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Topic: Audio interface suggestion (Read 1923 times) previous topic - next topic
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Audio interface suggestion

Hi,

Just quick intro: I have Adam T5, and plan to upgrade to A5 when they will be available.

My problem is Behringer UMC202 audio interface, on which I connect the speakers:
- on Windows 10, driver crashes often and I have to reinstall on weekly basis
- on Macbook Pro 2018, I access through USB dongle which does not recognize this device

Can someone suggest better audio interface?
I'd guess anything is better as this is budget interface, but wanted to hear other opinions before I buy.

Thanks

Re: Audio interface suggestion

Reply #1 –
Quote
Can someone suggest better audio interface?
For listening, the line-headphone output from your regular soundcard is usually better than human hearing.    Sometimes you can get noise but if you are not getting noise you probably can't get "better" sound.    (Frequency response and distortion are almost always better than human hearing.)

If you're hearing noise, a regular USB soundcard might help and they are cheap-enough to try, but you can sometimes get noise through the USB power with a USB soundcard, or with a USB powered interface.  (An interface with it's own separate power supply is less prone to power supply noise.

For high quality recording from a microphone, or direct from a guitar, you need proper interface with good preamps and phantom power if you are using a studio condenser mics.   (Stage/studio microphones are not interchangeable with "computer mics" so even a "good" regular soundcard is worthless for high-quality recording.)

Re: Audio interface suggestion

Reply #2 –
Quote from: dehan on
My problem is Behringer UMC202 audio interface, on which I connect the speakers:

- on Macbook Pro 2018, I access through USB dongle which does not recognize this device

Strange... How do you know it's not recognized? It should work. The docs for the UMC 202 state:
"Mac OS X operating system: No drivers needed, your U-Phoria interface operates class-compliant."
I have a UAC 222 (which is different, but...) and MBP 2019, and it is recognized as a USB Audio CODEC for both input and output, but there is no pop up that says that.

Re: Audio interface suggestion

Reply #3 –
In the past a third party driver for Win was needed because Win did not support UAC2 (USB Audio Class 2).
Therefore you couldn't play anything > 96 kHz.
Win10 support UAC2 so you might try running the 202 without the custom drivers.
I'm not sure if you can record without the custom drivers.

Quote
Macbook Pro 2018, I access through USB dongle which does not recognize this device
Doesn't ring a bell, you mean usb hub instead of dongle?

If it is about driving your speakers only, have a look at budget DACs like Topping D50
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/master-index-of-audio-hardware-reviews.8184/

Bit more: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/master-index-of-audio-hardware-reviews.8184/

TheWellTemperedComputer.com
 

Re: Audio interface suggestion

Reply #4 –
Thanks guys for your comments

On Macbook it indeed shows as additional sound output in audio preferences, when I connect it to the hub. I guess I was expecting a popup... My fault
I use it mostly for playback, not for recording, though nice that this unit has such inputs

w/o drivers it does not get recognized on my Windows 10

Thanks Roseval for suggesting Topping, I'm currently looking at D30 with A30, as I need amplified headphone output additionally for my massdrop sennheiser 6xx
From the reports, their Windows driver could be problematic, but it seems that it works also w/o it, and dedicated driver would need disabling driver verification.