I’ve acquired an amp to play with others now I’m looking at an interface to record with (for mostly solo purposes, maybe an occasional dual guitar setup with a friend).
I’m primarily looking at entry models for now but I’d like some opinions from those more experienced with the units.
From what I understand, most entry level interfaces are similar in terms of quality.
Right now the three I’m looking into are the Motu M2, Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 and the Volt 2.
The MOTU M2 is the best choice out of the ones you listed.
Focusrite is the standard, as Al mentions. But if you are looking at recording vocals I would step up to the SSL2/2+ or MOTU M2/M4 though as they have better mic preamps (noise floor is lower than the Focusrite). This is a pretty small difference though.
If you anticipate more instruments or more importantly want to use it live, I would instead consider a real mixer, but you want to find one with individual USB outs per channel. I currently use a 10 channel mixer with only 2 USB outs for the mixer main outs and while this works ok for me I would much prefer individual outs.
I got the Arturia Minifuse 2 for Christmad and pretty happy with it. I just use it to record guitar and bass. I’ve got mine setup recording at 44.1khz and 128 samples and it gives me just 2.9ms latency.
I was looking at the Volt 2 as well, but decided I liked the software that came with the Minifuse and I’m using a USB midi keyboard that I plug into the USB port on the back of the Minifuse to use Analog Lab to muck around with some keys.
The Minufuse also has a dial to mix between direct and USB monitoring and loopback, but haven’t used either of those yet (just leave the dial on 100% USB).
I liked the look of the Moto M2 as well, but pricing in Australia is around $220 for the Minifuse 2 and $380 for the M2 which is a big jump.
The M2 definitely comes at a higher pricetag here in Canada too.
Thanks for giving me another option though! I’ll have to look into this one as well.
Quite a few options now. I’m sure they’re all fairly similar in terms of audio input quality. It’ll come down to what price is right and the features as well.
Ended up biting the bullet and purchasing the Motu M2 for roughly $270CAD. A slight bit pricier than the focusrite that @Al1885 had linked. But I think in the long run it’ll serve me well.
As for headphones, Long and McQuade has the K240 mkII on sale for $119 CAD so I snagged those too.
Once I get them up and going it’ll be time to start the 50 songs challenge!
Good choice. The MOTU is a better interface than the Focusrite, definitely a step up. Much lower noise floor on the preamps (though this is mostly more of a thing with mics than instruments).
This isn’t so much about the Focusrite lacking anything and more about the MOTU being very good. It and the SSL2 are more or less the best two in the lower price tier, or were the last I seriously looked.
You mentioned that you go directly into a mixer, I was wondering if you’ve got any experience or have thoughts on the Yamaha AG06 mkII? I was window shopping the other night and found it. I don’t need another DAI… but having a spare for redundancy’s sake (that’s what I’m telling myself) isn’t a bad thing.
I bought it for my daughter it’s a very good mixer. One thing I can’t figure out is the occasional hum. It’s buss powered when I unplug the hum goes away but I could have been anything.
