# What is your audio Interface connection?



## easyrider (Jul 30, 2021)

Just installing an add in Thunderbolt Card in my PC for some Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. I’m thinking of upgrading my Interface.

Got me thinking what the majority use here?

Im guessing it will be USB 2.0

But let’s see.


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## averystemmler (Jul 30, 2021)

FireWire 400!

Change is scary.


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## easyrider (Jul 30, 2021)

averystemmler said:


> FireWire 400!
> 
> Change is scary.


Wow forgot about that!
Added to the poll 😂


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## parapentep70 (Jul 30, 2021)

I entered to see how many people like me. PCI (legacy, not PCIe!)


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## jbuhler (Jul 30, 2021)

Thunderbolt 2 on the studio rig, USB2 on my other rig.


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## RogiervG (Jul 30, 2021)

I miss an option: PCI
Lucky my Motherboard had an PCI slot still (it's rare these days)
I have a M-audio PCI interface currently in use. (my usb focusrite scarlett 2i2 died)


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## easyrider (Jul 30, 2021)

RogiervG said:


> I miss an option: PCI
> Lucky my Motherboard had an PCI slot still (it's rare these days)
> I have a M-audio PCI interface currently in use. (my usb scarlett 2i2 died)


Poll updated. 👍


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## RogiervG (Jul 30, 2021)

easyrider said:


> Poll updated. 👍


thank you


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## muk (Jul 30, 2021)

PCIe. This option is missing in the poll. Or do you count PCIe and PCI as the same?


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## easyrider (Jul 30, 2021)

muk said:


> PCIe. This option is missing in the poll. Or do you count PCIe and PCI as the same?


Updated poll


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## muk (Jul 30, 2021)

easyrider said:


> Updated poll


Thanks


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## mjsalam (Jul 30, 2021)

Still rocking my Fireface 400. One of my all time best buys.


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## easyrider (Jul 30, 2021)

mjsalam said:


> Still rocking my Fireface 400. One of my all time best buys.


I didn’t know there was even working drivers anymore for windows 10 or OSX….


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## mjsalam (Jul 30, 2021)

easyrider said:


> I didn’t know there was even working drivers anymore for windows 10 or OSX…


RME have been fantastic about driver support. Based on my experience I couldn't recommend more highly.


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## PerryD (Jul 31, 2021)

RME Raydat for years. Rock solid. Presonus Quantum TB2 after that but my PC is TB3 and the TB3 to TB2 adapter was sketchy. Presonus Quantum 2626 TB3 currently, which has been very stable like my RME Raydat.


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## José Herring (Jul 31, 2021)

parapentep70 said:


> I entered to see how many people like me. PCI (legacy, not PCIe!)


Used this up until about the middle of the pandemic. Still more stable than Thunderbolt 3. I can't see what all the fuss about thunderbolt is really about. Switching to TB3 did nothing for me in the way of latency and stability.


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## Kent (Jul 31, 2021)

easyrider said:


> Just installing an add in Thunderbolt Card in my PC for some Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. I’m thinking of upgrading my Interface.
> 
> Got me thinking what the majority use here?
> 
> ...


Thunderbolt 2 over Thunderbolt 3.


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## easyrider (Jul 31, 2021)

PerryD said:


> RME Raydat for years. Rock solid. Presonus Quantum TB2 after that but my PC is TB3 and the TB3 to TB2 adapter was sketchy. Presonus Quantum 2626 TB3 currently, which has been very stable like my RME Raydat.


I’m thinking of getting the the Quantum 2626 but I’d like to control the pre amps remotely….so I’m looking at the quantum….

What TB2 adaptor did you use?


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## easyrider (Jul 31, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Used this up until about the middle of the pandemic. Still more stable than Thunderbolt 3. I can't see what all the fuss about thunderbolt is really about. Switching to TB3 did nothing for me in the way of latency and stability.


TB is faster ( less latency ) no?

Depending on buffer and computer specs…


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## colony nofi (Jul 31, 2021)

Have been USB2 (RME) for as long as I remember. Ok - not that long. Metric halo before on FW. 

But recently we outfitted all our studios with TB3 focusrite dante gear.

And as an experiment, I'm currently running a rig at home with a virtual sound card... Dante Virtual Soundcard to be exact. Using a rednet X2P to monitor, but also going to experiment with the new AES67 connection on the neumann 750 sub as soon as it arrives into the country. 

Maybe I just want to say "Soundcards? Pffft. Who needs *physical* soundcards?"

Though I think @christianhenson has bragging rights on that one already by using inbuilt audio on his mobile rig... (though its still a soundcard of sorts....)

(Meanwhile here in Oz our mobile rigs are gathering dust... one day we'll be out in the world again...one day!!!)


