I have a new PC and I'm hoping to get a new interface shortly. At the moment I'm using my Helix as the interface and it is very good, but for vox I'm getting better results with my ancient Scarlett 2i4 and I'd also like to use John's idea of putting send paths in the patches to grab audio at different stages of the path both at the beginning of the chain and maybe at other places too. I also get a lot lower latency with the 2i4 despite it's age.
Helix has SPDIF and I'm curious as to whether looking for an interface that uses it would be worth it? Are there any advantages / disadvantages?
My motherboard has optical SPDIF Out (doesn't mention IN), and also has a USB-C socket.
I'm looking at the Focusrite 18i20 as it seems to tick all the boxes (Optical and Co-ax) and is also rackmountable which would be very handy.
Any ideas?
Comments
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Admittedly not tried the new PC with a stack of plugins yet.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
I switched to RME for exactly this reason. With RME, the interface is smart enough to work out that if there is no ext. clock signal, it switches back to internal.
Might not be an issue for you, but worth considering.
When I had a Helix (and still have Helix Native) I'd use the hardware rather than the plugin.
Less latency to worry about- you can't alter the patch after the fact of course but I also find committing to a sound to be helpful in moving a production along.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
That’s how I like to work too.
Ive never once decided to use a different tone to the one I used when tracking.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
TBF I didn’t even know about the clock thing - I should probably read up on it!
I'm running my afx via through an 18i20. It's great. It is set to external sync but works fine when afx is off so??
I even have a loop from 18i20 back to afx to feed Vox and keys through its fx.
to be working and I’m happy enough changing the source clock when tracking with the Ox, it only takes a second.