200 using it's Firewire divers on my newer system (although I doubt many want to drop a couple grand on a mixer to get an excellent audio interface).

JHendrix2 wrote on 4/6/2012, 5:44 PM

echo is tempting because the driver always worked well for me

i would love the get the motu hybrid but seems like they have quite a few bad reviews on drivers

echo 699 motu 749

Woodenmike wrote on 4/6/2012, 11:24 PM

I've been using the EMU 1616m on my laptop for performance playback and the EMU 1212 on my desktop for record and playback, and have had little trouble with them. I don't know how EMU is now that Creative owns them, but the driver updates haven't caused any problems on my old cards.

JHendrix2 wrote on 4/18/2012, 12:27 PM

i guess the real clincher here is driver must be rock solid on

windows 7 64 bit - especially with Vegas 10e

Laurence wrote on 4/18/2012, 8:12 PM

Here is some totally different advice:

Get a cheap audio interface that uses the generic built in Windows USB audio driver rather than it's own unique driver.

Expensive high performance USB audio interfaces use proprietary drivers for two reasons: low ASIO latency, and 24 bit audio recording. The generic audio has higher latency (processing time) and is stuck at 16 bits. The good news is that 16 bits is still CD quality, and while it isn't low latency ASIO, the generic Windows USB audio driver is better than most other drivers in terms of low CPU usage and stability. If low latency is important to you (which is usually because you are recording music and want to hear the sound you are recording with added plugin effects) you can use the excellent ASIO4ALL driver from asio4all.com which will give you low latency, low CPU usage and high stability, but still be limited to 16 bits.

If you are doing video, the chances are very good that you will be happier with a generic USB driver interface than a high end one because of the lower CPU use and greater stability. I see no reason for anyone who doesn't have a separate sound isolated audio room to use anything more than 16 bits.

Anyway, a really good but inexpensive generic USB driver audio interface is the ART Dual Pre:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/615405-REG/ART_USBDUALPREPS_USB_Dual_Pre.html

This is a USB 1.1 audio interface with phantom power and direct monitoring (only stereo unfortunately) that sounds great, is cheap, rubber coated around the edges, and will give you really good 16 bit audio with the generic Windows USB audio driver that is already there.

I just got one myself for another reason: it also works great with the iPad.