Hey everyone,

I was wondering what interfaces I can get that support 20+ channels at 24 bit 96khz. Preferably I'd want an interface with 8 or more mic pre's on it itself already. I've found two options now. The first option is an Antelope Orion Studio Synergy Core. The second option is an RME UFX+ (This one would be less preferable since I kind of want a 2u rack unit with at least 16 inputs this will most likely only give me 12 inputs in a 2u rack. I haven't found many other options yet. I don't necessarily need 24 inputs at the moment but I want the upgradeability. My budget for the interface is 2000 euro maximum. The interface needs to be USB or ethernet I don't want to be limited by if my computer has thunderbolt or firewire.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Tom

There are a fairly limited number of interfaces with more than eight analog inputs but ADAT will allow you to connect two or three devices together and get 16-24 inputs if that's what you need.

I would say look at an interface that has two sets of ADAT i/o like the Audient ID44 and then add a couple of Arturia 8Pre which in ADAT mode will give you a total of 20 fairly high quality XLR mic inputs.

Cost would be a couple hundred over your $2000 budget but you could prrobably find some demo or open box deals and be spot on.

And honestly I would ditch the 96k requirement, do you really want to work your computer that hard when 44.1k or 48k will sound just as good and allow more tracks over ADAT?

The problem with that is that 2 sets of adat will only give me 24 at 48k I want 96khz I can go into the reasons why if you want me to explain.

MOTU 16a and Focusrite Clarett Octopre (or any other SMUX capable unit). USB + TB + AVB connectivity, 16 analog I/O.

The only reason for 96k is maybe getting a bit lower latency but if that's your goal I say to instead look to either RME or ditching USB altogether and get something with a Thunderbolt connection.

What do you think you are going to be gaining with 96k ?

96k won't make that much impact on higher-end AD converters but for lower-end AD converters, the filters have more time to cut off before they hit the Nyquist frequency. So on 48Khz, you can sometimes Have a cut in the high-end or things bleeding through the Nyquist frequency back to the other side. High-quality converters like RME have good enough filters not to cause this. But the biggest advantage is mostly when using plugins. When you use plugins that simulate analog gear or distort in any way the harmonics go way above the Nyquist frequency and can start feeding back into low information. I've done the listening tests, no the difference isn't huge but if I'm upgrading I might as well do it well.

I did find the Motu before and it seemed interesting but it not having any mic pres is kind of a letdown. Like I said I'd like my 2U rack to have at least 16 mic pres thanks for the help though I'll keep it in mind.
I'd like to get outboard mic pres in the future though so I'm really leaning to something with either Dante, AVB, or Madi. At the moment I take my interface with me too much so instead of getting converters and outboard pres which would be sick I think I'll stick to onboard pres for a bit longer.

Would I be able to hook two MOTU 8 Pre-es together via AVB?

This really doesn't hold with modern converters. Signals are oversampled and digitally filtered. Better converters may have better noise specs, more headroom, clocking, etc, but there's not much variation in converter front-end design these days (though companies like Burl are pretty creative).

Also, a lot of plugins perform oversampling operations, too, so there's not necessarily an advantage either. Fab Filter has selectable oversampling at up to 32x, vs 2x if you're talking 96kHz against 48kHz. Having higher sample rates for greater compatibility with outside projects is a good thing, but those examples aren't so valid these days.

Guys I didn't start this thread to get people to tell me I shouldn't get a 96k compatible interface. My question is what interface can run 24 channels at 96k.

But this is Gearslutz - ask 1 question and get answers to 9 others thrown in for free!

If you're on a Mac...

Given you've said this: "I don't necessarily need 24 inputs at the moment but I want the upgradeability" it might be worth looking at 2 x Metric Halo 2882 3d boxes, which will give you 16 I/O at 96k and behave as a single 16 channel unit (using MH Link). The boxes sound superb at 96k.

That's my set-up right there - and I have a 3rd 2882 which sits in my mobile rack, but can be linked in quickly to make 24 I/O if necessary. (Forget the internal preamps, I'm referring to them as Line Level converters only which is how I use them.) So it's easy enough to add boxes to the Metric Halo ecosystem later as and when you wish.

With a bit of patience you could probably score two used units for €2,000 - obviously would be more than that if you buy new.

Your question was about that, to which I responded with a suggested interface. Then you threw out a bunch of nonsense about converters, which I offered a correction to, because this forum has enough technical misinformation on it. I didn't tell you not to get converters with that spec, I offered a very good reason to have them, actually.

No i didn’t mean it in a rude way, I appreciate your addition! Just didn’t want the subjects of the forum to change after our conversation about that.

I was looking at the Metric halo's I can lend a few of them at my university to try them out. The only thing about this unit that seems a bit od to me is that it only has 42db's of preamp gain which seems quite little to me. Also, I didn't know that metric halo is mac only, is there really no support for Windows?

Those are referred to as utility mic preamps. For serious work you connect what you have to the other Halo components with 8 or more mic pres. Those have anywhere from 72 to 90 db of gain depending on which versions.

