Need help for finding a recording audio interface.

[Mischievous]

Hello!

 

I want to progress down the road of sound design and want to get a setup to record audio with. Not music, but sounds for use in games or movies.

 

So far I've been chugging along with a Rhode Video Mic Go duck taped to a Surface Pro 4 ((The 3.5 mm jack has to be pressed in with tape to lower the noise for some reason)).

 

Now I want the good stuff.  Or well. Stuff that's worth it.

 

I've been struggling with figuring out what to get.

 

I immediately saw the likes of Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, but just as quickly I saw all the issues people have with it. And also I've grown increasingly distrustful of "broad audience made for everyone recording studio in your bedroom" type of 100 buck audio gear, so I don't want it or anything in its price range.

 

Where I am at now, is eyeing the Steinberg UR-RT4, it seems people don't have issues with it, but all the reviews talking almost exclusively about the Rupert Neve Designs Transformers is making me weary. I don't think I need Rupert Neve Designs Transformers for recording sounds from interesting garbage cans and plastic bottles.

 

And... Yeah I am kinda stuck, I think I am stuck in some filter bubble on google because all the articles I find are in the "Best audio recorders under 100$ of 2021" range and I just don't trust such articles anymore. ((I've been burned before))

 

TLDR;

 

What I need is something with 2 or 4 XLR inputs ((future proof if I want to use more than 2 mics)). A really low EIN like -128 or close to the theoretical limit of -130 ((Like the Audient iD4 but that's only 1 XLR input)), a good dynamic range, and hopefully something that doesn't have a 1 in 100 change to arrive defective. I'll be happy to pay for it.

[gal-m]

How about a MOTU M4 @Mischievous? 

I have the M2 and LOVE it  

[Mischievous]

The MOTU M4 and M2 seem to be loved by their users. Unfortunately the reputable store for audio gear in my city doesn't offer MOTU.

 

I am considering the Focusrite Clarett 4PRE USB now.

It has an EIN of -128 and a dynamic range of 118 db.

Only 57 db Gain , which some cite as a downside though.

And then there's the wheel of fortune that Focusrite seems to be in regards of weather or not I randomly get a working unit out of the box or something defective.

 

But the store does have a lot of them so at least I could cycle through them until I get one that works.

[gal-m]

11 hours ago, Mischievous said:

And then there's the wheel of fortune that Focusrite seems to be in regards of weather or not I randomly get a working unit out of the box or something defective

Focusrite units have always served well in the past.. Not sure how they are at this moment because I haven't bought a new one in quite a while. Every piece of tech has a chance of being defective (even the most expensive best quality products can be defective) so I wouldn't base my choice based on a potential defect issue, because you might as well just buy nothing ever, if you know what I mean.

11 hours ago, Mischievous said:

But the store does have a lot of them so at least I could cycle through them until I get one that works

That will work well, since stores are usually obligated to replace (defective) units in the first week or two.

 

 

Also @Mischievous be sure to quote or better yet TAG the people you're talking to on here, because unless they follow your thread there's no way for them to know when you comment/reply - I happened to check this thread today, because I was interested in your decision, which is the only reason I'm replying.

[Orbital_Aurora]

As often times you need to think about your entire audio chain to get the best value possible.

If you go for an expensive soundcard you need to have the mic and acoustic treatment to use it in the best condidtion possible. But i guess you already know that.

RME, MOTU, Antelope, Universal Audio are good professional audio brands that i can easily recommend.
Focusrite makes more entry level equipement but the 2i2 and the scarlett preamps are completly valid options even if yeah, theres better things wich are more expensive.

Be very careful with older soundcards tho. Like the Focusrite clarett and scarlett first gen. The Drivers are completely out of date and act incredibly weird on current machines. It is probably the case with other older soundcards but those two are the one i experienced the most problems.



 

[Mischievous]

@gal-m Noted, I will tag people now. And I acknowledge what you are saying, I noticed that everything has a chance to arrive defective, even the high end stuff  so I'll remove that from my search criteria.

 

The more I read about the Focusrite Clarett 4PRE USB the more I like it. Even if it is entry level, it feels like it's at the latter end of the level. Has an external power supply, no unnecessary fluff that can go wrong, it feels like a great straight forward thing. It does one thing and it does it well, or so I get the feeling. Most other interfaces in the price range I want to start with, generally seem to bang on Features. I already fell for that My 7:1 AV Receiver is a feature rich box of sci-fi ((Sony STR-DN1080)) and it arrived defective. And I don't even use the features.

 

I'll sleep on it for a few days. And then start looking for mics that will cooperate well with the Clarett. I want to start with a matched stereo pair of some sort. My ultimate goal is to record thunder strikes. But do it well. Real life thunder sounds so expansive and spacious and I love it. Thunder in video-games sounds pretty bad in comparison, narrow and weak. I imagine a ORTF setup with a matched set will do the trick. Just need to find Mics that can handle the pressure level that arrives here after a good thunder strike.

 

((I realize I am using an externally powered interface for something that could be technically considered field recording but I'll manage.))

 

@Orbital_Aurora I will remember those names for future reference. I did stumble upon the Antelope yesterday. It's odd that it took me about four days to get google to show me something other than Focusrite or Steinbergs.

 

Edit:

Someone please convince me that I don't need the Antelope Audio Discrete 4 Synergy Core because it's perfect in every way imaginable. Just expensive as hell

[Orbital_Aurora]

2 hours ago, Mischievous said:

 

((I realize I am using an externally powered interface for something that could be technically considered field recording but I'll manage.))

