Needing a new interface

[Mark Bliss]

It's funny reading this thread.

I find it kind of sad actually. Its hard enough to filter through the marketing hype, filter through the user feedback, (You always have fanboys at one extreme and chronic complainers on the other) and then there's the difficulty of filtering out the opinions of those who have never owned or used the product whatsoever.....

A few years ago (before Gen 2) Focusrite was being enthusiastically recommended for any enquiry about interfaces. Now they're rubbish!

My take (on the Focusrite topic specifically): time and technology march on. At the time they were introduced they were probably upper tier contenders. The competition improved and Focusrite put a lot of effort into an upgraded line instead of falling behind. The improvements could have been geared more toward marketing hype, but user feedback and professional reviews seem to indicate it was substantial enough to warrant notice. Therefore we should probably heed warnings about the previous versions floating about the marketplace, and stick to the latest products due to all of the above.

[mixyguy2]

It's funny reading this thread. A few years ago (before Gen 2) Focusrite was being enthusiastically recommended for any enquiry about interfaces. Now they're rubbish!

? I don't see anyone saying Focusrite on the whole is rubbish. You might want to read them again.

[botface]

OK "rubbish" might be a bit strong but more than one person is saying they have bad drivers and latency problems and that struck me as odd if these same devices were being unconditionally recommended when they were current. How could AI's with bad drivers and poor latency performance ever have been seen as OK let alone recommended?

[shayneoneill]

It's funny reading this thread. A few years ago (before Gen 2) Focusrite was being enthusiastically recommended for any enquiry about interfaces. Now they're rubbish!

Focusrites are great interfaces, and only seem to be getting better. I'm not sure why anyone would think otherwise

[shayneoneill]

OK "rubbish" might be a bit strong but more than one person is saying they have bad drivers and latency problems and that struck me as odd if these same devices were being unconditionally recommended when they were current. How could AI's with bad drivers and poor latency performance ever have been seen as OK let alone recommended?

The first generation , post digidesign ,had shonky drivers. Theres no denying that. They got better. The recomendations came from the fact Focusrite always had great converters and pres. For a bit of hassle wrangling with firewire drivers, once you got them working, they where rock solid. But those firewire drivers really put up a fight sometimes.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Also, some manufacturer's haven't created Windows 10 drivers for their older interfaces.

2nd gen. Focusrites seem to perform well.

I guess that's one concrete thing to check when shopping for an interface - when was the last time the drivers were updated? If the drivers were last updated in 2013, that could be a danger sign.

Greg

[dpaterson]

Time to rant!!!

Somewhere I posted around these parts about my one faulty Behringer mixer but I cannot find the post now.

Nice. As of this morning, for no rhyme or reason, the left sub mix fader on this very same mixer won't fade anymore i.e. gets to the end of it's fade out travel and the audio just comes back to about a quarter volume. Have used compressed air as well as cleaner: no go. If I sort of "rattle" the fader knob from left to right the sound goes away and cuts out and then cuts in again. Same mixer went in for warranty repairs a little earlier this year for scratchy mic. gain pots. Of course it is now out of warranty. This thing has not left my studio!!! It's even covered up most of the time to avoid getting dust in the faders!!! Nice huh!!! I even lull it to sleep nights with the calming sound of Dio!!! Tip of the year: when buying Behringer be sure to buy two of (as I have ended up doing thanks to this same mixer) i.e. main unit plus a spare to keep you going while the other is in for repair. Mr. Behringer (Thomas): your time is coming i.e. warranty plus one day and counting!!! LOL!!!

Regards,

Dale.

[mick]

The carbon tracks on faders and pots get a hammering due to friction with use, try some
Servisol 10 contact cleaner, its been around since Jesus (the Irish one?) and used by electronics engineers daily. It also rectifies crackling pots and faders (on analogue circuits) unless they are totally shot to pieces and beyond help.

[dpaterson]

its been around since Jesus (the Irish one?)

Too funny.

