Interface for 5.1 editing
 

Hello

We are figuring out a new room for post production, which would be used for sound editing / sound design purposes. PT Ultimate, trashcan Mac Pro, etc.

I'm trying to decide on the interface. What we need is outputs for 5.1 monitoring, a couple of decent mic pre's for occassional recording needs, and a headphone jack. That's basically it. No need for anything more complicated (= more expensive)

I have considered RME Fireface UC/UCX and Apogee/Avid Quartet.

I read that RME is stable and good in many ways, but the Totalmix app seems a bit complicated for this setup, where we do not need low latency input monitoring, onboard effects etc. Can it be skipped so that there's just outputs and inputs without another layer of processing?

The Quartet - Discontinued by Avid, but as a class-compliant device it should just keep working, shouldn't it?

Audio quality should be more than adequate in both of these - most important thing here is stability and ease of use.

Any other recommendations are welcome as well! Thanks.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

You'll want low latency for recording (FPGA mixer loopback) to give cue mixes back.

However, you can set TotalMix to the simplified version (straight in to out). It's under Options> "Operational Mode" where you can change it from "Full Mode" to "Digital Audio Workstation Mode" which is straight routing.

Either way, TotalMix adds nothing to the latency/processing of the signal.

As for class compliant/Quartet.. class compliant is a bare minimum standard. It'll continue to work but why you would buy into something already abandoned is beyond me. There are already other class compliant audio interfaces that show the pitfalls of counting on that; they continue to work but parts of them that aren't part of the standard stop -- like digital volume control if that is operated via software or mic pre gain/trim. You'll end up with a "dumb" interface. Pretty much count on anything that requires proprietary drivers/software to stop working (so the stand alone stuff will work if it can even do things stand alone.) If you are going to go this route, get the still supported Apogee version and not the Avid version.

You should possibly also consider the HDn card and Avid Omni HD. It's pretty much designed for what you are looking for (surround output, 2 mic pre, low latency, simple headphone setup.) If you ever need HDX processing, you could always swap the HDn for an HDX card later.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

Hi, thanks for the reply

I am leaning towards RME Fireface UC. Yes Omni would be something, we have one room with HDX/Omni and it's fine, but I'm checking the small and simple options.

I feel that RME would be a future-proof choice in terms of support and compatibility. The "DAW mode" sounds simple enough, while full mode would give more options.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

The Quartet has been discontinued by Avid, yes. But its an Apogee product, and they are still producing them.
I am using an Apogee branded Quartet at home, and never looked back at not buying the pretty Avid black case Quartet.
Since Avid dropped Quartet sales, Apogee now supports PC. So there is NO reason to own an Avid branded Quartet.

Quartet does 5.1 output easily, as very very good mic pres that have 75db of gain, and a headphone output.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

MBox Pro 3 is a good option too. Supported to 3/1/2020.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

Mbox3 pro is discontinued, soon unsupported and already seems to have problems with newer Mac OS versions. So not an option any more. We have a couple and they run fine, but at the moment I do not dare upgrade those workstations any further than OsX 10.9.5 and PT12.7.1 because they work well as they are.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

I don't know how urgent it is to you but there will be an interesting option available in the beginning of June from Steinberg.
As far as I could see and hear this new audio interface does sound really good and its even more affordable than the UCX
and the Quartet. Just an a suggestion.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...e-transformers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RhmObtrY0A

Even if Steinberg use to build their interfaces to work best with their own DAW Cubase it seems to me that this new box may
be an interesting option for any music recording guys. It´s compatible with all major recording softwares. And it´s sounding
really good imo. Even more for the price!

Cool new audio interface. Check it out!

Cheers.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

Don't write off Totalmix by RME for surround setups.. It's absolutely awesome for this... You can instantly recall all sorts of setups (different monitor sets, stereo,5.1, 7.1.2 what ever), limited only by the amount of I/O on your chosen RME interface.
You can control it all from a single remote... No additional monitor controller required.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

Thanks for the tips!
VRW, the Steinberg unit looks great, maybe aimed more for musicians, though.
mattrixx - it sounds great to be able to set up downmixes etc.
It seems that RME is winning here.

Re: Interface for 5.1 editing
 

Haha, (I just started reading this thread...err, again as it would seem!) Was just about to write another post, basically saying what I just said before.
I cannot reiterate enough, how good the RME setup is!!