I think I’ve narrowed down my user interface search down to either the Universal Audio Volt 2 or the Arturia Minifuse 2. I like that they both have independent instrument/guitar buttons and headphone at the front.
I think if the Volt had a monitor blend knob I’m pretty sure I’d pick that. Something as basic as the power switch appeals to me so I can leave it connected but not necessarily on.
Ideally I’ll have an electric guitar and bass both plugged in so I can easily switch between coming up with ideas.
Could possibly look at the Scarlett 2i2 4th gen, but it’s too new to be discounted it seems.
I also considered the PreSonus Studio 26c or Moto M2, but the M2 is quite a bit more expensive in Australia compared to the others.
I’m unlikely, at least for a while, to explore using microphones or any other devices.
Anyone rocking any of these or got thoughts on other suggestions.
Looking at the specs, the Minifuse has a better preamp than the Volt. But if you don’t care about mics you will never care about the difference there, and it’s a small enough difference that you would have to be pretty steep in to mics to notice, and even then, it would be on an oscilloscope and not with your ears.
I have been using the Minifuse for a while now and it’s fine. I unplug it to turn it off when I’m on my computer, I wonder whether the power switch on the Volt 2 would do the same trick for me.
The monitor blend knob on the Minifuse is a great feature. If I understand the layout on the Volt 2 correctly, you can turn your monitors up and down, but cannot blend between the input and the signal from the PC. So, I’d pick the Minifuse.
One thing about plugging in two instruments at once is that you need to remember to turn the volume down on them because you don’t want to fiddle with the gain knobs for that.
Both seem to have decent software included as well. Volt has a bonus pack they claim is worth a couple hundred, yet is on “sale” for $50.
@howard - one thing I’m not sure of with the blend; if I’m mainly using plugins and just guitar/bass, would I need to use this?
I might play with mics one day, but very unlikely to be high end.
@joergkutter the Audient ID4 looks good except it looks like it only has one guitar input and one mic instead of combo jacks? Definitely can’t seem to find “one with the lot”
@antonio thanks for the info, guess the power switch isn’t that significant as you still have to reach behind to turn it off vs pulling the USB plug out of laptop.
Yes, it has one input directly dedicated to bass/guitar. But, in fact, I use the DI out of my amp and go into the combined mic/line input of the ID4.
If you want two of the instrument level inputs for guitar and bass, then I guess you’d have to go for a different brand. Even the larger Audient interfaces only seem to have one instrument level input.
Do you envision to use guitar and bass at the same time??
No, you want it for backing tracks too. It’s a blend of anything coming from the computer with your external instrument direct monitor volume. Mandatory, required feature for me.
Plus, don’t necessarily shun plugins - best source of drums to jam or practice with you’ll ever find.
I’d like to start putting together my own stuff except drums, so would be laying down bass, rhythm guitar and lead. Was thinking it might be easier to have both plugged in, rather than switching cables.
That said, if I was to use my BlackStar amp, it has Emulated DI Out. Don’t know if that’s the same as just DI out.
Thank you. I’m definitely going to use plugins, especially drums (love EZD3 - sometimes try bandmate and while I may not find a match for what I’ve played, it’s inspired a variation of what I had).
Hm, OK - easier perhaps, but not strictly necessary
I was wondering whether you could have some kind of A/B box in front of the input to the DAI and thus have both instruments connected and then use the box to select the current input!?
Very easy setup, but software installation was painfully slow. Analog Lab Intro seems pretty good and some of the other 4 plugins you get sounded nice with a quick guitar test.
The lights are very bright if you leave it plugged in with laptop off and it didn’t seem to like when the laptop had gone to sleep - needed unplugging and plugging back it to get it to work, but it’s only done that once.
The Minifuse Control Centre seems kinda pointless, really doesn’t allow you to change much at all and you end up setting in your DAW or standalone program.
I haven’t really explored it that much yet. I’ve left it on the default 44.1khz and have been using 128 buffer which gives very low latency.
I’ll have to explore settings in things like EZdrummer though as with a heavy hit of the drums the output meter showed it was probably starting to clip. Lots of things to learn though, my music on computer days are still quite new.
I have used the USB A port on the back to plugin my keyboard as one USB A port had the minifuse and the other had my mouse. It allowed me to also plugin my keyboard which was handy. That said, I have a USB C port going unused so could see if I have a spare USB C to USB C cable lying around.
ended up bringing me the Minifuse 2 