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## colony nofi (Jul 31, 2021)

easyrider said:


> TB is faster ( less latency ) no?
> 
> Depending on buffer and computer specs…


Um. Its far more complicated than that.
Faster does not need to mean less latency.
Faster is not really needed for audio.
I've got other posts about this in detail on this board already. 
USB2.0 is perfectly fine for most people. The added bandwidth of USB3.0 is useful for some. We run 128 channels of Dante over a 1Gbit connection. I've seen tests running 512in+512out over 1GBit. Thunderbolt 3 is 40Gbit. 

As for latency, so much has to do with drivers. But also - we are (a lot of the time) talking about very very tiny differences that under most blind conditions you'd never know about. There is a time and a place, but for most folk - especially composers, the interface type (*IF designed well*) makes very very little difference.

There's far more variation between different USB drivers than there is between a well wriiten USB driver and a well written thunderbolt driver.


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## PerryD (Jul 31, 2021)

easyrider said:


> I’m thinking of getting the the Quantum 2626 but I’d like to control the pre amps remotely….so I’m looking at the quantum….
> 
> What TB2 adaptor did you use?


I used a Startech TB3 to TB2 adapter. It introduced a lot of RF noise. I tried adding a couple ferrite rings. That helped but didn't completely eliminate the noise.


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## José Herring (Jul 31, 2021)

easyrider said:


> TB is faster ( less latency ) no?
> 
> Depending on buffer and computer specs…


I haven't found it be the case. Faster interface + a faster computer. Same latency as my old machine. I blame ASIO drivers more than anything.


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## José Herring (Jul 31, 2021)

colony nofi said:


> Um. Its far more complicated than that.
> Faster does not need to mean less latency.
> Faster is not really needed for audio.
> I've got other posts about this in detail on this board already.
> ...


I agree. My Echo Gina PCI interface that I used for over a decade on my old i7 920 overclocked ran with the same buffers as my new stuff TB3. I see no difference and I actually think PCI was a bit more stable. But I love my current setup because it sounds so much better and I can make easier mix decisions.


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## Kent (Jul 31, 2021)

José Herring said:


> I haven't found it be the case. Faster interface + a faster computer. Same latency as my old machine. I blame ASIO drivers more than anything.


With RME (who make their own drivers, and very solidly) it is _marginally_ faster than USB — something like a tenth of a ms IIRC, and nothing that would actually affect human performance.

Still, I like to keep things off my USB bus if at all possible. Who knows or wants to keep track of what other things are sharing that internal bus's bandwidth? And, not so much with RME, but with many other manufacturers certainly, you can't necessarily be sure of the efficiency (and efficacy) of the USB driver.


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## gzapper (Jul 31, 2021)

Hey, my choice isn't in this poll!

I'm using ethernet (MHLink) for my Metric Halo LIO-8 and two 2882's. They do have usb-c as well, but ethernet hooks them all together better. This is for 20 year old boxes that have had 2 hardware upgrades and multiple software upgrades over the years.

Though last year, before this upgrade, I had to use this very amusing combo to hook them up:
Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 to thunderbolt to usb-c


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## khollister (Aug 1, 2021)

I went from an RME UCX to a UAD Apollo X6 & X8 a year or two ago (traded the UCX in against the X6). Just moved from a Babyface Pro to UAD Apollo Solo on the mobile rig because I wanted to use my UAD plugins. The total round trip latency on the Solo is very close to the BF Pro. The Solo has slightly less output latency, the RME had less input latency.


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## JamieLang (Aug 1, 2021)

I technically have a little USB2 box on the Macbook...was hell on many fronts. I literally bought the PCIe version of my RME card so if I need OSX again, I can install it on this tower since it costs the price of a crap car for a Mac with PCIe slots.


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## Audio Birdi (Aug 2, 2021)

Have a Black Lion Audio Revolution 2x2 here which is working well on PC


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## d4vec4rter (Aug 2, 2021)

Using a Steinberg AXR4U with a USB 3.1 connection. Had quite a game with it tbh. Bought a PCIe USB 3.1 card specifically for the job but it took ages before I eventually found the most up to date ASBMedia driver on the web and hooked it up so it wasn't throwing up a connection error and reverting to a USB 2.0 speed. I also get the occasional "dropout" but I don't think that's anything to do with the buffer size, more to do with Windows 10 I think and the Yamaha Steinberg USB driver. Other than that, it's a fantastic interface.


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## Breaker (Aug 2, 2021)

USB-C is just a connector and not an USB protocol. 
For example my Audient is USB 2.0 but uses an USB-C connector (USB-A at the computer’s end).


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## colony nofi (Aug 2, 2021)

Breaker said:


> USB-C is just a connector and not an USB protocol.
> For example my Audient is USB 2.0 but uses an USB-C connector (USB-A at the computer’s end).


Yes!
USB followed by a letter is a connector
USB followed by a number is a protocol (or a bunch of protocols)
And now USB4 carries thunderbolt - but even that isn't predictable.
Really cool little explainer for anyone interested.








