Audio interface for recording with kemper

    Hi guys, im thinking on Rme fireface UCX (good preamps and converter from what i read) for recording direct with kemper does any one have opinion or experience with it ?



    I hear that RME are a great brand. I was looking at the babyface myself but I might hold out and save for this one. I would have to read up about it, I don't fancy the breakout cable on the babyface and lack of spdif without additional hardware. Maybe the UFX would solve this. Check SOS, that's gonna be my first port of call

    Technically, RME build great devices. But there's always some downsides you need to be aware of.


    1. Microphone Inputs (XLR connectors) on front panel only.
    I hate to have cables in front of me on my desk or on the front side of a rack.


    2. Power switch on the back side.
    C'mon how stupid is this in terms of usability?


    3. No phones level poti (wtf?)


    4. Hardware access to input channel gain (Level) less than optimal.

    5. TotalMix software is powerful but quite a bit confusing craziness on screen. :)


    I decided to go Focusrite many years ago, starting with Saffire Pro 26 i/o and now Liquid Saffire Pro 56 and for mobile use with tablet PC or notebook I have a Scarlett 2i4. Great quality, great driver support, perfect usability for me.

    Quote from AlexanderDoyle

    I hear that RME are a great brand. I was looking at the babyface myself but I might hold out and save for this one. I would have to read up about it, I don't fancy the breakout cable on the babyface and lack of spdif without additional hardware. Maybe the UFX would solve this. Check SOS, that's gonna be my first port of call

    Thank you, yes i chacked SOS they say good things about it :thumbup:


    I have and m audio fast track pro and i can not even install the softwere in my pc...

    :cursing:

    I think the phone level is set on the total mix, do you think that preamps and converter are same quality on the liquid saffire pro 56 ?

    Quote from lightbox

    I decided to go Focusrite many years ago, starting with Saffire Pro 26 i/o and now Liquid Saffire Pro 56 and for mobile use with tablet PC or notebook I have a Scarlett 2i4. Great quality, great driver support, perfect usability for me.


    +1


    I have used M-audio and Tascam interfaces and always ran into driver problems.


    So I got a Focusrite Pro 40 based on their reputation of good preamps and great driver support!


    And I would do it again, no problems at all, been good sounding and very stable performance over the years.

    I think, the pre-amps and the converters of the RME Fireface UCX are excellent, of course. No doubt about that.
    But the device is way to expensive compared to the excellent quality of the Focusrite Liquid Saffire Pro 56 and its much better design and added flexibility. Here you get 8 decent mic pre-amps (2 of them Liquid) compared to only 2 mic pre-amps in the RME. The Liquid pre-amps are advertised as emulating famous pre-amps, which they can't do 100% in terms of technical data, but they certainly can get you the character (colour) with very good quality.


    I really do pay good money for good quality, in case of the RME, price vs. quality isn't well balanced, imho.

    On the outset and from what I've read it seems for flexibility the focusrite stuff is a winner, its cheaper and it sounds good. But for pure quality the RME is going to win hands down. Do you even need all those ins on the focusrite?? id rather have less but better preamps (like a duet 2 or babyface). Only thing they lack is spdif which is where the focusrite does well. If they had spdif the winner would be clear to me and id be willing to pay the extra. I think with the RME you can get additional hardware for spdif and expanding the inputs but obvious its an added cost.

    But there is no point having more than two unless your recording drums or a live band and have a need to use them. For the user recording from their Kpa, one track at a time with drum software ( a fairly typical scenario) it's surely better to have only 2 but higher quality pres like in the duet, babyface or forte.

    The Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 looks like a great interface, if You don't need more than 2 micpres from the start.


    With 2 Mic, 6 line, 2 SPDIF, 8 ch ADAT inputs it will allow You to grow, in a half-rack size, for €288, it's a bargain...

    Hey Lightbox, would you also recommend the cheaper Focusrite Saffire Pro 14, I'm not sure about firewire and never used it.. also it omes with a power supply but I think it can also be powered form the computer?


    thanks


    steve

    Leg em down and yackem smackem

    Hi Steve,


    let me try to find pros and cons for the Saffire Pro 14 in the same way I did with the RME.


    1. Firewire vs. USB
    What I like with Firewire is (for me) the fact that I use Firewire ONLY for the Saffire, so there's little chance that communication on this "bus" gets disturbed by any other activity on my workstation. For me it has perfectly low latency with no issues. Downside of Firewire is the lack of power supply on the Firewire bus. So that's a clear no, you can't use it without external power supply. That's one of the benefits of the small Focusrite Scarlett USB devices. Problems with USB can occur if you run other USB devices like external USB hard disks especially on the same USB bus. On the other hand, modern laptops most likely won't have Firewire, so in case of mobile use you might be better off with one of the USB interfaces.
    Difficult choice that you'll have to decide for yourself. :)


    2. Inputs
    As I wrote before, I hate to have microphone/line inputs on the front panel. For me that's a "no go". If you don't mind that just forget this remark.
    If you're fine with 4 analog inputs, there's little more to say about inputs, technically the 2 mic inputs are the same Focusrite pre-amps that you get with the bigger devices. If you need some more inputs and a little bit more flexibility, how about the Saffire Pro 24 DSP? I'll write more about that in the "Outputs" section.


    3. Outputs
    In my opinion, the routing capabilities of the "14" are very limited. The "24" has 4 inputs as well, but it has 6 analog outputs plus 2 headphones outputs. Here you can start to configure individual output mixes to feed your monitors, maybe some external effects or re-amping with KPA and even 2 separate mixes on headphones e.g. for guitarist and vocalist. If you look at the "24 DSP" you even get EQ and comp/limiter in the box. Could be worth a thought or two. :)


    So I think the biggest task for you is to figure out, what ammount of flexibility you MIGHT need. Sometimes you can't know in advance but as soon as you have used the device a few days you'll happen to be in a situation where you would need 2 more outputs or 2 more inputs. If you don't want to think about gear every couple of weeks, it might be better (and cheaper on the long run) to get something that will be capable of more than your regular daily work.


    Cheers,
    Martin

    Thanks for taking the time to write all that Martin :)


    I'm really just a record at home type of guy, no band or bandmates :) The fast track pro that worked perfectly on my laptop gives me all kind of distortion sounds on everything on my desktop and have seen a lot of users with the same issues with bad drivers.
    I think I'm looking at the FOCUSRITE SCARLETT 8I6 which has that mix control software that seems to be a good way around any latency.


    so for me it's just KPA, drum software, Mic, and really nothing more..


    thanks for your time


    steve

    Leg em down and yackem smackem

    Quote from Stevoe


    Thanks, I was looking on the Thomann website, and they were about 300€ now on Amazon I see lots starting as low as 6 or 7 € :cursing:

    And could that translate in a quality loss ? beacuse such a diference in value...