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Perhaps I Should Consider A New Audio Interface ?

sostenuto said:
THX !
Overly covered on HDfones. Mostly use DT880 Edition 600 ohm.
Also have Schitt Audio - Asgard Amp/Preamp driven from their Modi+ DAC - for any alternates.

EVO 16 vs iD44 MKII seems to be very close ..... most sources flipping coin except for individual, subtle variations /needs. Either footprint works, but desktop position, not rack.
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If all you want is extra line inputs have you considered an ADAT expander like the Behringer ADA8200?
 
I used ADA8200 and it's predecessor for over ten years, but even though they weren't bad per se, there was a considerable upgrade in the sound quality when I switched to Scarlett and made some A/B recording test with both.
 
Any reason to pick the Motu M2 over the Universal Audio Volt 2, or any other budget interface? I'm running it on a Mac.

My Focusrite 2i4 (2nd gen) is dying. The right channel has no output unless significant pressure is applied to the right side of the monitor volume knob. I currently have a piece of strong tape going from the face of the knob to around the right side of the chassis, and am using the master fader in Logic as my volume control. Who knows how long that will work for.

This is the 2nd Scarlett to fail on me in less than 5 years, so I'm not buying a third. All I need is stereo inputs, and a preamp that won't clip with active guitar pickups like the 1st gen Scarlett 2i2 did. MIDI would be nice, but not needed at the moment (I sold off my last external synth a while ago, but it would be nice to have if I decide to pick something up in the future). A nice headphone out would be great too. I just have 80Ω DT 770's, so not really needed right now, but have been considering upgrading, and its replacement might need more power.

Oh, and the monitor control has to be on the front, not the top. My audio interface sits under the right side of my iMac's screen, and an interface with top-mounted controls would take up additional desk space which is already limited.

I'm leaning towards the Volt 2 because of the free UAD Essentials offer.
 
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Between the Volt and the M2, I'd personally get the M2. MOTU seems to have crammed some pretty phenomenal performance into those little boxes, and you can get the UAD Essentials (native) for cheap from many sources these days.

The Volt interfaces don't have the SHARC DSP capabilities that the Apollo boxes have, from what I understand – in case that was a factor. :)
 
DaddyO said:
I bought a Steinberg UR22 (original model) some time around 2013, and it has served me well for more than ten years. I have used the Steinberg and then Yamaha Steinberg ASIO drivers, never any problem with VE Pro, Cubase, Dorico, or Studio One. All of a sudden after updating Studio One to 6.6 it began returning a consistent, constant stuttering from any track connected to VE Pro. (Tracks that hosted the Synchron Player directly were not affected.)

If I switched Studio One's audio setting for ASIO from the Yamaha Steinberg driver to Windows Audio, the problem disappeared. My driver was the current version.

I could, of course, experiment with different ASIO drivers that will work (and I no doubt will), but I could also consider whether it is time for me to get a new, reputable audio interface.
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I have a UR22, VEP, Studio, if you give me more details I could see if it happens to me as well.
 
kitekrazy, thanks for your generous offer to look into it.

As it turns out, the problem has disappeared on it's own. I have again been working successfully in Studio One since not long after I reported this. DAW gremlins, I guess.

(I should mention that there really were no other details I could think of other than what I originally shared. That's what made the problem so head-shaking. If it should come up again, I will revisit it in this thread and share any further details I find.)

Again, thanks.
 
proggermusic said:
Between the Volt and the M2, I'd personally get the M2. MOTU seems to have crammed some pretty phenomenal performance into those little boxes, and you can get the UAD Essentials (native) for cheap from many sources these days.

The Volt interfaces don't have the SHARC DSP capabilities that the Apollo boxes have, from what I understand – in case that was a factor. :)
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It appears the M2 may have a somewhat weak headphone output compared to the Volt 2. Does anyone with an M2 have any comments on how well it drives headphones? I only have 80-ohm DT 770's right now, but will probably upgrade.

Perhaps I Should Consider A New Audio Interface ?
 
Justin L. Franks said:
It appears the M2 may have a somewhat weak headphone output compared to the Volt 2. Does anyone with an M2 have any comments on how well it drives headphones? I only have 80-ohm DT 770's right now, but will probably upgrade.

