Sven Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 I'm looking for a new USB audio interface and I'd like one with LED input meters. My PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 sounds fine but I don't love the feel of it. It also has an annoying input volume 'feature' which makes the sound go up slowly then jump dramatically around 3 o'clock. I was considering getting the PreSonus Sudio 24c but would like to consider others first. If anyone has a recommendation I'd like to hear it before I purchase. https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-24c The MOTU M4 looks nice. Anyone tried that?: https://motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m4/ Thanks. PS: Some links with other choices: https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-best-audio-interfaces https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/best-usb-audio-interfaces/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will. Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Sven said: I'm looking for a new USB audio interface and I'd like one with LED input meters. My PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 sounds fine but I don't love the feel of it. It also has an annoying input volume 'feature' which makes the sound go up slowly then jump dramatically around 3 o'clock. I was considering getting the PreSonus Sudio 24c but would like to consider others first. If anyone has a recommendation I'd like to hear it before I purchase. https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-24c The MOTU M4 looks nice. Anyone tried that?: https://motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m4/ Thanks. PS: Some links with other choices: https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-best-audio-interfaces https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/best-usb-audio-interfaces/ Instead of buying a new interface, why not adding a 16 channel mixer with LEDs to your setup and connect your Presonus to it? Plus, you'll have more ins and outs too. How do you like that sauce? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted February 28, 2022 Author Share Posted February 28, 2022 Thanks for your reply Will_Kaydo. Your idea might be a bit overkill for my innocent setup. I'm always just using one mike or guitar input whilst recording by myself these days. Maybe one day in the future your solution will make sense. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will. Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 (edited) Lol. No problem. Then again, there's always the case of you can never have too many ins or outs. They always come in handy every day even in the most innocent setups. You might want to look at this one for its LEDs meter. Edited February 28, 2022 by Will_Kaydo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Ludwig Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 I have the M4, sounds good, drivers are good, works well with CbB and cubase... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted February 28, 2022 Author Share Posted February 28, 2022 Are those meters better than the M4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted February 28, 2022 Author Share Posted February 28, 2022 "Are those meters better than the M4?" - This was for Will_Kaydo. Also, thanks David for your reply. I'm tempted to order the M4. Looks like what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 I have the M4 and I use it daily with only a few issues that I wrote off as being what you can expect from a Mac focused company. The driver is not even as stable as my 1st generation Focusrite Scarlett 6i6. First the 6i6 runs smoothly at 128 buffer. The M4 needs 256. The 6i6 never makes popping noises. TheM4 always pops when I change focus on apps. I run everything at 48 to avoid this but it still happens. If I work all day in Sony Vegas and open Cakewalk the audio recording is garbled. Reboot the interface doesn’t help. I have to re boot the computer. I had to buy a $40 USB 3 PCI card to resolve other issues with it because it’s bus powered. I just watched a video and this guy tested 15 cheap interfaces and your interface was his top pick because of build quality and features. He didn’t mention driver but he was of course using a Mac. I should have bought the Scarlett 8i6. But I do like the Motu meters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsinger Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 I use the M4 with my DAW and haven't had any problems with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 42 minutes ago, rsinger said: I use the M4 with my DAW and haven't had any problems with it. Just curious. Do you have any of the symptoms I listed above? I assume it’s the driver as neither my Scarlett or my Tascam cause any of these issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will. Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Sven said: "Are those meters better than the M4?" - This was for Will_Kaydo. Also, thanks David for your reply. I'm tempted to order the M4. Looks like what I want. It brings a constant level to all your vocal and guitar recordings that I guarantee you. Vocals and acoustic guitars you can at -6dB every time. Honestly: I haven't tried out the M4 yet, but from reading a few reviews and pictures - no one mention it it has a scale. So what the use of having meters, but you're still blind. A linear scale meter would've been a nice touch. Edited February 28, 2022 by Will_Kaydo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsinger Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 1 hour ago, John Vere said: Just curious. Do you have any of the symptoms I listed above? I assume it’s the driver as neither my Scarlett or my Tascam cause any of these issues I get the occasional pop, but that's because I'm running on windows and it has background processes running. When I record I disable the network adapter and haven't had any problems. I normally have the IF set at 44 and a buffer size of 96. The M4 works fine into a USB 3 port on an ASUS MB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 (edited) If I were looking for a USB interface in your price range and feature set, I would be looking hard at the brand new Universal Audio Volt 2. It has slightly better metering than the Studio 2|4 Audiobox (two LED's instead of one ?), and they're doing some fancy stuff with the preamps. UA have a reputation for quality (including build quality) that they're probably not looking to squander with this new line of budget interfaces. Incidentally, I just bought a Studio 2|4 (no "c", but Presonus have confirmed that the only difference is the color) for $30 on Craig's List, and its playback blew away my ancient Firepods. Sure, any interface from the past dozen years will sound better than the Firepod due to the adoption of better convertors (with PLL jitter correction). When I say it blew them away, that's almost literally. The 2|4 sounded SO much better that I knew I had to dump them and went back on Craig's List and snagged a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (I like Firewire, and I record drums, so having 8 mic pres is essential to my studio). It's well in the era of better jitter correction, so it also sounds fantastic by comparison to the Firepods. Edited February 28, 2022 by Starship Krupa Typed Studio 2|4 when I meant Audiobox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will. Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Love both VOLT 276 and Volt 2, but ultimately went with the Apollo twin as it came with full pack bundle and thousands of other stuff with the MAC at the time. Volt 2 comes with Melodyne Essential if I remember correctly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Yes don't underestimate the value of the add ons. Focusrite seems to have a good little package that it includes. I scored Addictive Keys for free. The Motu only came with Performer lite which is about as useful to me as ***** on a bull. @rsinger My issues might just be my computer is 12 years old, but I still find it odd that my old interfaces work better on the same machine. But I use the M4 mostly because I rely on the Loopback to be able to record screen captures and stay in ASIO mode with Cakewalk. My set up is very basic these days but making videos has got me now 100% on 48hz. I convert all my old projects to 48 right away before I continue working. The M4 seems happier these days since the last driver update. But that distorted audio is an unsolved mystery. And I put my computer in Airplane mode unless I need the internet. It's an odd feature that my other computers don't have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsinger Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 3 hours ago, John Vere said: And I put my computer in Airplane mode unless I need the internet. It's an odd feature that my other computers don't have. My DAW is hardwired to the LAN so Airplane mode isn't available. I use wifi on my laptop, but don't record on it. I practice on it and play around but have a quad capture on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, rsinger said: My DAW is hardwired to the LAN so Airplane mode isn't available. I use wifi on my laptop, but don't record on it. I practice on it and play around but have a quad capture on it. I think you just pointed something out that I was too stupid to realize but now I do. When I saw that Airplane mode down in the network icon in the bottom taskbar I thought, Oh, this is quicker than opening network settings and disabling my LAN and the Wireless. I now realize it probably only disables the wireless network and not the LAN, will check this out tomorrow, I already shut down for the day. My other computers don't have wireless, only LAN. That would explain the lack of the Airplane mode. Duh! Edited March 1, 2022 by John Vere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsinger Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 I have the M4 set to 128. I like 96, but the M4 doesn't have that option in ASIO mode. Forgot that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjoens Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 (edited) I have this which works fine and could be yours if the price is right Edited March 2, 2022 by sjoens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted March 2, 2022 Author Share Posted March 2, 2022 Thanks sjoens for that suggestion. Because the prices are so reasonable these days I think I'm going to go with the M4 knowing I can always switch to something else later. When I see the pictures of their monitoring meters they look like what I want to view when recording. The PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 has been a drag for a couple of years https://motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m4/ Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I'm sure in a few months there will be new fun toys to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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