# Feedback on inexpensive USB interfaces



## Bemused (Mar 26, 2021)

Hi All. Having just upgraded my mobo,cpu,ram(to Asus Prime B460 Plus, i5-10600, 16gb corsair) on my audio PC (running W10 20H2)
I have found my old M Audio Fast Track Pro though is available in my daw (Cakewalk by Bandlab & Sonar) and ran fine before the h/w upgrade, though it was not passed for W10 by Avid. Is now flaky and has dropouts and stuttering. I have done all the adjustments possible. When this occurs the meters are still active. There are droputs in programmes outside the daw such as Soundforge, TRacks 5, and media player (again meters show sound activity just that it dies in the phones,speakers).
So I'm fairly sure the M Audio is now past it. And looking for an inexpensive alternative. I only need 2 inputs/outputs, but need midi interface built in. I've narrowed it down to Presonus 24c (I have concerns on the reported low h/phone output, Presonus 26c, and MOTU M2 (however this is as rare to buy as unicorn farts here in the UK).
The Amount of negative and positive reviews is very confusing on all cheap interfaces (my budget is £160). Does anyone have experience of the Presonus units. And could give some feedback. Much Appreciated.


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## AudioLoco (Mar 26, 2021)

No experience with the presonus ones, but I have suggested the Steinberg UR22 to my dad who is just starting out with recording (never too late...).We have done a couple of test recordings and it works really nicely actually.No complaints for the price.


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## easyrider (Mar 26, 2021)

Up the budget a tad and Get SSL2 +

I’ve seen on Amazon for £175


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## SlHarder (Mar 26, 2021)

Motu M2 and Cakewalk have been solid for me since early 2020. Read elsewhere (couldn't resurrect that link, so anecdotal comment by me) that scarcity is caused by their popularity.


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## Sunny Schramm (Mar 26, 2021)

Motu M2 is an absolute Killer in Sound, Preamps, Latency, Build-Quality, stable Drivers, etc. ❤️


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## Bemused (Mar 26, 2021)

Thanks all. It seems my suspicions about MOTU are correct. I'll have to hang until hopefully stock starts to come in (perhaps they are stuck on that ship in the Suez Canal!). I think my second choice would be the Presonus 26c. I have looked at the Steinberg. But a good reviewer in Germany demonstrated the noise levels than were surprising. And the SSL start at a higher level (over £210) than I can budget for.


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## proggermusic (Mar 26, 2021)

I agree with the choir that in that price range, the MOTU M2 or M4 would be the thing to get nowadays. They've really seemed to knock it out of the park with those little boxes.

Before I upgraded to RME, I used to use a Steinberg UR22 quite a bit, and I actually really like that box too. I don't think noise levels would be anything you'd notice unless you were recording extremely quiet sources. I never noticed noise as an issue when using it, and I did quite a bit of professional work on it (tracks that ended up on the History Channel, Bravo TV, and even a Splice sample pack).


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## Sunny Schramm (Mar 26, 2021)

Bemused said:


> Thanks all. It seems my suspicions about MOTU are correct. I'll have to hang until hopefully stock starts to come in (perhaps they are stuck on that ship in the Suez Canal!). I think my second choice would be the Presonus 26c. I have looked at the Steinberg. But a good reviewer in Germany demonstrated the noise levels than were surprising. And the SSL start at a higher level (over £210) than I can budget for.


Yeah - the SSL is also not the best at noise:


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## ptram (Mar 27, 2021)

Bemused said:


> But a good reviewer in Germany demonstrated the noise levels than were surprising.


These are noise levels that can be measured with dedicated tools, but not perceived, even in the most silent of the rooms. Sometimes, measured noise is the result of musical choices made somewhere in the converters.

Paolo


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## shropshirelad (Mar 27, 2021)

I'm very happy with my Audient iD14, solid build, good pre-amps and provides enough clean gain to power a recently acquired SM57B!


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## Bemused (Mar 27, 2021)

I've found this channel very useful and more in depth than most in evaluating interfaces
Julian Krause - YouTube


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## gsilbers (Mar 28, 2021)

Turns out after a decade of competition the converters and preamps on all of these cheap interface are as good as the high end stuff. 
bad new is that darn drivers.

I bought a used motu and it’s driver sucks. Behringer also sucks.
Rme ... rock solid.
Damn it.

Anyways, I would suggest looking more into the Audio drivers of these interfaces and the reviews vs your system and os.


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## rrichard63 (Mar 28, 2021)

A lot of users (including me) have good luck with the Focusrite Scarlett series. The Scarlett 4i4 is 144 GBP at Thomann UK. The less expensive 2i2 lacks MIDI.


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## Bemused (Mar 29, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> Turns out after a decade of competition the converters and preamps on all of these cheap interface are as good as the high end stuff.
> bad new is that darn drivers.
> 
> I bought a used motu and it’s driver sucks. Behringer also sucks.
> ...


I agree. At this price point it becomes the law of diminishing returns regarding specs. However if you just google windows drivers on any of the units. You get a different picture. And it's quite a surprise the issues at play out there. My searching is now based on a unit with the least "chat" about drivers. Though they all have some..... "Bless you Microsoft!"


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## Loïc D (Mar 29, 2021)

rrichard63 said:


> A lot of users (including me) have good luck with the Focusrite Scarlett series. The Scarlett 4i4 is 144 GBP at Thomann UK. The less expensive 2i2 lacks MIDI.


Agreed. I’m using a 2i2 (Gen1) until I switch to another interface later.
On Mac, it does the job greatly if you stay in-the-box (input preamps are not very good).


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## Brasart (Mar 29, 2021)

I just picked up the SSL2+ and it's great (Mac), my advice is to stay clear from the recent M-Audio interfaces, I had the quite recent M-Track 2X2M and it was pure trash


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## jononotbono (Mar 29, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> I bought a used motu and it’s driver sucks.


That really surprises me. MOTU has always been such a solid brand. I don’t use my MOTU HD192 anymore as I changed to Universal Audio but I was using it in December temporarily and it worked perfectly and they continuously bring out drivers for their discontinued hardware. I’ve also heard good things about their Thunderbolt Interfaces. Even Charlie Clouser has praised their TB interfaces.


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## Bemused (Mar 29, 2021)

Oh well. Having looked at my preferred outlet to purchase from here in the Uk (SCAN Audio). It seems the MOTU 2 has been on order since Christmas with very little chance of anything in the future. Some outlets talking of a few months at least. So having to go with the Presonus 26c. Thanks for all the suggestions.


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