Perhaps I Should Consider A New Audio Interface ?
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Hi Justin, I own both. I have the M2 on my laptop at home (BabyFace Pro on my tower) which I use with DT 990 Pro 80-Ohm cans, and I'm listening to After the Storm by Norman Brown as I write this. If I crank the M2 up to 10 I'll be doing ear damage. By the 1:30-2:00 position the volume is huge and punchy and I'm loving it. If my wife called out to me, no way would I hear her. The other night I plugged in my new 48-Ohm 770 Pro X's at the same volume without lowering it and my head almost imploded. The M2 has plenty of juice for the DT series. If my 80-ohm open backs are this loud, your 770 closed back will probably be that much more.

So last year I bought a Volt 2 because of all you are reading... the charts and graphs showed it was somehow superior. Used it for a while, sounds great, and yeah, maybe I only need to go to 12:00 for the same volume, but I ended up putting the M2 back on my rig. Instead of selling it, the Volt 2 is now on my work PC tower with DT 990 Edition 32-ohm cans to listen to music there. Sounds great as expected, but the M2 is the winner in my book for a $200 interface for a few reasons:
  • Sound quality is totally there
  • Drivers work excellent on a 12th Gen 10-core/16-thread running Win 11 Pro and Cubase 13 Pro (and that's coming from a Babyface Pro owner)
  • The Meters. Woof. 'Nuff said. Now that I have 'em, the two green/yellow/red blips on the Volt are a joke.
  • LOOPBACK: easy-peazy on the M2, shows up as an input choice in Cubase. Volt 2 does NOT have it.
  • The knobs: feel awesome on the M2 with a great grip surface. The Volt 2 has plastic smooth "yeah I guess they're OK" knobs.
  • This may not matter to many but I like having separate 48V on each channel. M2 has it, Volt 2 has one button for both.
  • The look of the M2 and the case with rounded corners just works. I've leaned my hand on those sharp Volt 2 corners by mistake, and believe me, they let you know they are there.
I've had the M2 for over a year and the Volt 2 for several months. My vote is M2 all the way. Ohhhh mannnn, those meters!! ;)

So for the sake of testing, I just switched from the 80 ohm 990s to my 250 ohm DT 1990s which are my BabyFace pro cans, and I didn't need to push the M2 volume up due to the type of drivers in the 1990s. The charts are fine but really don't tell the whole story. Something else: These 1990s are quite amazing on the Babyface Pro, but I like the 80-ohm 990s on the M2 more... a bit better punch IMO (I also don't have the 8.5KHz 1990 spike corrected on the M2 right now). Point is, I don't believe you have to upgrade your 80 ohm 770s. Try the M2 first and just see how it goes, because to me, 80-250 ohm Beyerdynamic DTs are a totally sweet match for the M2. There is one member on here I talk with that got the M2 and 250 ohm 990 Pros and loves it, so I think matching your 770s to the M2 will not disappoint.
 
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PaulieDC said:
Hi Justin, I own both. I have the M2 on my laptop at home (BabyFace Pro on my tower) which I use with DT 990 Pro 80-Ohm cans, and I'm listening to After the Storm by Norman Brown as I write this. If I crank the M2 up to 10 I'll be doing ear damage. By the 1:30-2:00 position the volume is huge and punchy and I'm loving it. If my wife called out to me, no way would I hear her. The other night I plugged in my new 48-Ohm 770 Pro X's at the same volume without lowering it and my head almost imploded. The M2 has plenty of juice for the DT series. If my 80-ohm open backs are this loud, your 770 closed back will probably be that much more.