Have you considered External audio recorders such as Zoom H6, NAGRA and Soundevice Mixpre or 633 ? If you do mainly field work those could be decent options. Some of them can even be used as audio interface, I can't remember exactly Wich can and Wich can not but a friend of mine uses that to record stuff on the field and do music at home and he is quite satisfied with this workflow.

 

2 hours ago, Mischievous said:

looking for mics

A very good pair of entry level mics are the Oktava ones. Professional sound engineers will tell you that they are cheapo options and tell you that shchoeps that cost 15 times are much are better but I personally do think that in many cases they are enough and at around 400€ are unmatched in term of value for a stereo pair.

 

2 hours ago, Mischievous said:

Focusrite or Steinbergs.

Focusrite and Steinberg are really dominant in the entry level soundcard, I owned an ur22 mk I and a Scarlett 18i20 mk II and was satisfied with both. But I do not think they would satisfy your needs where good preamps are more important than in the home recording space that those two occupy

[Mischievous]

@Orbital_Aurora I have looked at portable recorders but they are a bit more noisy. It is acceptable noise but if I am going to spend money on this, I want to get the quietest gear I can. Cleaning noise has been 80% of my experience in amateur recording ((I know it's not just the gear that matters but every bit helps)). One of the reasons I am looking at the Focusrite Clarett 2/4PRE is its low relative noise (( -128 EIN)). This great channel offers measurements that seem to be missing from the official retailer specifications.

And I don't want to get a USB Bus powered one because with my luck I'll 100% end up having USB ground loop noise and then I'll have to spend extra on USB noise cleaners.

 

Getting 12 volts power supply isn't that hard if I ever need to be truly portable with one of these.

 

I'll look at Oktava tomorrow.

[Orbital_Aurora]

6 hours ago, Mischievous said:

Focusrite Clarett 2/4PRE

I would personally avoid the clarett, it is a very old design and drivers and control hub are a pain to work with.

 

I don't know how experienced you are in sound engineering but don't get paranoid about noise. And don't forget for field use, if you need to bring a computer with you, that's noise.

 

External recorders are maybe a bit more noisy than high end music oriented equipement. But I don't fill like this would matter in this context. And here again if zoom is more of a prosumer brand, cantar, Soundevice and NAGRA have much higher standard

[Mischievous]

@Orbital_Aurora Old Drivers huh. I was hoping that the Gen 3's drivers wouldn't be that old.

 

Well I'll go check out the brands you suggested and re-evaluate things.

[thewill102]

I would recommend the Audient iD14 Mk2. I own the smaller version, the iD4 Mk2 and it works like a charm. No issues whatsoever. Works with a single USB-C cable and can power up to 600Ohm headphones.

[Derkoli]

For what you're after, the RME Fireface UCX is what comes to mind first. Plenty of connectivity options, 2 mic inputs, measures well, tonnes of documentation, lots of settings, and RME's pretty damn good customer service. I use alot of RME gear, and I've had no issues with any of it.

 

Also, don't worry too much about EIN. The amount of noise in your DAC will most likely be higher than any EIN, so you won't hear any benefit.

 

 

[alex67]

You can save on a headset, buy at an average price, and then use plugins for sound and video.
https://crumplepop.com/product/fcpx-premiere-plugin-rustleremover-ai/

[The Flying Sloth]

If you're looking to record Foley sound I think a portable recorder may be more what you're looking for, the Zoom line of portable recorders are really good (I've used the h4n a bunch myself) and they just record onto an SD card.

 

If you're specifically looking for a USB interface I'd suggest you pay close attention to the room it's going in so that it can be properly acoustically treated.

 

More importantly perhaps is for you to understand how many microphones you need to be recording with at the same time, see, if you only need a couple of inputs the recommendations we will have for you are vastly different (Audient have great pres at a decent price for small format interfaces) than we would have if you need a bunch of channels (RME digiface USB has lowest dollar per channel)

 

Price is also important and if you're on a small budget you can't get better value than the Behringer UMC HD series, the preamps may not be the greatest but they Dona damn fine job for the money and what they are.

[Mischievous]

Hello again everyone. I am extremely grateful for all the support offered. After much deliberation I've decided to get the; Sound Devices MixPre-3 II

Given my goal parameters ((And price I'm willing to part)) I could find nothing that would suit me better than this guy.

 

Special thanks to @Orbital_Aurora for the patience with me.

 

 

 

[Orbital_Aurora]

19 hours ago, Mischievous said:

Hello again everyone. I am extremely grateful for all the support offered. After much deliberation I've decided to get the; Sound Devices MixPre-3 II

Given my goal parameters ((And price I'm willing to part)) I could find nothing that would suit me better than this guy.

 

Special thanks to @Orbital_Aurora for the patience with me.

 

 

 

Great choice have fun recording things !

[dalekphalm]

For field recorders, I have the Zoom H4n Pro - we use it both as a field recorder and a USB Audio Interface. It's not the best interface (buggy and laggy in some software - works damn well in GarageBand though), but it works well enough.

 

The mics themselves on it (stereo pair in 110* orientation) are extremely sensitive and the quality is decent. We also use it with an MXL 990 which is a fantastic pair (used this combination in the home studio and in the field) - note: I'm not saying the MXL 990 is suitable for your needs - just giving context on our usage.