What’s the Difference Between Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB4


Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB4, what's the difference? Take a look at what these connections have in common and what sets them apart?




plugable.com


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Audio Birdi said:


> Have a Black Lion Audio Revolution 2x2 here which is working well on PC


I know this is old, but i just got mine...using a Mac, however, the issue is the same. It runs off the computer's core audio...just curious where your level is at from the computer to feed the Revolution?


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## Justin L. Franks (Jun 16, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> I know this is old, but i just got mine...using a Mac, however, the issue is the same. It runs off the computer's core audio...just curious where your level is at from the computer to feed the Revolution?


Core Audio is just the API for audio on the Mac. If you are using an external interface, it is not using the Mac's built-in audio hardware.


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> Core Audio is just the API for audio on the Mac. If you are using an external interface, it is not using the Mac's built-in audio hardware.


the the BLA Revolution 2x2 it is. I have to go through the computer's audio sound card in order to get any sound out of the unit...usually this has always been greyed out, but not in this case and I can't figure out why. BLA told me this is normal for this interface, so I have to assume anyone on a Mac, will have the same issue.


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## Justin L. Franks (Jun 16, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> the the BLA Revolution 2x2 it is. I have to go through the computer's audio sound card in order to get any sound out of the unit...usually this has always been greyed out, but not in this case and I can't figure out why. BLA told me this is normal for this interface, so I have to assume anyone on a Mac, will have the same issue.


Connecting an external interface doesn't disable the built-in audio hardware. Both will be active, you just select the default audio device for input & output in System Preferences, and select which device that your DAW uses in your DAW's audio preferences. Having the built-in audio device available to choose in your DAW doesn't mean that it is being used when you select the external interface.


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> Connecting an external interface doesn't disable the built-in audio hardware. Both will be active, you just select the default audio device for input & output in System Preferences, and select which device that your DAW uses in your DAW's audio preferences. Having the built-in audio device available to choose in your DAW doesn't mean that it is being used when you select the external interface.


do you have the revolution hooked up to a Mac? The Revolution, no matter if it is selected as the interface within my DAW or for you tube playback...the volume of the computer is always active, where in the past it was greyed out. SO it is using the computer's sound card to essentially send volume to the interface. If the computer's slider is down, I hear nothing. BLA said that this is normal for bus powered core audio devices...I just want to know if anyone has experimented with the volume of the computer to see where it sounds best...it is bizarre to me that this is the way it works, but is what it is.


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## Justin L. Franks (Jun 16, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> do you have the revolution hooked up to a Mac? The Revolution, no matter if it is selected as the interface within my DAW or for you tube playback...the volume of the computer is always active, where in the past it was greyed out. SO it is using the computer's sound card to essentially send volume to the interface. If the computer's slider is down, I hear nothing. BLA said that this is normal for bus powered core audio devices...I just want to know if anyone has experimented with the volume of the computer to see where it sounds best...it is bizarre to me that this is the way it works, but is what it is.


I don't have this interface, but it would appear that the Revolution supports the software level control. Most audio interfaces don't. If this is the case, it doesn't mean that the built-in audio hardware is processing things, just that your interface supports this feature.

Can you run:

```
ioreg -trc AppleUSBAudioEngine
```
 in Terminal, and see if there is an entry called "IOAudioLevelControl"?

Or just run:

```
ioreg -trc AppleUSBAudioEngine | grep IOAudioLevelControl
```
 and see if there is any output.


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> I don't have this interface, but it would appear that the Revolution supports the software level control. Most audio interfaces don't. If this is the case, it doesn't mean that the built-in audio hardware is processing things, just that your interface supports this feature.
> 
> Can you run:
> 
> ...


let me check


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> I don't have this interface, but it would appear that the Revolution supports the software level control. Most audio interfaces don't. If this is the case, it doesn't mean that the built-in audio hardware is processing things, just that your interface supports this feature.
> 
> Can you run:
> 
> ...


this is what I get in Terminal


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> and see if there is any output.


this is what I got when I ran this in terminal


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## Justin L. Franks (Jun 16, 2022)

Yup, as I thought. Your interface supports the software volume control. On my Focusrite 2i4, there aren't any IOAudioLevelControl entries, and the volume control is disabled/greyed out.

I'd just keep that volume control at maximum, and use the interface's monitor level knob to adjust your volume.


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## Intron (Jun 16, 2022)

I run a Lynx Aurora (n) 16 with Thunderbolt 2. I like the fact that you can swop out cards for different connection protocols as time goes on.


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## jaketanner (Jun 16, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> Yup, as I thought. Your interface supports the software volume control. On my Focusrite 2i4, there aren't any IOAudioLevelControl entries, and the volume control is disabled/greyed out.
> 
> I'd just keep that volume control at maximum, and use the interface's monitor level knob to adjust your volume.


i do that...do you think there is any quality loss doing it this way?


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## ptram (Jun 16, 2022)

I use USB 2. This should explain why my music is always so slow!

Paolo


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