So last year I bought a Volt 2 because of all you are reading... the charts and graphs showed it was somehow superior. Used it for a while, sounds great, and yeah, maybe I only need to go to 12:00 for the same volume, but I ended up putting the M2 back on my rig. Instead of selling it, the Volt 2 is now on my work PC tower with DT 990 Edition 32-ohm cans to listen to music there. Sounds great as expected, but the M2 is the winner in my book for a $200 interface for a few reasons:
  • Sound quality is totally there
  • Drivers work excellent on a 12th Gen 10-core/16-thread running Win 11 Pro and Cubase 13 Pro (and that's coming from a Babyface Pro owner)
  • The Meters. Woof. 'Nuff said. Now that I have 'em, the two green/yellow/red blips on the Volt are a joke.
  • LOOPBACK: easy-peazy on the M2, shows up as an input choice in Cubase. Volt 2 does NOT have it.
  • The knobs: feel awesome on the M2 with a great grip surface. The Volt 2 has plastic smooth "yeah I guess they're OK" knobs.
  • This may not matter to many but I like having separate 48V on each channel. M2 has it, Volt 2 has one button for both.
  • The look of the M2 and the case with rounded corners just works. I've leaned my hand on those sharp Volt 2 corners by mistake, and believe me, they let you know they are there.
I've had the M2 for over a year and the Volt 2 for several months. My vote is M2 all the way. Ohhhh mannnn, those meters!! ;)

So for the sake of testing, I just switched from the 80 ohm 990s to my 250 ohm DT 1990s which are my BabyFace pro cans, and I didn't need to push the M2 volume up due to the type of drivers in the 1990s. The charts are fine but really don't tell the whole story. Something else: These 1990s are quite amazing on the Babyface Pro, but I like the 80-ohm 990s on the M2 more... a bit better punch IMO (I also don't have the 8.5KHz 1990 spike corrected on the M2 right now). Point is, I don't believe you have to upgrade your 80 ohm 770s. Try the M2 first and just see how it goes, because to me, 80-250 ohm Beyerdynamic DTs are a totally sweet match for the M2. There is one member on here I talk with that got the M2 and 250 ohm 990 Pros and loves it, so I think matching your 770s to the M2 will not disappoint.
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Thanks for all of that! The M2 is definitely looking better.

How bright is the LCD when in an almost completely darkened room? Can the brightness be adjusted or the display be just turned off? I have to put a business card over the LCD on my Arturia Keylab at night.
 
Justin L. Franks said:
Thanks for all of that! The M2 is definitely looking better.

How bright is the LCD when in an almost completely darkened room? Can the brightness be adjusted or the display be just turned off? I have to put a business card over the LCD on my Arturia Keylab at night.
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Good question, I'll see if I can take a shot vs a dim monitor, etc, to give you some kind of idea. I don't believe it's dimmable, but it's not obnoxious, and at least it faces forward, not up. if anything it'll gently illuminate your desk, lol.

I agree with bright LCDs on keyboards, my SL88 Grand is ridiculous, and StudioLogic fixed a bunch of things during the 2020 Covid shutdown, and the screens don't dim anymore like they used to, lol. I set my StreamDeck over it, problem solved.

If lighting is an issue, there's where the Volt 2 will work in your favor, this is all you get light-wise:

Volt 2.jpg

If you don't need Loopback and are OK without meters, then i can see you loving the Volt. Sounds great, headphones are loud and no lights. BTW, both have an on/off switch on the back which I like. And you get some UA plugins. At any rate, I'll see if I can post a shot that reasonably reproduces the M2's luminance level tonight when I get home.

Or you could always fold a business card in half and hang the one half over the front edge of the M2, to enter blackout mode! 😁
 
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Justin L. Franks said:
It appears the M2 may have a somewhat weak headphone output compared to the Volt 2. Does anyone with an M2 have any comments on how well it drives headphones?
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I have the M4. It will be fine for most headphones except those that are specially hard to drive.

Even with the Sundara that have a low sensitivity I don't go above 12 o clock. I read somewhere you really don't want to go above 3 o clock with this amp as the distortion will be audible but I've never been even close to that.

If need more juice you will need an external amp. A MOTU M2 with a Schiit or Topping amp is a super combo and still very affordable.
 
Pier said:
I have the M4. It will be fine for most headphones except those that are specially hard to drive.

Even with the Sundara that have a low sensitivity I don't go above 12 o clock. I read somewhere you really don't want to go above 3 o clock with this amp as the distortion will be audible but I've never been even close to that.

If need more juice you will need an external amp. A MOTU M2 with a Schiit or Topping amp is a super combo and still very affordable.
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That’s true about the 3 o’clock position for the M2 but I never have to push it up that high, unless I want ear damage, lol!
 