Hey Tom! The Presonus Studio192 and DP88 pres can do what you need and beyond to 24/192........but you’ll need 3U space for everything. The 192 and two DP88 will come under your budget brand new and waaaay under of you shop pre owned.

The monitor routing within the Studio 192 might be a big help too since that’s a LOT of high bit I/O via USB......I would expect some round trip latency if this for an all ITB solution?

I can speak to the XMAX pres in the Presonus units.....ultra clean and neutral with 65db of gain for even the weakest dynamics. SM7B?......no problem at all. Having the Universal Control software makes managing all that I/O a breeze without ever touching the units and the metering makes buss use super convenient. I control the whole lot of 32 ins via an iPad 2 so i don’t have to page flip during a session or if I’m outta the control room and in a booth.

How this helps. The Presonus Studio series punches waaaay beyond its pricepoint IMO and is extremely durable in real world use.

From what I can see is that this interface only does 24 channels on 48khz and 16 channels on 96khz. Or am I wrong?

I might skip the Presonus stuff.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the MOTU 8M AVB.

Eight Pre's onboard already, expandable to 16 with ADAT, expandable to 24 with a MOTU B16 (or a second 8M) over a network cable.

^That's if 96k. The above gets you 32+ Mic inputs when 48k is fine.

That is correct........I don’t know of a product that can do what you ask simultaneously via USB that fits your budget. Is all 20 channels working simultaneously neccessary?

The MOTU stuff blows the OP’s budget of 2k EU

Yes it is since I’ve recorded drums a few times where the drums it self already take up a maximum of 15 channels and say I’d want to record a band live in the room with the drums I’d like to have the extra channels.

Maybe not enough mic preamps for you, and I'm not sure how many you could chain together, but at least this one ticks the 'cheap' box:

https://www.esi-audio.com/products/u168xt/

Edit: from the ESI FAQ page..... "No. Only one U86 XT or U168 XT hardware can be used with one computer at a time"

Let me clarify the budget of 2000 is for an interface that has the ability to do 24 channels at 96k. For now, 16 channels will be fine so the Motu units would actually work. For the time being, I can use my Focusrite 18i20 as 8 preamps to add to the 8 the Motu has.

I'm really leaning towards the MOTU 8M but what is the difference between de 8M and the MOTU 8 Pre-es?

What I kind of dislike about the 8M is that there is no volume control on the front which is something I would like otherwise In addition I'd have to buy a monitor controller.

So your eventual goal is to be able to track a full band performance up to 24 channels at 96khz..........all ITB via USB? I’m guessing this is a hybrid setup and there’s a console somewhere involved for monitoring?

No monitoring is done via the interfaces, why do you ask? I'd rather have me make the mixes for the artist than them doing it themselves and messing around too much with the finicky details that aren't necessarily needed for monitoring. Aka one less thing for the artist to worry about.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it is my understanding that ADAT can only do higher then 48 Khz by splitting the signal over channels. That means that if you run at 96 KHz your ADAT channels are halved. That would imply that you would need 4 ADAT inputs to get 16 channels of 96 KHz. There are not many devices that have that many inputs.

There is the RME Raydat which has 4 ADAT I/O. But it is PCIe.

There is also the RME Digiface with also 4 ADAT I/O. But no mic pre's or analog inputs.

Yeah, thats why adat is pretty much of the table and I'm looking more at dante, AVB and Madi.

Agreed....I get it.......the hybrid approach would be the same thing,.....I use the board sends for monitor mixes so everything is outside of the box to avoid latency. I run Thunderbolt 3 so round trip latency is minimal during overdubs and the like and run Cue mix within the DAW.......but I don’t think that would be acceptable for clients with USB latency. I would imagine you’re goimg to need some kind of mix capabilities within the interface(s)avoiding round trip so the MOTU option does make the most sense for you as an initial investment.......that 16 channel AVB stagebox would be awesome to keep in the live room with just one network cable back to control......and the mixing capability within is great.

At the moment I have my latency on my 18i20 at 4.4ms which is already good enough to monitor with so even if I was going to monitor through my DAW it would work since round trip latency on the Motu should only be 1.8ms at 96khz via USB en 1.6ms at 96khz via thunderbolt.

Only I'm still deciding if I should get the Motu 8M or the MOTU 8 Pre-es. The 8M is 1111.00 euro and the 8 Pre-es is 1439.00 so there is quite a big price jump. I do really like that the 8 Pre-es basically has a built-in monitor controller while the 8M doesn't even have a volume knob. The 2 headphone preamps one the pre-es vs the 1 on the 8M is also a downside to the 8M.

For what it's worth, both the 8M & ES have the same onboard mixer, which will give you better latency (and reliability) than USB/Thunderbolt/DAW monitoring.

& with that onboard mixer, DAW-monitoring or not, you can have a big ol' Master or Monitor fader (or individual groups/auxs, whatever) up on your computer (or tablet).

So, while the monitor knob on the ES is handy, the 8M isn't without volume control. If that extra 300 euro is a stretch.