But yeh. Tried that (three times) i.e. compressed air (first) and then Servusol. It is what it is (and that is a piece of cr*p). Now twice in for repair and actually three times if you consider that this particular mixer was an upgraded and more expensive (had to pay in) warranty replacement for a cheaper Behringer mixer that packed up after THREE DAYS (lights were on but nobody home). Even better is the fact that the Behringer agents here took THREE MONTHS to replace those gain pots. under warranty earlier this year. Hey: maybe because I actually have to PAY for THIS repair they'll be quicker!!!

Mr. Behringer (Thomas): you DID take the extended warranty did you not??? LOL!!!

Regards,

Dale.

[Thomas]

Time to rant!!!

Somewhere I posted around these parts about my one faulty Behringer mixer but I cannot find the post now.

Don't bother, I had it moderated. LOL!!!

Nice. As of this morning, for no rhyme or reason, the left sub mix fader on this very same mixer won't fade anymore i.e. gets to the end of it's fade out travel and the audio just comes back to about a quarter volume. Have used compressed air as well as cleaner: no go. If I sort of "rattle" the fader knob from left to right the sound goes away and cuts out and then cuts in again. Same mixer went in for warranty repairs a little earlier this year for scratchy mic. gain pots. Of course it is now out of warranty. This thing has not left my studio!!! It's even covered up most of the time to avoid getting dust in the faders!!! Nice huh!!! I even lull it to sleep nights with the calming sound of Dio!!! Tip of the year: when buying Behringer be sure to buy two of (as I have ended up doing thanks to this same mixer) i.e. main unit plus a spare to keep you going while the other is in for repair.

I seem to remember a post where someone suggested that people in S. Africa were sent generally rubbish products (like QA rejects, returns, etc.)LOL!! Well, it really sounds like you had a really bad run of defects with your Behringer gear. And from the looks of it, one really couldn't blame you for your staunch stance on the company. We can only hope your future experiences are better!

Mr. Behringer (Thomas)

Thank you Sir, but I am truly not worthy of that title. For the sake of transparency, I only own one piece of Behringer gear.

you DID take the extended warranty did you not??? LOL!!!

Thankfully, yes I did. IMPORTANT: You have to register to get the extra (third) year. I then emailed them to confirm, because registering doesn't trigger an email response from the company, which I found strange and not very comforting. Lastly, save the email.

[dpaterson]

Hey Tom.

That post about the junk that gets sent here was mine!!! LOL!!!

Just messing with ya today is all. Thanks for the candid comments.

Yeh. Tomorrow is another day.

Regards,

Dale.

[Thomas]

Hi Dale,
No problem, just messin' back with ya.

[dpaterson]

Good Morning Mr. Behringer!!! LOL!!!

Just thought I'd let you know that this mixer has now packed up AGAIN. THIS time it's the power supply (I think it's one or all of the caps. on the power supply). And this after not having it back for a month since the master and sub mix faders were replaced. And those being replaced a couple of months after the mic. gain pots. were replaced.

And not anything I did. Using it Saturday night to demonstrate something to somebody, turned it off, covered it up (as usual), turned off main power and unplugged everything (as usual), turned on yesterday morning and mixer powers on but then powers itself off and on and off and on in rapid succession until I finally turn it off.

I am so livid I could spit. Worst part: looking around the Internet for a solution it appears to happen often and usually when "just out of warranty". There's even YouTube videos on it.

So in total thus far: this mixer has spent six months in repairs in an eighteen month or so period. And that excludes how long THIS is going to take to repair.

And as noted: this piece of sh*t has never left my home studio. Imagine if I was gigging with it??? Or if my income and livelihood depended on my setup (because I'm stuffed without a mixer)???

NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EVER BEHRINGER AGAIN!!! NOT EVEN FOR FREE!!!

[jlouvar]

The carbon tracks on faders and pots get a hammering due to friction with use, try some
Servisol 10 contact cleaner, its been around since Jesus (the Irish one?) and used by electronics engineers daily. It also rectifies crackling pots and faders (on analogue circuits) unless they are totally shot to pieces and beyond help.

IMO: DeoxIT is the best contact cleaner... I’ve been using it for years, and it works great. It’s been around since Moses (the one that drives really slow on Sundays), lol.

[jlouvar]

I’m very happy with my 2nd gen Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, it works great and having the Input/Playback knob on the 2i4 is a big plus.