Justin L. Franks said:
Thanks for all of that! The M2 is definitely looking better.

How bright is the LCD when in an almost completely darkened room? Can the brightness be adjusted or the display be just turned off? I have to put a business card over the LCD on my Arturia Keylab at night.
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OK Justin, here is a shot where I put my laptop screen at its absolute dimmest and hit the keys to activate backlighting. The iPhone increased exposure to balance the shot so that’s why the backlighting of the keys seems so bright, but it really isn’t. If you notice the M2 screen on the left, it’s just a bit brighter than the backlit keys. The green bars are not screaming bright IMO. Set your coffee mug in front of it and there shouldn’t be any problem, lol!

IMG_0074.jpeg
 
Justin L. Franks said:
It appears the M2 may have a somewhat weak headphone output compared to the Volt 2. Does anyone with an M2 have any comments on how well it drives headphones? I only have 80-ohm DT 770's right now, but will probably upgrade.

Perhaps I Should Consider A New Audio Interface ?
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Hey Justin, to beat the dead horse further, I'm at work right now using the Volt 2 with DT 990 32-ohm Edition headphones, which should be stupid loud with that JK score of 107 which is huge. Listening to the same track as I did the other night at home on my M2 with 990 Pro 80-ohm, I'm having to turn the HP volume on the Volt 2 up to 1:00 position to get that same volume and clear punch. That's just a little below the 1:30-2:00 position on the M2 w/80 ohm cans. I'm not putting too much stock in the charts anymore, just using them as a guideline.

I've been through SO many interfaces in the last 10 years... several PreSonus including the 192 Studio, I've used a couple Focusrites, had a Mackie Onyx at one point, now the UA and MOTU and the RME on my tower. I've had ATH-M50s, Sony MDR-7506's, HD 650s and a couple other headphones before becoming a Beyerdynamic fanboy (which some might say "What? Why??" :) ) . I really believe that certain headphones just work with certain interfaces, and while it's subjective, I think Beyer Dynamic DTs in a MOTU is the winning combination for the Under-$500 set-up for all the reasons in my earlier post (naturally the RME Babyface Pro FS with the DT 1990s on my tower is just nuts, but better be at that price). But with your DT 770s, if the meter light isn't obnoxious, BD + MOTU is still my vote.

OK, I've beaten the horse so flat it can slide under the garage door. Happy hunting on your decision journey! ;)
 
Volt 2 over MOTU because of the rounded form factor (not easily stood on its side like the Volt 2) and meters (too bright and flashing). This is a secondary interface on my desk off to the side for my iOS devices, wired into my Ferrofish Pulse 16.

My needs may not be typical, but they do go toward this: consider ALL aspects of an interface before purchasing.
 
I decided to go with the Volt 2. Based completely on the screen brightness. My local Guitar Center actually had an M4 sitting out (same screen), so I was able to see how it is in person. I'd have to constantly uncover and recover it at night when recording guitar to check levels.

Controlling screen brightness NEEDS to be an option on any piece of gear IMO. That one thing quite literally prevented me from getting the interface that (may) have had a slight edge in audio performance / quality.

Thanks all, especially @PaulieDC for taking photos.
 
Remain focused on Audient iD4 MKII and Arturia Audiofuse Studio .... in cost range.
Will likely be 'mint' -- Reverb or eBay purchase .....

Tracking one recent Audiofuse Rig 16 resale, but truly strains piggy to breaking point .... 🐷
 
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Sorry for the tangent, but I was recently aware of this really excellent review of the new(ish) Clarett+ line by the wonderful Hugh Robjohns and SoundOnSound. Mr. Robjohns is an esteemed audio technical expert and also probably my favorite writer in modern music/audio magazine publishing. (The guy cares equally about sound, engineering, and language, my three favorite things!)

Based on this, I'm just about ready to add a Clarett+ Octopre to my RME-based rig via ADAT. If I hadn't already gotten my grubby paws on my beloved RME, I'd strongly consider the Clarett+ 8Pre for my main hub. In the $1k-ish range, these things appear to be knocking it out of the park. (I also trust Focusrite to be around for while in terms of updates and support.)
 
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